Big boards and mock drafts: NFL projections for Notre Dame football players
The NFL Draft is almost here.
The 2024 version of the NFL’s rookie selection process begins Thursday in Detroit at 8 p.m. EDT with the first round and continues Friday at 7 p.m. for rounds 2-3 and Saturday at 12 p.m. for rounds 4-7.
Draft analysts are nearing the deadline for their final scouting reports and mock draft projections for this year’s draft. Inside ND Sports combed through many of the major big boards and mock drafts to find out what those analysts think about Notre Dame’s draft prospects.
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In the four seven-round mock drafts examined by Inside ND Sports, a combination of eight former Notre Dame players are projected to be drafted: offensive tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, running back Audric Estimé, cornerback Cam Hart, linebackers JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste and quarterback Sam Hartman. Those are the same eight players who were invited to this year’s NFL Scouting Combine.
If NFL teams draft eight Notre Dame players, it will be the most since the Irish had nine selected in the 2021 draft, which was the high-water mark of head coach Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame tenure. ND’s program record for the seven-round draft came under Lou Holtz with 10 in 1994, the first year the draft shrank to seven rounds.
Only five players who finished their careers at Notre Dame have been drafted since Kelly’s prolific 2021 group: two in 2022 (safety Kyle Hamilton and running back Kyren Williams) and three in 2023 (tight end Michael Mayer, defensive end Isaiah Foskey and offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson).
Here’s a closer look at how Notre Dame’s 2024 draft prospects are ranked ahead of Thursday night.
(Click here to see how these projections have changed since February.)
LT Joe Alt
BIG BOARDS
Pro Football Focus: No. 5 overall, No. 1 OT
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler: No. 5 overall, No. 1 OT
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice: No. 7 overall, No. 2 OT
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.: No. 8 overall, No. 1 OT
NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah: No. 8 overall, No. 1 OT
The Ringer’s Danny Kelly: No. 9 overall, No. 2 OT
MOCK DRAFTS
ESPN’s Jordan Reid: First round, No. 5 overall, Tennessee Titans
Kelly: First round, No. 7 overall, Titans
Brugler: First round, No. 7 overall, Titans
PFF: First round, No. 7 overall, Titans
NFL Media’s Chad Reuter: First round, No. 7 overall, Titans
Tice and Charles McDonald: First round, No. 9 overall, Titans
RT Blake Fisher
BIG BOARDS
Jeremiah: No. 54 overall, No. 9 OT
Brugler: No. 73 overall, No. 11 OT
PFF: No. 73 overall, No. 13 OT
Kiper: No. 76 overall, No. 11 OT
Tice: No. 83 overall, No. 12 OT
MOCK DRAFTS
Reid: Third round, No. 72 overall, New York Jets
PFF: Third round, No. 74 overall, Cleveland Browns
Brugler: Third round, No. 83 overall, Pittsburgh Steelers
Reuter: Fourth round, No. 114 overall, Jacksonville Jaguars
RB Audric Estimé
BIG BOARDS
Tice: No. 53 overall, No. 2 RB
Kelly: No. 73 overall, No. 6 RB
Brugler: No. 98 overall, No. 7 RB
PFF: No. 123 overall, No. 12 HB
Kiper: No. 12 RB
MOCK DRAFTS
Reid: Fourth round, No. 107 overall, New York Giants
Brugler: Fourth round, No. 125 overall, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Reuter: Fourth round, No. 132 overall, San Francisco 49ers
PFF: Fourth round, No. 134 overall, New York Jets
CB Cam Hart
BIG BOARDS
Kiper: No. 114 overall, No. 16 CB
Brugler: No. 147 overall, No. 19 CB
PFF: No. 156 overall, No. 21 CB
MOCK DRAFTS
Reuter: Second round, No. 42 overall, Houston Texans
Reid: Third round, No. 82 overall, Indianapolis Colts
Brugler: Fourth round, No. 106 overall, Tennessee Titans
PFF: Fourth round, No. 113 overall, Baltimore Ravens
LB JD Bertrand
BIG BOARDS
Jeremiah: No. 119 overall, No. 8 LB
Kiper: No. 146 overall, No. 8 off-ball LB
Brugler: No. 173 overall, No. 12 LB
PFF: No. 175 overall, No. 10 LB
MOCK DRAFTS
PFF: Fifth round, No. 163 overall, Buffalo Bills
Brugler: Sixth round, No. 206 overall, Cleveland Browns
LB Marist Liufau
BIG BOARDS
PFF: No. 138 overall, No. 7 LB
Brugler: No. 199 overall, No. 15 LB
Kiper: No. 12 off-ball LB
MOCK DRAFTS
PFF: Fourth round, No. 107 overall, Carolina Panthers
Brugler: Sixth round, No. 218 overall, Baltimore Ravens
Reid: Seventh round, No. 242 overall, Tennessee Titans
Reuter: Seventh round, No. 250 overall, Ravens
DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
BIG BOARDS
PFF: No. 164 overall, No. 18 Edge
Brugler: No. 260 overall, No. 25 Edge
Kiper: No. 12 OLB
MOCK DRAFTS
Reid: Fifth round, No. 174 overall, Dallas Cowboys
Reuter: Sixth round, No. 191 overall, Indianapolis Colts
Brugler: Seventh round, No. 244 overall, Cowboys
QB Sam Hartman
BIG BOARDS
Brugler: No. 235 overall, No. 12 QB
PFF: No. 254 overall, No. 14 QB
Kiper: No. 16 QB
MOCK DRAFTS
Brugler: Seventh round, No. 224 overall, Cincinnati Bengals
Reid: Seventh round, No. 224 overall, Bengals
DB Thomas Harper
BIG BOARD
Kiper: No. 41 S
K Spencer Shrader
BIG BOARD
Kiper: No. 5 K
LS Michael Vinson
BIG BOARD
Kiper: No. 4 LS
*Sources cited
BIG BOARDS
Top 100 prospects by Yahoo Sports' Nate Tice’s (updated April 8)
Top 100 prospects by The Ringer's Danny Kelly (April 23)
Top 150 prospects and position rankings by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. (April 23)
Top 150 prospects by NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah (April 22)
Top 300 prospects by The Athletics's Dane Brugler’s (April 22)
Top 316 prospects by Pro Football Focus (April 16)
MOCK DRAFTS
Danny Kelly’s first round for The Ringer (updated March 28)
Charles McDonald’s and Nate Tice’s first round for Yahoo Sports (April 23)
Dane Brugler’s seven rounds for The Athletic (April 17)
Chad Reuter’s seven rounds for NFL Media (April 19)
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