Notre Dame’s extended run through the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff didn’t come without a price.
That goes both for returning players to the 2025 Irish roster and those attempting to chase their NFL dreams this spring. And that price, while worth it, still must be addressed and finessed.
For the eight Irish players who received coveted invites Thursday to the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine — Feb. 24 through March 3 in Indianapolis — it could mean varying degrees of participation in the run/jump/lift/interview/medical check-fest and the premier draft showcase.
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“My situation is a little different because of how far we went in the playoffs,” former Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans told the Akron Beacon Journal. “We were playing until January 20th, so I'm already a couple weeks behind, because a lot of kids didn’t have the postseason. They’ve been training since [the] end of December.”
Which means for Evans, in turn, he won’t participate in the drills/testing portion of the combine — like the 40-yard dash and bench press — but will do the interviewing, measurements and medical checks.
Instead, he’ll defer the physical stuff to Notre Dame’s Pro Day, set for a yet-to-be-specified date in late March on the ND campus.
The other seven Irish combine invites are wide receiver Beaux Collins, nose guard Howard Cross III, linebacker Jack Kiser, quarterback Riley Leonard, defensive tackle Rylie Mills, cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts.
All but Mills and Morrison played in Notre Dame’s 34-23 loss to Ohio State in the CFP National Championship Game, Jan. 20 in Atlanta. Morrison suffered a season-ending hip injury on Oct. 12 against Stanford. Mills was lost to a knee injury late in ND’s Dec. 20 first-round playoff win over Indiana.
A total of 329 college football players received invitations to the combine, with the testing portion being staged at Lucas Oil Stadium. Among the notable Irish draft-eligible players who did not were nickel Jordan Clark, wide receivers Kris Mitchell and Jayden Harrison, safety Rod Heard II, tight end Davis Sherwood, running back Devyn Ford, kicker Mitch Jeter and defensive end RJ Oben.
Those players and the combine invitees are eligible to participate in ND’s Pro Day in front of NFL scouts.
The NFL Draft is set for April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wis.
Notre Dame’s returning players have begun winter workouts almost a month behind their typical schedule to account for both the late end of the season and the extra game — 16 in total, compared to the typical 13.
The start to spring practice, also moved back, has yet to be officially unveiled, but the conclusion — the annual Blue-Gold Game — has been, and is set for April 12 at Notre Dame Stadium.
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