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Final Churn Of Mock Drafts Weigh In On Notre Dame Prospects

Draft week has arrived, and with it comes the mock draft churn operating at optimal mania and speed. This final flood of mocks also offered some new possibilities on landing spots and draft ranges for Notre Dame players.

Pro Football Focus, in what has been one of the more unique stances of the pre-draft season, still sees edge player Julian Okwara as a first-round selection. Steve Palazzolo slotted him to the Seattle Seahawks with the No. 27 overall pick in his latest mock draft, released Monday.

“Okwara has the movement skills to dabble at linebacker in the right scheme, but he’s likely a pure edge rusher for Seattle,” Palazzolo wrote. “He finished with an outstanding 90.4 pass-rush grade last season, though he’s got work to do against the run where he graded at just 64.0.”

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Former Notre Dame defensive end Julian Okwara
A couple draft analysts are still buying the idea of Julian Okwara as a first-round pick. (Bill Panzica)

Okwara entered the year in the first-round discussion, but an injury aided his slide into more of a day-two pick. PFF has not wavered on the initial stance and credited Okwara for a strong 2019 season.

Turns out, Palazzolo isn’t all alone in his thinking. NFL.com’s Chad Reuter mocked Okwara in the first round of his seven-round exercise, taking him at No. 31 in a projected trade where the Houston Texans move up to get him.

“If he hadn’t broken his fibula in November, Okwara would have received much more first-round talk this year,” Reuter wrote. “If the medicals are fine, the Texans will view him as a strong and agile edge rusher for the foreseeable future.”

Furthermore, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero included Okwara in his list of five possible round one surprises.

“Okwara’s calendar has been booked up with video interviews as teams try to answer their main question: How committed is he to reaching his immense potential on a daily basis?” Pelissero wrote. “‘I already counted him to be a clear one,’ an NFC personnel director said. ‘He’s a bright kid and he’s got other interests. But I think athletically, he can run and bend like no one else coming off the corner.’

“Okwara (6-4, 252) did not work out at the combine, but the physical ability isn't in much doubt. ‘You just question his wiring,’ another NFC exec said. ‘I would say he’s a lesser version of [Penn State edge Yetur] Gross-Matos in that they’re both athletes and neither one of them play through people. Work the edges, finesse, use their length. How much dog do either one of them have in them?’”

Elsewhere, Okwara is showing up in the late second or third round. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. touted him last month as a second-round pick, and put him there in his latest two-round mock. He is going to the Buffalo Bills at No. 54 overall, a popular landing spot for him in recent mock drafts.

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“[Okwara] has some versatility as a defensive end in a 4-3 defense or an outside linebacker in a 3-4,” Kiper wrote. “He’d be an end in Buffalo.”

CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson, in his latest mock, has Okwara going to the New York Jets in the third round at No. 68 overall as the first Notre Dame player picked. Wilson has three more Irish teammates off the board on three consecutive picks in the second round: tight end Cole Kmet (No. 87, New England Patriots), wide receiver Chase Claypool (No. 88, New Orleans Saints) and edge player Khalid Kareem (No. 89, Minnesota Vikings).

“Claypool is a huge target on the outside, and some NFL teams even like him as a TE,” Wilson wrote. “Either way, Sean Payton will get the most out of his talents.”

Kmet is the first and only tight end selected in Wilson’s mock.

“The TE class isn’t particularly deep, and Kmet won't replace Rob Gronkowski, but he’ll contribute immediately for whomever the Pats settle on at QB,” Wilson wrote.

Kiper, meanwhile, has Kmet and Claypool off the board in the top 50 at No. 43 to the Chicago Bears and No. 48 to the Jets, respectively.

Reuter mocked Kmet even earlier, sending him to the Cincinnati Bengals with the first pick of the second round, giving Notre Dame two top-35 picks. His third round has cornerback Troy Pride Jr. going No. 77 to the Denver Broncos and Claypool at No. 79 to the Jets. Kareem is a fourth-round pick, going to the Baltimore Ravens at No. 134.

The final Irish players in Reuter’s mock are their starting safety tandem — Alohi Gilman is a sixth-rounder to the Patriots at No. 192, and Jalen Elliott a seventh-rounder to the New York Giants at No. 218.

Pelissero predicts Kmet’s range will fall more in line with Reuter’s and Kiper’s projections.

“Kmet is widely seen as the top prospect,” Pelissero wrote. “‘If you want him, you’re going to have to take him late first or early, early second,’ an AFC coach said. ‘Big dude, can catch, knows how to use his body. He’s probably one of the top in-line Ys in the last couple years. Super smart. High character in every way.’

“He pulled a hamstring on his first 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine which affected his workout, but still ran 4.70 at 6-foot-6, 262 pounds. He just turned 21 in March. ‘He's not dynamic as a receiver. But he’s a really big man that plays a physical style of football,’ an NFC executive said. ‘He wins contested catches. He’s strong after the catch.’”

CBS Sports’ R.J. White, in a trade-filled seven-round mock, also has seven Notre Dame players being selected. His first is a bit of a surprise: Pride Jr., who went to the Carolina Panthers at No. 69 in the third round.

Four other Notre Dame players followed him late in the third round: Kareem (No. 87, Detroit Lions), Okwara (No. 90, Texans), Kmet (No. 94, Green Bay Packers) and Claypool (No. 97, Cleveland Browns). Gilman (No. 240, Texans) and Elliott (No. 249, Vikings) were seventh-rounders.

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