Despite coming off a 4-8 season, Notre Dame is considered one of the best team's in the country in terms of NFL Draft talent.
NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein ranked the Irish roster as the 11th best in the country in terms of having NFL-caliber talent. His criteria is as follows:
"In compiling this list of the most talented college teams, I weighed each team's roster with an emphasis on identifying players who are likely to be draftees in 2018, or in future years. Teams with prospects who are among the most talented in the game were bolstered in the rankings."
Not surprisingly, Zierlein pointed to Notre Dame's talent along the offensive line as its most attractive feature when looking at NFL prospects.
"The strength of the team will be along the offensive line and specifically the left side with Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson. Nelson might be the most effective run blocker I studied on tape this summer and McGlinchey is an ace in pass protection. Notre Dame has two quality tight ends and exciting young prospects in Equanimeous St. Brown and Josh Adams. Defensively, the Irish are a little light on talent with Jerry Tillery, Nyles Morgan and Drue Tranquill as some of the draftable talent."
Zierlein listed McGlinchey, Nelson, St. Brown, Adams, Tillery, Morgan Tranquill, tight end Alizé Mack and tight end Durham Smythe as players to watch.
McGlinchey is considered by many to be the top draft prospect on the current roster. CBS Sports (No. 2), Fox Sports (No. 5), Walter Football (No. 8), Drafttek (No. 9) and Pro Football Focus all have him pegged as a Top 10 pick in their early mock drafts.
Nelson was tagged as a first round pick by Pro Football Focus (No. 17), Fox Sports (No. 18), Rotoworld (No. 21), Drafttek (No. 24), CBS Sports (No. 28) and Walter Football (No. 31).
Tillery was projected as a second round pick by Fox Sports (No. 37) and St. Brown was pegged as a second round pick by Drafttek (No. 57).
Here is the rest of Zierlein's rankings (Notre Dame and its 2017 opponents in bold):
1. Ohio State
2. Alabama
3. Clemson
4. Washington
5. USC
6. Florida State
7. Florida
8. LSU
9. Michigan
10. Auburn
11. Notre Dame
12. Georgia
13. Miami, Fla.
14. Penn State
15. Wisconsin
16. Oklahoma
17. Oklahoma State
18. Arkansas
19. Texas
20. Northwestern
21. West Virginia
22. Washington State
23. Virginia Tech
24. Oregon
25. Stanford
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