Notre Dame and the NFL draft

Since the NFL draft began in 1936, Notre Dame has had 64 players selected in the first round. That number is expected to go up Thursday at the annual NFL draft when any combination of offensive lineman Zack Martin and defensive linemen Louis Nix III and Stephon Tuitt could be chosen in the first round.

Seven Irish players are expected to be drafted: Martin, Nix, Tuitt, TE-Troy Niklas, OG-Chris Watt, WR-TJ Jones and OLB-Prince Shembo. A possible eighth is DL-Kona Schwenke.

Most ND players drafted in last 20 years: 7 - 2007 (QB-Brady Quinn, Cleveland Browns, 1st round; DE-Victor Abiamiri, Philadelphia Eagles, 2nd round; OT-Ryan Harris, Denver Broncos, 3rd round; DT-Derek Landri, Jacksonville Jaguars, 5th round; CB-Mike Richardson, New England Patriots, 6th round; OG-Dan Santucci, Cincinnati Bengals, 7th round; S-Chinedum Ndukwe, Cincinnati Bengals, 7th round).

Last first-round selection: TE-Tyler Eifert, 2013 (Cincinnati Bengals), 21st overall pick.

Last offensive lineman selected in first round: C-Jeff Faine, 2003 (Cleveland Browns), 21st overall pick.

Last time as many as three picks in top two rounds: 1994 - DT-Bryant Young (San Francisco 49ers), 1st round, 7th overall; OL-Aaron Taylor (Green Bay Packers) 1st round, 16th overall; FS-Jeff Burris (Buffalo Bills), 1st round, 27th overall; C-Tim Ruddy, (Miami Dolphins) 2nd round, 65th overall.

Last defensive lineman selected in first round: Renaldo Wynn (Jacksonville Jaguars), 1997, 21st overall pick.

Last time two offensive linemen drafted: 2010 - Sam Young (Dallas Cowboys), 6th round; Eric Olsen (Denver Broncos), 6th round.

Last time two defensive linemen drafted: 2007 - Victor Abiamiri (Philadelphia Eagles), 2nd round; Derek Landri (Jacksonville Jaguars), 5th round.

Last time Notre Dame had just one draft pick: 2011 TE-Kyle Rudolph (Minnesota Vikings), 2nd round; 2000 QB-Jarious Jackson (Denver Broncos), 7th round; 1998 CB-Allen Rossum (Philadelphia Eagles), 3rd round.

Top 10 draft picks since 1965: WR-Jack Snow (Minnesota Vikings), 1965, 8th overall pick; DE-Kevin Hardy (New Orleans Saints), 1968, 7th overall pick; OT-George Kunz (Atlanta Falcons), 1969, 2nd overall pick; DT-Mike McCoy (Green Bay Packers), 1970, 2nd overall pick; DE-Walt Patulski (Buffalo Bills), 1972, 1st overall pick; DT-Mike Fanning (Los Angeles Rams), 1975, 9th overall pick; DT-Steve Niehaus (Seattle Seahawks), 1976, 2nd overall pick; TE-Ken MacAfee (San Francisco 49ers), 1978, 7th overall pick; WR-Tim Brown (Los Angeles Raiders), 1988, 6th overall pick; CB-Todd Lyght (Los Angeles Rams), 1991, 5th overall pick; QB-Rick Mirer (Seattle Seahawks), 1993, 2nd overall pick; DT-Bryant Young (San Francisco 49ers), 1994, 7th overall pick;

2-Running backs drafted since 2000: Julius Jones (Dallas Cowboys), 2004, 2nd round; Theo Riddick (Detroit Lions), 2013, 6th round.

4-1st-round draft picks in the last 10 years: QB-Brady Quinn, 2007 (Cleveland Browns), 22nd overall pick; WR-Michael Floyd, 2012 (Arizona Cardinals), 13th overall pick; S-Harrison Smith, 2012 (Minnesota Vikings), 29th overall pick; TE-Tyler Eifert, 2013 (Cincinnati Bengals), 21st overall pick.

5-Tight ends selected since 2005: Tyler Eifert (Cincinnati Bengals), 2013, 1st round; Kyle Rudolph (Minnesota Vikings), 2011, 2nd round; John Carlson (Seattle Seahawks), 2008, 2nd round; Anthony Fasano (Dallas Cowboys), 2006, 2nd round; Jerome Collins (St. Louis Rams), 2005, 5th round.