Benjamin Morrison's Notre Dame football career didn't end as spectacularly as it began.
The cornerback from Phoenix Brophy Prep flashed onto the college football scene as a freshman in 2022 with a season that included six interceptions and several Freshman All-America honors.
Though Morrison entered the 2024 season with preseason All-America mentions, he was unable to fulfill those expectations due to a hip injury that cut his junior season short after six games. On Thursday, Morrison formally ended his Notre Dame career by declaring as an early entrant for the 2025 NFL Draft.
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The 6-foot, 190-pound Morrison totaled 20 tackles and four pass breakups this season before leaving the field during a 49-7 win over Stanford. His hip injury required surgery, but he didn't stop impacting Notre Dame's team. He helped sophomore Christian Gray, who was starting alongside Morrison, and freshman Leonard Moore, who replaced Morrison, in their first season as starters.
“Ben is just a great leader," Notre Dame defensive backs coach Mike Mickens told Inside ND Sports this week. "He’s very close to those guys, the whole group. He’s been through what Leonard and Christian are going through. That’s the great thing about it. You have somebody right there you can lean on and talk to.”
Morrison, who Rivals rated as four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 30 cornerback in the 2022 recruiting class, flashed in his first career game at Notre Dame as a freshman in 2022. He contributed three tackles and one pass breakup in a 21-10 loss at Ohio State.
Morrison eventually became a starter in the third game of the season and continued to impress from there. He finished the season with a team-high six interceptions, a total only bested by two others in the FBS that season, four pass breakups, 33 tackles and one tackle for loss.
Morrison didn't match his interception total as a sophomore, but he continued to be a nuisance in coverage with three interceptions, 10 pass breakups, 31 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss in 12 games.
Morrison's 2024 started off poorly with a right shoulder injury suffered in spring practice that required surgery in late March. He recovered from the injury in time to start Notre Dame's season opener at Texas A&M on Aug. 31.
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Morrison became the first Notre Dame player to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. Morrison was projected to be a first-round pick by many draft analysts prior to the 2024 season. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projected Morrison as a late first-round pick in his recent mock draft. The Athletic's Dane Brugler predicted Morrison as a late second-round pick in his recent mock draft.
The Irish will have many others in the 2025 draft pool who have either exhausted their NCAA eligibility or will forfeit their remaining eligibility to chase an NFL career.
The NFL created a special deadline for players on the teams who played in Monday's CFP National Championship Game. Early entrants like Morrison have until Friday to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. They have until Monday to revoke their submission. Any player who started his college career in 2022 or redshirted a season after starting his career in 2021 must declare for special eligibility as an early entrant.
Players who are deemed automatically eligible for the draft, because they started their college careers in 2020 or didn't redshirt after starting college in 2021, have until Friday, Feb. 7, to opt out of the draft.
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