It's disappointing when a player that Fighting Irish fans have followed for nearly half a decade underperforms on a national stage like the NFL Scouting Combine. Not because fans feel slighted or let down, but there is a sense of attachment to three, four and five-year players, and it's natural to want the players to do well.
It's hard to see a player like former Notre Dame safety Jalen Elliott, who was a captain and played hard for four years, have his career trajectory potentially altered because of a bad 40-time.
It's also good for the program when Notre Dame has back-to-back standout combine performances from 6-4 wide receivers in Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool. It creates a lot of positive buzz for the program and can be used as a tool in recruiting.
What's often even more valuable to a program and its recruit spiel is the number of players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine each year. That figure represents how many former Notre Dame players are leaving South Bend NFL ready.
Based on this metric, Notre Dame is in a healthy place. Over the last two seasons, the Fighting Irish have had the best two-year stretch in terms of NFL Combine invitees since the 2013 and 2014 seasons with a total of 17 players invited.
The nine players invited in 2020 are tied for the third most dating back to 1999. Nine players were also invited in 2014.
Notre Dame has had 10 players invited to the same NFL Combine twice: 2002 and 2016. The 2016 class was particularly impressive, as it included two players drafted in each of the first three rounds and a single fourth-round pick in defensive tackle Sheldon Day.
The worst two-year stretch came in 2008 (one player invited) and 2009 (four players invited). During that time, the Fighting Irish went 10-15.
Under head coach Brian Kelly, a total of 64 former Notre Dame players have been invited to the NFL Combine, which comes out to about 6.5 invitees per year.
Notre Dame NFL Combine Invitees in Brian Kelly Era
• 2020 — Nine — Alohi Gilman, Chase Claypool, Chris Finke, Cole Kmet, Julian Okwara, Jalen Elliott, Khalid Kareem, Tony Jones and Troy Pride Jr.
• 2019 — Eight — Alex Bars, Miles Boykin, Te’von Coney, Julian Love, Alizé Mack, Drue Tranquill and Dexter Williams
• 2018 — Five — Josh Adams, Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson, Durham Smythe and Equanimeous St. Brown
• 2017 — Three — DeShone Kizer, Jarron Jones and Isaac Rochell
• 2016 — Ten — Chris Brown, Sheldon Day, Will Fuller, Nick Martin, Romeo Okwara, C.J. Prosise, KeiVarae Russell, Elijah Shumate, Jaylon Smith and Ronnie Stanley
• 2015 — Three — Kyle Brindza, DaVaris Daniels and Ben Koyack
• 2014 — Nine — George Atkinson III, Bennett Jackson, TJ Jones, Zack Martin, Troy Niklas, Louis Nix III, Prince Shembo, Stephon Tuitt and Chris Watt
• 2013 — Eight — Braxston Cave, Tyler Eifert, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Zeke Motta, Theo Riddick, Jamoris Slaughter, Manti Te’o and Cierre Wood
• 2012 — Six — Robert Blanton, Taylor Dever, Darius Fleming, Michael Floyd, Jonas Gray and Harrison Smith
• 2011 — Three — Armando Allen, Kyle Rudolph and Ian Williams
* Figures courtesy of UND.com
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