Notre Dame Tracking Toward Busy NFL Draft Day Two, Analysts Say
The NFL Draft, like everything else in sports right now, has been altered. It won’t have fans or a green room. It won’t be an in-person event.
It will, though, happen in some form. And the consensus among most mock drafts is that Notre Dame should see a few of its 2019 stars selected on day two.
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson’s three-round mock draft, published Monday, has five Notre Dame players as second- or third-round selections. All of them are ranked among the outlet’s top 105 overall prospects.
Defensive end Julian Okwara was the first Irish player off the board in the mock, going at No. 48 to the New York Jets. In CBS’ own rankings, he is the No. 44 player and the No. 5 edge defender.
CBS has four Notre Dame players as third-round picks: tight end Cole Kmet (No. 75, Indianapolis Colts), cornerback Troy Pride Jr. (No. 79, Denver Broncos), wide receiver Chase Claypool (No. 87, New England Patriots) and defensive end Khalid Kareem (No. 103, Philadelphia Eagles). Kmet is CBS’ top tight end and its 53rd-ranked player.
Bleacher Report's Matt Miller agrees, ranking Kmet 46th overall as his No. 1 tight end in his top 400 prospects, updated last week. He also gave him the label of “Best Day 1 Starter” among all tight ends in the 2020 draft. Kmet ran a 4.7-second 40-yard dash and had a 37-inch vertical jump at the NFL Combine last month.
Elsewhere, Miller tabbed Claypool as the wide receiver group’s “biggest riser” and ranks him No. 11 at the position. His stock has ascended since the combine, where he ran a faster-than-expected 4.42 40-yard dash and vertical-jumped 40.5 inches. He did 19 reps on the bench press and measured at 6-4 and 238 pounds.
Okwara is the No. 6 edge player, followed by Kareem at No. 13. Pride is his 18th-ranked cornerback. Tony Jones Jr. (No. 29 running back), Chris Finke (No. 52 wide receiver), Asmar Bilal (No. 32 linebacker), Alohi Gilman (No. 18 safety) and Jalen Elliott (No. 22 safety) also appeared in Miller’s position rankings.
Sporting News’ top 100 features five Notre Dame players as well. Kmet is its highest ranked at No. 52, followed closely by Claypool at No. 56 and Okwara at No. 57. Kareem is the outlet’s No. 79 overall player and Pride is No. 95.
The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 23-25. It was original set to be held in Las Vegas, but has been moved due to coronavirus concerns and will reportedly be conducted in a TV studio.
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