Advertisement
football Edit

Troy Pride Jr. Drafted By Panthers In Fourth Round

One of Notre Dame’s most utilized 2016 signees from year one to four is officially a pro.

Troy Pride Jr.’s sprinter speed helped him see the field right away and start three games as a freshman. It made him a reliable full-time starter at cornerback on 11-win teams. And finally, that same trait was at the front of his NFL appeal.

The Carolina Panthers used a fourth-round selection Saturday to draft Pride, a former Notre Dame track team member. He was the No. 113 overall pick and the fourth Notre Dame player selected this year.

A 4.40-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February highlighted that speed. Entering the draft, most analysts viewed him as a third- or fourth-round pick.

Former Notre Dame cornerback and Carolina Panthers draft choice Troy Pride Jr.
Pride joined his former roommate and secondary member Julian Love in the NFL. (USA Today)
Advertisement

“He’s really athletic, he checks the boxes,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said on the draft broadcast. “He’s got the size you want and he can run with anybody. [At the NFL Combine, he ran a] 4.4, he could probably run a 4.3 on a good day.

“He had his moments in coverage where he looked like maybe a second-round draft choice, but he was inconsistent in terms of locating the ball — he’d look like he was in position to make the play and didn’t. I don’t know if you could coach that up or if it’s instincts, but on talent, on recovery speed, on want-to, he’s got that, all the things you want in a corner physically he has.”

Pride (5-11, 193 pounds) finished his Notre Dame career with 121 tackles, 18 passes defended and four interceptions. He started 32 games across four years. Per Pro Football Focus, opponents targeted him 175 times in his career. He allowed seven touchdowns and only five catches of 25-plus yards. Opponents had a catch percentage of 56.6 against him.

As a senior, Pride started all 13 games and made 40 tackles with one interception, which came against Duke in November.

Per Spotrac, Pride’s rookie deal will be four years and worth a total of $3.42 million.

A four-star recruit and state champion sprinter from South Carolina, Pride initially committed to Virginia Tech in the middle of his junior year. He backed off that pledge during his senior season amid the news of then-head coach Frank Beamer’s retirement. On Christmas Eve 2015, he chose the Irish over South Carolina, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and others.

Pride began his first season on the scout team, but was among a clump of freshmen head coach Brian Kelly threw into action in a home win over Syracuse, Notre Dame’s first game after firing defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder.

“Every day on scout team, I was like, he is as good as the guys we go against week in and week out,” Kelly said of Pride afterward.

Pride started the final four games of the 2017 season. That winter, he qualified for 2018 ACC Indoor Championships with Notre Dame’s track team. He ran the 60-yard dash in 6.73 seconds to quality.

The emergence came in 2018, when Pride started 12 games at field corner opposite roommate Julian Love. He had 10 passes defended, two interceptions, a forced fumble and earned a sturdy 78.7 coverage grade from PFF. He surrendered one touchdown. After a benching in late October against Navy due to poor tackling, he ended the season with a flourish. Even in a 30-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Clemson, he allowed only two catches for 12 yards when targeted.

After Love’s early departure, Notre Dame moved Pride over to boundary corner before fall camp. It meant more matchups with an opponent’s biggest, most physical receiver. There was no better place to start than a month of training camp matchups with 6-4 teammate Chase Claypool would prepare him.

RELATED: Sign up for Blue & Gold's FREE alerts and newsletter

“We feel like his best asset for us is his experience,” Kelly told reporters at the start of camp.

Pride’s senior year, though, was somewhat of a drop-off at his new spot. He was solid but not a standout. He forced only one turnover. He turned around momentum with a strong performance at the Senior Bowl in January.

“That’s where you have to thrive in those moments where people are questioning if you’re the best or who’s the best,” Pride told reporters at the NFL Combine.

At the combine, though, he viewed that 4.4 40 as disappointing, even if it was still fourth among cornerbacks who ran. He had teased running a sub-4.3.

Pride is Notre Dame’s 43rd draft choice of the Brian Kelly era. He’s the fourth member of the 2016 class to be drafted, joining Love (fourth round, 2019), Claypool and Julian Okwara.

----

Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement