The NFL Combine starting just 38 days after the National Championship game wasn’t ideal for the beat up Notre Dame players. As such, it was a pretty subdued time for the former Irish stars looking to start the next phase of their football careers. Here’s a brief recap of the proceedings coming out of Indianapolis from late last week through this past weekend:

Riley Leonard

The Irish quarterback didn’t work out and measured in at 6’4″ and 216 pounds. He did go through passing drills, though. With footwork, timing, and accuracy being the big criticisms of Leonard as a passer it appeared he acquitted himself pretty well during the Combine. It’s too bad he wasn’t able to workout–even though that’s a known athletic strength it still would’ve been nice for him to turn a few heads anyway.

I am surprised at how high Leonard is on some draft sites (I’ve seen as high as the 6th or 7th best QB) and I’ll be honest I wouldn’t go near him until the 6th round. He’s worth a late pick with his athleticism and leadership abilities but the Kyle McCord and Tyler Shough’s of the world are going to enter NFL camps with so much better passing ability that make them worth more in the draft process.

Beaux Collins

I didn’t think Collins would be invited to the Combine but a former Clemson and Notre Dame receiver with almost 1,800 career yards making it to Indianapolis makes some sense, I suppose. Collins measured in at 6’3″ and 201 pounds and didn’t do any work outs. Which leads me to a discussion of whether other players should be invited instead if they will work out? I know it’s not all about workouts but it’s a combine first and foremost. Anyway, Collins will be doing his thing at Notre Dame’s Pro Day instead.

Mitchell Evans

Someone who participated fully! Coming in at a beefy 6’5″ and 258 pounds, Evans ended up testing really, really well for himself. It’s been no secret that his stock has fallen considerably since 2023 (he was in the discussion as the top tight end in this class) and a workout like this in front of scouts was definitely needed for Evans to regain some of that spotlight.

Pretty good numbers.

I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t buy stock on a Notre Dame tight end but Evans is sitting squarely in the underrated draft pick territory now. He’s athletic but doesn’t have the real chiseled physique you see from some other tight ends. I think he’ll make a couple big jumps physically once he’s in the NFL for a couple years. If he’s not picked among the first 5 tight ends in this NFL Draft some team is going to be getting an insane value with Evans.

Rylie Mills

The reports I’m reading have Mills trending as a Day 3 pick and his knee injury isn’t doing him any favors. It will be another 4-5 months until he’s back on the football field and he might not be fully healthy until a month or two into the 2025 season. He did go to Indianapolis and measure 6’5″ and a svelte 291 pounds despite looking like he hadn’t slept in 3 days.

Get some rest, Rylie! 

Mills is a similar profile to Evans in that he could go so much later than we once hoped but could develop into a really good pro, and maybe even a starter down the road. I’m not sure Mills has the athletic ceiling like Evans, though. That might be a big difference.

Howard Cross

Cross came to Indy to get measured (6’1″ and 285 pounds) and then participated in vertical and broad jump only, for some reason. He ended up finishing middle of the pack for defensive tackles in both areas. Some eyebrows were raised after it was reported that some teams wanted to work Cross out at fullback, as well. On the one hand, positional flexibility! On the other hand, there’s not much work in the NFL as a fullback these days.

I was surprised to see Cross so lowly regarded in this year’s NFL Draft. The unassailable (definitely tongue in cheek) NFL Draft Buzz has Cross as the 46th ranked defensive tackle in this class. If that’s even close to accurate we may be seeing a UDFA situation for Cross which I was not expecting.

Jack Kiser

Fresh off my praise this week of Kiser’s appearances in Here Come the Irish on Peacock he rocked up to the Combine and at least went through some positional drills with the linebackers. Looking at the buzz around his workout, it seems Kiser acquitted himself pretty well.

The esteemed NFL Draft Buzz has Kiser ranked as the no. 16th linebacker in this draft class which looks to be a fine spot for himself. That might put him as high as the 5th round and with his strong leadership and defensive mind (plus special teams capability, that will play a factor) we could see Kiser come off the board half a round earlier than expected.

Benjamin Morrison

Notre Dame’s former no. 1 corner has been on the mend for nearly a couple months getting back to prime shape for the NFL. He measured in at 6’0″ and 193 pounds at the Combine and obviously did not work out at all. What’s more, Morrison mentioned to the media that he will not be taking part in Notre Dame’s upcoming Pro Day coming up sometime this month. Instead, B-Mo will be holding his own personal workout session which should provide him extra rehabilitation time from hip surgery. With his injury, Morrison has floated back to somewhere between the 4th and 6th best corner in the draft in most places and he’s no longer a lock for the 1st round like once upon a time. A really impressive workout could still be big for him, though.

Xavier Watts

If there’s one person who will be hoping for a huge Pro Day it’s Xavier Watts. He measured in at 6’0″ and 204 pounds at the Combine but skipped all of the workouts. The NFL is rightfully wowed with Watts’ ball skills and instincts. If he has an impressive athletic performance in front of scouts at Notre Dame I wouldn’t be shocked if he moved way, way up in this draft. He’s been holding steady on mock draft boards as a late 2nd-round type safety and there’s a very real possibility he moves into a top 40 overall pick and maybe even goes ahead of Morrison.

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PFF mentioned a couple of Notre Dame opponents on their Risers & Fallers from the Combine workouts. Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart put up elite of elite testing numbers and looked to move up into a top 10 pick after this weekend. On the flip side, Georgia safety Malaki Starks struggled just about everywhere except a solid 40-time and came in a lighter than expected 197 pounds. There’s the belief Starks may not be the top safety picked in the draft although it’ll take a big drop for him to fall out of the 1st round it seems.