Notre Dame football welcomed 6 players to the 4 days of the NFL Combine this past weekend in Indianapolis. It was a successful several days for the program, so much so that I wouldn’t expect these high profile players to do a whole lot when the Pro Days kicks off in South Bend in the future. In that way, the hay is mostly in the barn now for Notre Dame heading towards the NFL Draft–which doesn’t take place for an excruciating long time beginning on April 23rd in Pittsburgh.
The same can’t be said for the likes of Will Pauling, Jared Dawson, Jordan Botelho, and Gabriel Rubio as the workout on campus will be important to any future professional employment.
A quick review of the Combine participants:
Jeremiyah Love
He is who we thought he was, pretty much sums up Love’s participation in the Combine from a Notre Dame perspective. Welcome to anyone else from the NFL and beyond just coming to terms with this now. Love didn’t participate in everything, nor should he have. The fact that he came to Indianapolis and worked out as much as he did was a small surprise given he’s been the consensus no. 1 running back by a wide margin for several months.
There’s been plenty of buzz around Love landing with the Chiefs at no. 9 overall but his stock continues to rise. There is talk of top 5 overall for Love perhaps landing in the no. 4 spot with the Titans and he may be the type of player that sees a few teams trying to move up a little bit to take him before Kansas City can get their hands on him. If you normally don’t tune into the NFL Draft it might be worth it to watch the first hour when there’s a love-fest for Love when he comes off the board.
Jadarian Price
This past fall, Price became a part of the discussion as one of the best running backs in this class behind teammate Love. That discussion doesn’t seem to be taking place as much as the spring arrives. Price checked most of the boxes he wanted to in Indianapolis including a very good 40-time and looking smooth and versatile during drills. I think it’s fair to say he solidified himself as the no. 2 overall back, or at least no one during the Combine did enough to surpass him at this point.
Will he make into the first round? My gut says it’ll be very tough. Love potentially going super early could push the running back needs up a little bit for several teams, although Price is probably more of a guy to come off the board in the 40-50th spots–which is still amazing for him! Interestingly, for someone who looks insanely rocked up and always has, Price was only 5’10” and some change and 203 pounds. I’m sure he wanted to slim down to run faster, and he had plenty of time to work on that after Notre Dame’s season ended.
Eli Raridon
Our tight end positional review is coming this week and it’s full of frustration. Departing senior Eli Raridon was one of the more discussed player from the 2025 Irish squad. Was he too much of a stiff athlete and not someone who lived up to his recruiting hype? Or someone who needed more experience as a starter and could blossom as a professional at the next level? If his Combine performance is an indicator, Raridon may be leaning slightly more towards the latter.
However, he’s still flying under the radar. Due to a couple of historic testing markers (Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq ran the fastest ever 40-time in modern history and Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers recorded historic broad and high jump) Raridon isn’t getting as much publicity for his extremely impressive RAS score–buoyed by being 3 inches taller than Sadiq and Stowers, respectively.
Malachi Fields
If there’s one player from today’s group who will be looking towards Pro Day it’ll be Fields. The former Virginia transfer was building a lot of momentum coming into the Combine based on an impressive time at the Senior Bowl. There was even some talk that he was moving up into 1st round territory. However, following his testing it may be time to recalibrate expectations.
Fields’ testing was fine but he’s popped up on some “Most Disappointing” lists following the festivities in Indianapolis. Honestly, I’m not sure it’s fair to him. A first round grade always felt extremely generous and if I were a NFL team there would need to be a lot more evidence from Fields that he’s worthy of that high of a salary slot in 2026. As always, we can expect improvement at Pro Day, though.
Billy Schrauth
With his season ending prematurely no one expected a ton of work to be done at the Combine for Schrauth. As such, things have been holding pretty steady for his NFL stock. He came in with decent size for a guard prospect although that won’t be a major strength of his at the next level. Schrauth did impress scouts with his drill work at the Combine which could help endear himself to a few more teams when the Draft rolls around.
Can he move up from a mid-round pick? It’s possible, although unlikely. Schrauth has shown himself to be excellent in pass protection and there’s a future where he goes in the top 100 picks, easily makes a roster, and even starts straight out of the gate as a rookie. I’d probably predict him falling to the 4th round, but we’ll see.
Aamil Wagner
I’m not sure if Wagner will regret turning pro after the 2025 season. Still, his decision was a little curious if rumors were true that he was holding some very generous NIL offers from other colleges to return in 2026. As a prospect, there’s a lot to like about Wagner’s game although going back to his recruiting days the lack of size always seemed to be an issue for someone looking to play tackle in the NFL.
Did he alleviate some concerns about his size at the Combine? Maybe a little bit. Being nearly 6’6″ is going to help him although barely scraping over 300 pounds continues to be a struggle in the weight department. Wagner has put plenty of athleticism on tape and his overall RAS score will earn him some bonus points in the process.
