This is the second year we’ve done this pro scouting annual for the Irish football team. If you missed the 2023 article on the offense CLICK HERE.
As a reminder, here’s a refresher on some of the guidelines to who is included and who is not:
Older players who have not made the necessary impact in terms of a possible NFL career are not included.
We are working under the constraints of the NFL value system. For example, last year CBS Sports had tight end Michael Mayer going 10th overall in their 2023 mock draft. We mentioned how that was way too high given the value of that position and Mayer ended up being picked 25 spots lower than CBS Sports guessed.
Of course, for many young players and freshmen we are guessing somewhat wildly and hopefully.
FYI, your typical NFL Draft has around 260 picks, which fluctuates depending on how many compensatory selections there may be in any given year.
ELG: Eligibility remaining, including 2023.
NOW: Selection spot if the 2024 NFL Draft was held today.
FUTURE: Their ceiling as a NFL pick based on available evidence.
(Parentheses indicates change from last year if applicable).
Notre Dame Defense Scouting Annual 2023
| NAME | POS | ELG | NOW | FUTURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Morrison | CB | 3 | 87 | 19 |
| Cam Hart | CB | 2 | 192 (+20) | 136 (-39) |
| Christian Gray | CB | 4 | UDFA | 155 |
| Jaylen Sneed | LB | 3 | UDFA | 195 (+2) |
| Xavier Watts | S | 2 | UDFA | 198 |
| Drayk Bowen | LB | 4 | UDFA | 204 |
| Jack Kiser | LB | 2 | UDFA | 209 (+8) |
| Jaden Mickey | CB | 3 | UDFA | 213 (-11) |
| Jordan Botelho | DE | 2 | UDFA | 217 |
| Brenan Vernon | DE | 4 | UDFA | 222 |
| Howard Cross | DT | 2 | UDFA | 230 (-79) |
| Rylie Mills | DT | 2 | UDFA | 233 (-126) |
| Clarence Lewis | CB | 2 | UDFA | 238 (+1) |
| Antonio Carter | S | 2 | UDFA | 245 |
| JD Bertrand | LB | 2 | UDFA | 249 (-4) |
| NaNa Osafo-Mensah | DE | 2 | UDFA | 252 |
| Micah Bell | CB | 4 | UDFA | 256 |
| Junior Tuihalamaka | DE | 3 | UDFA | 258 |
| Jason Onye | DT | 3 | UDFA | 259 |
Four players who made the scouting annual last year but not this year include linebacker Marist Liufau (ceiling of 128 last year maybe the least accurate thing I’ve written on this website), defensive end Aiden Gobaira, defensive tackle Tyson Ford, and safety Ramon Henderson.
Non-true freshmen not to make the list include linebacker Nolan Ziegler, defensive end Josh Burnham, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, defensive tackle Donovan Hinish, defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio, defensive tackle Aiden Keanaaina, cornerback Ryan Barnes, cornerback Chance Tucker, safety DJ Brown, and safety Thomas Harper.
New entrants to the scouting annual include defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah, defensive tackle Jason Onye, corner Benjamin Morrison, safety Xavier Watts, and safety Antonio Carter. That’s a nice group!
True freshmen not to make the list include defensive end Armel Mukam, defensive end Bobacar Traore, defensive tackle Devan Houstan, linebacker Preston Zinter, linebacker Jaiden Ausberry, safety Adon Shuler, and safety Ben Minich.
Players no longer on the roster who made the list last year (scouting numbers in parentheses):
Isaiah Foskey (53-14): Ultimately picked 40th overall by the Saints.
Brandon Joseph (46-34): Undrafted and signed as a free agent by the Lions. Just about everyone had him as a 2nd round pick prior to 2022!
Jayson Ademilola (189-118): Undrafted and signed as a free agent by the Jaguars.
Tariq Bracy (UDFA-173): Undrafted and still no news about his future.
Prince Kollie (UDFA-189): Transferred to Vanderbilt and wouldn’t have made the scouting annual here if he stayed.
Bo Bauer (UDFA-228): Undrafted and signed as a free agent by the Seahawks.
Jacob Lacey (UDFA-234): Transferred mid-season to Oklahoma last year.
Justin Ademilola (UDFA-246): Undrafted and signed to the Packers rookie mini-camp.
Scouting Highlights:
Benjamin Morrison wasn’t even enrolled on campus for this article last year and now he tops the whole defense. Now, he will go through 2 to 3 years of nitpicking his play and NFL credentials.
If you look past Cam Hart’s shoulder injuries he should be a coveted NFL pick when his time comes. However, the NFL isn’t a place that typically looks over chronic injuries.
Christian Gray came in highly touted and looked the part during spring practice before a knee injury shut him down. Is he going to be this year’s Benjamin Morrison or something closer to Jaden Mickey?
If you believe in some of the modest hype, Xavier Watts would be a fun guy to bet he’ll overachieve based on this scouting number.
Is Jack Kiser going to be a pleasant surprise and play in the NFL?
Admittedly, we’ve got a lot of players who might get drafted one day. Essentially, 15 players all packed into the last 2 rounds for their ceiling right now. You could probably take a couple guys off the chart and I wouldn’t complain. At the same time, surely a handful of players are going to be moving up as soon as next year.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of 2023 both Rylie Mills and Howard Cross will have. The former looked really clunky and unathletic at times last year and hopefully a move to defensive tackle opens up his game. Cross had his moments but I’m not sure what the NFL will think of him at the next level–just 2.5 tackles for loss last year!?
I believe that one or two of the listed players will move into that 50-100 range (Future). I think with as much low round talent that ND currently has, there are going to be some players that are gems and rise due to being able to trust their teammates to do their jobs and not having to worry about covering for them, allowing their own abilities to shine through. Which players those are, i have not a clue, but look forward to seeing them breakout.
We all know it’s 2. The only way 3 comes into play is the case of injury, but that changes the calculus of the discussion from nit-picking to recovery.
Neither Justin or Jayson nor Bo Bauer made their teams 90 man rosters. Jayson signed a 3 year contract for $2,710,000 total, working out to an average of $903,333 a year. His agent negotiated $100,000 guaranteed, so he walks away with that at least. I don’t think Justin or Bo got any guaranteed money.
Khalid Kareem, drafted in the 5th round (#147) by the Bengals n 2020 signed a 4 year contract worth $3,649,476, averaging $912,369 a year. His guaranteed money was $354,476, He only earned 44% of that before the contract was terminated and he signed a new one to stay on the Bengals practice squad at a much lower salary. The Colts picked him up for a 1 year base salary deal with no guaranteed money. He’s gotten about $2.2 million for four years in the NFL. He may end up on the practice squad.
Just a few examples that for most players, the degree is where you earn your money lifetime. Hopefully, all those above stay for their degree.
It’s wild and sad how short NFL careers can be!
Reminder that the NFLPA is fine with the sport’s pyramid shaped contract structure, where most of the players get screwed over. Glad we’re bringing that model to college football!
They thought they were being smart by reducing rookie contracts, so mid-level veterans would earn more money. But instead, it had the opposite effect. The richest get richer and the mid-level guys get the same size contracts, but get cut more often for cheap rookies.
All those UDFAs and later rounders can hope to make the team – and, if so, keep their places next year with the new round of the same type of players. Hinish is in that situation with Houston.
Yeah, with the college teams remaking their rosters with lots of transfers with different years of eligibility, it will be worth watching to see if the same process repeats itself. Players msy transfer to two or three schools in their careers basically like free agents without guarantees.
Dang, I hope Sneed has a higher ceiling than that! Realize the “available evidence” qualifier, but he looked pretty athletic last year – just also looked like he was running around without any idea of where to go or what to do. Hopefully that changes this year.
He’s probably a good bet to be one to jump way up, eventually.
Where was Marist a year ago?
UDFA – 128
Marist could be good in a limited, sub-package role. Apparently he’s been pretty good in coverage.