The 2017 NFL Draft is officially in the books and it was a humbling weekend for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish who had to experience one more aftershock from a poor football season and a relatively small group of prospects eager to hear their names called. In all, just 2 players ended up being selected.

New Homes

DeShone Kizer, 20th pick of the 2nd Round, 52nd Overall, Cleveland Browns
Isaac Rochell, 7th pick of the 7th Round, 225th Overall, San Diego Chargers
James Onwualu, UDFA, San Diego Chargers
Jarron Jones UDFA, New York Giants
Cole Luke UDFA, Carolina Panthers

In the end, Kizer suffers the indignity of a small fall in the Draft and being selected by the Browns–the latter fate so much more depressing. The loss of money probably isn’t that big of a deal–there are worse things in the world than automatically making a couple million in your early twenties–but Cleveland will surround Kizer (at the moment) with perhaps the worst offense in the league.

The Browns didn’t exactly supplement the offense in the Draft going with defenders in 4 of their first 6 picks, while reaching a bit for Miami tight end David Njoku in the bottom of the first. The only other offensive playmaker picked was NC State running back Matt Dayes late in the 7th round.

Cleveland does have an enormous amount of cap space which should be well over $50 million following the signing of their rookies. They’ll also have to work out the situation with Brock Osweiler ($16 million cap hit) and both Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan in the quarterback carousel.

All three of those quarterbacks received snaps in the NFL last year so there seems like there’s a path whereby Kizer can sit the whole year. However, there’s plenty of other scenarios leading to Kizer starting in September and really struggling to carry the offense.

Rochell fell to a pretty good situation with the Chargers where Corey Liuget is an established starter but the depth chart is pretty wide open behind him. You don’t usually say this about a 7th round pick but Rochell has a pretty good shot of making the roster for 2017.

Remember to not get too excited about the undrafted free agents. Players like Romeo Okwara are heavily the exception when making rosters. The same goes even more so for camp invites in the coming months.

Declared Early, Undrafted

As expected, Irish running back Tarean Folston was not selected in the Draft after declining his fifth-year of eligibility in South Bend. As of Sunday evening he has not signed a free agent deal with a team yet.

A handful of high profile college players went undrafted after declaring early:

KD Cannon, WR, Baylor – Among the best playmakers for the Bears since his first step on campus. Quite skinny at 180 pounds but left Baylor with 195 catches and 3,113 receiving yards for his career. He signed a UDFA deal with San Francisco.

Jerod Evans, QB, Virginia Tech – Came to Blacksburg from JUCO and played one pretty good season for the Hokies. Leaving so quickly wasn’t a stunner but a bit of a surprise.

Damien Mama, OG, USC – Perpetually overweight with the Trojans but plenty of experience since arriving in Los Angeles. The top guard from the 2014 class got skipped over in the Draft and signed a UDFA deal with Kansas City.

Travis Rudolph, WR, Florida State – A former top 100 recruit who played at a blue-blood program and led the Seminoles in receiving each of the last two seasons. He signed a deal with the New York Giants.

Should Kizer Have Stayed?

The projection of quarterback classes coming into the NFL often reminds me of trying to predict college football strength of schedules. Quite often, the opposite comes true. One of the selling points for Kizer leaving early was the much stronger 2018 Draft class. Yet, 3 quarterbacks went in the top 12 selections for 2017 (and two of those guys were barely in the picture even during the middle of last fall) then Kizer waited 40 picks before he was the next signal caller off the board.

Had Kizer stayed at Notre Dame here’s who he would’ve competed with in next year’s Draft:

Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State – The stats and size are going to be there for 1st round potential.

Luke Falk, Washington State – A poor man’s Patrick Mahomes, perhaps? Could be tough to move into the 1st round.

Riley Ferguson, Memphis – Should finish with a nice two-year career with the Tigers. A little short and skinny to be an elite prospect.

Josh Rosen, UCLA – The golden boy returns from injury and is expected to be a Top 5 pick. I wouldn’t completely rule out a Christian Hackenberg-esque slide, though.

Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma – Way too short and not polished enough as a passer.

Lamar Jackson, Louisville – The next Michael Vick? Athleticism alone could make him a 1st round pick.

Trace McSorley, Penn State – Probably far too short to be a top pick at the QB position.

Jake Browning, Washington – Lack of arm strength is going to be a huge negative. Combined with not great atleticism his ceiling isn’t very high.

Sam Darnold, USC – In the early mock drafts he’s the No. 1 overall pick in most. This battered Notre Dame fan isn’t completely convinced he’ll leave after 2 years of starting but let’s hope.

Jarrett Stidham, Auburn – One of the best skill-sets for someone that will be eligibile but needs a big year after transferring from Baylor.

Josh Allen, Wyoming – A very mock draft-y hype selection right now with some 1st round love. I can’t say I’ve seen him play yet but his highlights show a pretty athletic, big player. He did have a crappy completion percentage and threw 15 interceptions so the love is kind of hard to understand for an outsider such as myself.

Wilton Speight, Michigan – Size and not much else. Kind of a weird throwing motion but should get a boost from being a Harbaugh tutor.

Logan Woodside, Toledo – The second highest rated quarterback in the country last year. A little on the smaller size but a decent sleeper in the upcoming Draft.

Mike White, Western Kentucky – The third highest rated quarterback in the country last year. Didn’t look great in 2014 at USF, transferred, and looked quite good last year. Size won’t be an issue and he gets to work with Mike Sanford this year.

I found myself agreeing with Mel Kiper shortly after Kizer was picked by the Browns. He said (paraphrasing) you can’t come into the draft with little momentum, a poor season for your team, not a ton of experience, and expect to be one of the top quarterbacks taken. In that sense, it feels like a bad decision for Kizer.

Still, Kizer went from completely off the radar to a second round pick within 2 years. The Heisman love and talk about being the top quarterback off the board always felt like a bit much and in many ways polluted our expectations for someone far too reliant (at the pro scouting level) on the vagueness of potential. Yet, he was pretty close to maxing out his stock relative to his rather humbling beginnings.

Would anyone guarantee Kizer could move up to the 2nd or 3rd quarterback in 2018 (skeptics will point out Kelly’s track record of course) or go higher than 52nd overall? That’s a tough sell but you have to think Kizer might want a do-over if it means being selected by someone other than the Browns.

2018 NFL Draft for Notre Dame

Next spring should be a much better Draft for the Irish, especially at the top of the boards. Right now, there are 6 players who I’d classify as being on the radar for going in the top third of the Draft:

Mike McGlinchey, OT
Quenton Nelson, OG
Nyles Morgan, LB
Josh Adams, RB
Equanimeous St. Brown, WR
Alize Mack, TE

The tackle crop isn’t supposed to be anything special which has led McGlinchey to be in every 1st round mock draft I’ve seen so far. And usually the top tackle off the board. Guard is a little tougher to go high in the Draft but Nelson is in many 1st rounds, as well. At worst, he’s a late 2nd round pick. He’s definitely going higher than former Notre Dame guard Chris Watt who went 89th overall.

Thirteen linebackers were selected within the top 100 picks this past weekend and I think Nyles Morgan can work his way into that mix for 2018. With a big season on the field he should move up into a Round 3 prospect.

Adams could be really interesting with another good season. You never know where running backs will land–does Adams have a ceiling of 3rd round? Is he comfortably a 5th round pick?

I’d imagine ESB will find it difficult to return to school with the allure of a decent draft grade. A full 13 receivers went in the first 3 rounds which kind of puts him in the same boat as Nyles Morgan where there’s plenty of opportunity to get a nice rookie contract and decent draft slot.

Mack may be Notre Dame fans’ little secret right now and no one would be surprised if he’s a second round pick, or even a first round selection, should he live up to his potential. If he’s able to catch 50 balls this fall he’s probably gone. Five tight ends went in the first 45 picks this weekend, including 3 in the first round. I have good odds Mack is in the discussion for that type of pick next spring.

You’d be right to put Brandon Wimbush up on that list. However, I’m betting on him staying for a few reasons. One, the talk of a strong QB class should have him mentally figuring he’s coming back. Two, one year of starting isn’t enough experience for just about every quarterback. Three, he seems a little more grounded compared to his predecessors and willing to stick around a college campus. Then again, coaching upheaval could bring chaos into his decision making process.