If you’re wonder what we’re doing, 18 Stripes is counting down the very best 1st Round NFL Draft picks to come out of Notre Dame. In part 1 we covered some familiar names who didn’t have the career they’d hoped for while today we start talking about player’s who did some nice things and more in the National Football League.
Here is part 2 of the best 1st Round Irish selections:
#39 DT Mike Kadish
Miami Dolphins
1972
25th Overall
Kadish spent his rookie season on the practice squad as Miami would go undefeated on their way to the Super Bowl. The Dolphins would deal him to Buffalo during the off-season where Kadish spent the remainder of his 9 seasons in the NFL. He would end up playing in 127 games for the Bills.
#38 C Jeff Faine
Cleveland Browns
2003
21st Overall
Before Notre Dame’s recent run of excellent offensive linemen, Faine was the cream of the crop out of South Bend at this position. He spent 3 years in Cleveland before being packaged in a trade to New Orleans where Faine would spend 2 seasons. Afterward, he stayed with Tampa for 4 years then finished his final season in the NFL in 2012 with Cincinnati. In total, Faine made 124 career starts.
#37 CB Luther Bradley
Detroit Lions
1978
11th Overall
Bradley made the all-Rookie team in 1978 and had a very nice 4-year career in Detroit before moving on to the Houston Oilers in 1981 through a trade. A year after, he’d transition to the USFL where he became the league’s all-time interceptions leader (picking off 6 passes in 1 game against Tampa Bay in 1983!) before knee injuries forced him to retire following the 1985 season.
#36 OT Aaron Taylor
Green Bay Packers
1994
16th Overall
Taylor began his career with the Packers by being placed on IR for his rookie season and then worked his way back to win a starting job, and eventually a Super Bowl, before signing a 4-year $10.8 million deal with the Chargers. However, another major knee injury curtailed his career and Taylor retired following the 1999 season.
#35 DE Eric Dorsey
New York Giants
1986
19th Overall
Dorsey was a key member of dominant defenses that won Super Bowls in his rookie season as well as in 1990, although he never emerged as a star and was considered a bit of a disappointment given his draft position. A hulking end who learned how to 2-gap in New York, Dorsey spent his entire 7-year career with the Giants ending with 7 sacks.
#34 DE Walt Patulski
Buffalo Bills
1972
1st Overall
Patulski outside the Bills stadium back in 2016.
The last Notre Dame player to be selected No. 1 overall started out his career pretty well with an improving defense as Patulski started right away for the Bills. Usually popping up on the top busts of all-time, that’s unfair to Patulski. He totaled 21.5 sacks through 4 seasons in Buffalo before a fallout with coach Lou Saban packaged Patulski in a deal to St. Louis. Back and knee injuries would wreck his career and Patulski retired after mini-camp with Chicago prior to the 1978 season.
#33 OT Art Hunter
Green Bay Packers
1954
3rd Overall
One of the more forgotten players from the Notre Dame pro ranks. Hunter played just 1 season in Green Bay before being dealt to Cleveland where he eventually made the Pro Bowl in 1959. A year later, Hunter started a 6 year run with the Rams making 2nd-team All-Pro in 1960. He’d finish up his career with one campaign in Pittsburgh and retired with 119 career games.
#32 QB Frank Tripucka
Philadelphia Eagles
1949
9th Overall
Tripucka was traded to Detroit prior to the start of his rookie season starting 4 games before being dealt to St. Louis where he’d start 6 games over 2.5 years. In the middle of 1952, he was again traded to Dallas. From 1953 through 1959, Tripucka left for the CFL but came back to the U.S. to play quarterback for the new Denver Broncos franchise. He’d spend 4 seasons with Denver letting it absolutely rip leading the league in yardage twice and tossing 85 interceptions on 662 attempts. His No. 18 is retired by the Broncos which he allowed Peyton Manning to use when he played for the franchise.
#31 DT Mike McCoy
Green Bay Packers
1970
2nd Overall
McCoy played a very long time in the NFL through the 1980 season, although he never quite lived up to his No. 2 overall selection. He spent 7 seasons with Green Bay with later stops at Oakland, Detroit, and the Giants.
#30 CB Jeff Burris
Buffalo Bills
1994
27th Overall
Burris made the All-Rookie Team in 1994 and would go on to have a successful career split between Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. A solid corner, Burris also added 1,103 punt return yardage in his career. After a 10-year stint in the NFL he’d retire with 536 career tackles.
#29 QB Johnny Lujack
Chicago Bears
1946
4th Overall
Lujack’s career, like many during his era, was short but he would finish on a high note. He was picked by the Bears while in the Navy during WWII and played corner as a rookie in 1948 picking off 8 passes. When he switched to quarterback in 1949, Lujack broke plenty of records. He led the league in passing in ’49, broke the record for most passing yards in a game (468), and ran for a NFL record 11 scores in 1950. Lujack would make the Pro Bowl for his last 2 seasons and was named All-Pro in 1950. He returned to Notre Dame as an assistant coach after 1951 and never played professionally again.
#28 CB Tom Carter
Washington Redskins
1993
17th Overall
Carter was one of those players who seemed to fluctuate between nearly being a Pro Bowl-type corner, being a steady No. 1 corner, and sometimes playing under expectations. His numbers were certainly closer to gaudy than mediocre. After a 9-year career, the first 4 seasons with Washington, Carter finished with 360 tackles and 27 interceptions.
#27 OT Andy Heck
Seattle Seahawks
1989
15th Overall
Heck played for about as long as possible without developing into a Pro Bowl caliber lineman. He spent 5 years in Seattle, signed a free agent deal with Chicago in 1994 spending another 5 years with the Bears, and wrapped up his career in Washington for another 2 years. Heck would play in 185 NFL games and has been the Chiefs offensive line coach since 2013.
#26 TE Tony Hunter
Buffalo Bills
1983
12th Overall
Yet another promising career cut short. Hunter made the 1983 All-Rookie team with the Bills hauling in 36 catches but was dealt to the Rams in 1985 despite consistent production in Buffalo. Hunter would continue playing well for 2 seasons in Los Angeles but doctor’s discovered he’d played at least his entire time with the Rams on a torn meniscus. He’d later get cut and an attempted comeback a couple years later never worked out. In just 47 career games, Hunter caught 134 passes for 1,501 yards and 9 touchdowns.
#25 TE Tyler Eifert
Cincinnati Bengals
2013
21st Overall
Eifert could never duplicate his 2015 success.
Eifert hasn’t blossomed into a top-tier NFL tight end but his career has been pretty solid so far. He spent his first 8 seasons with the Bengals before signing a 2-year deal with the Jaguars. This off-season, Jacksonville declined the 2nd year and Eifert is now a free agent at nearly 31 years old. So far, he’s caught 221 passes for 2,501 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career making the Pro Bowl once back in 2015.
#24 WR Will Fuller
Houston Texans
2016
21st Overall
What if he could stay healthy? Through 5 seasons in the NFL, Fuller has missed 27 games and played in 53 overall. There’s no doubt he’s been productive receiver, although not quite dependable enough to be considered a No. 1 option. Thus far, Fuller has 209 receptions, 3,110 yards, and 24 touchdowns in his career and signed a 1-year $10 million deal with Miami this off-season.
#23 DT Mike Fanning
Los Angeles Rams
1975
9th Overall
Fanning emerged quickly as one of the best Rams players of the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s. He played 8 seasons with the club before finishing his career with 1 season apiece in Detroit and Seattle. Fanning was productive right through his final season (7 sacks at age 31) while finishing his career with an impressive 42.5 sacks.
#22 RB Greg Bell
Buffalo Bills
1984
26th Overall
Going to the Pro Bowl as a rookie is kind of a big deal, a feat Bell pulled off in 1984 after rushing for 1,100 yards for the Bills. However, he was hampered by an ankle injury that limited him to just 10 games in 1986-87 and was traded to the Rams in the latter stages of 1987. There, Bell had a major renaissance rushing for nearly 2,400 yards over 1988-89 while leading the NFL in rushing scores (31 total) over both seasons. His ankle just couldn’t hold up though and he would retire after 1 season with the Raiders in 1990.
#21 OT Mike McGlinchey
San Francisco 49ers
2018
9th Overall
McGlinchey has been a very good tackle in the NFL, starting as a rookie in 2018 while coming into his 4th season with 44 starts already under his belt. He’s yet to break into the top-tier of right tackles, though. Recently, the CBA provided the 49ers with a 5th-year team option for McGlinchey after 2021 for a heftier price of $10.8 million. If that’s not picked up, McGlinchey could sign a fairly lucrative deal on the open market.
#20 DE Renaldo Wynn
Jacksonville Jaguars
1997
21st Overall
Wynn made the All-Rookie team in 1997 and seemed poised to develop into one of the best jumbo ends in the league. He never quite got there but had one of the longest careers out of anyone from Notre Dame in the NFL. Over 13 seasons, Wynn totaled 348 tackles, 27 sacks, and 43 tackles for loss with the Jaguars, Giants, Saints, and 2 stints with the Redskins.
Hasn’t Eifert been through a lot of injuries in the NFL?
Yup, should’ve mentioned that. He’s missed 43% of his games, pretty bad.
Being involved in so many Eifert Towers will mess you up
Kind of rough that Mike McGlinchey is already up to #21 after just 3 years. In 15 years the top 20 of this list is just going to be OL from the BK era.
And Harrison Smith