Notre Dame Football NFL Draft Fits: Troy Pride and the Raiders

Troy Pride’s elite speed made him a key contributor for Notre Dame football. Now his services would be best utilized in Las Vegas.

Troy Pride Jr. has had an pretty solid career playing cornerback for the Notre Dame football program. He played in a total of 44 games for the Fighting Irish, providing speed and stability at a position where both are instrumental the success of a defense.

During his time wearing the blue and gold, he logged 112 total tackles, defended 18 passes, and had four interceptions.

During his junior season, he could have been a liability and a sitting duck playing opposite of Julian Love. With a talent like Love on the opposite side of the field, many teams would have liked to attack Pride all day and have great success doing it. That simply never happened. Pride held his own under fire, at the end result was a Notre Dame berth in the College Football Playoff.

Now it’s time for the talented corner to move on.

Most NFL Draft analysts have Troy Pride Jr. being drafted somewhere in the 4th-6th rounds. He would bring decent value in that range, as it’s tough to find many flaws with a four-year starter at a program like Notre Dame. He’d be a pretty safe pick.

The best landing spot for him would be with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders have serious needs in their secondary — especially at cornerback. Pride would initially provide the Silver and Black with depth, but his track speed could eventually become a valuable asset in a division with Tyreek Hill and a number of up-and-coming deep threats at the wide receiver position. That same speed allows him to close quickly and help about against the run.

Between his ability to run with anyone and the shortage of talent on the Raider cornerback depth chart, Pride would have a great chance to see the field early and often if he were to land in Las Vegas.