Notre Dame football: 10 best players to play in the NFL this past decade
By Matt Clark
After redshirting his freshman year, Quenton Nelson would go on to play in all 12 games in 2015, starting one of them for the Notre Dame football team. The following year he would start all 12 games and would again start all12 games for the Irish his junior year while serving as a team captain.
In 2017, Nelson would be a unanimous All-American selection following a strong season at guard for Notre Dame. As a result, he would declare for the 2018 NFL draft and would be the highest-rated offensive lineman in the entire draft, with some predicting he might be the best guard to enter the NFL in three decades.
Most draft experts had Nelson rated as the second-best player in the entire draft, behind only Saquon Barkley. However, Nelson would slip all the way to the sixth overall pick in the first round, where the Indianapolis Colts would select the former Irish star.
In his first season with the Colts, Nelson would win the Offensive Rookie of the Month award for October, becoming the first offensive guard to ever win the award in NFL history. He would go on to have a stellar season for Indianapolis, playing 1136 snaps (2nd most of any guard in the NFL) and allowing just two sacks on the season.
With the strong performance during his rookie season, Nelson would be named a first-team All-Pro, a Pro Bowler and be named to the PFWA All-Rookie team. PFF would give him a 77.3 rating which was good enough to rank him as the second-best guard in the NFL that season.
In 2019, Nelson would improve on his incredible rookie season by playing 1042 snaps, committing three penalties and allowing zero sacks on the season. He would receive an incredible 91.2 ranking from PFF and would grade out as the best guard in the NFL.
Quenton Nelson is supremely talented and is on a path to a Hall of Fame career. His tenacity and flawless mechanics have already made him one of the best offensive guards in the league. With two All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections in his first two years in the league, the sky is the limit for the former Notre Dame football star. Only his tenure in the league and the incredible resumes of two other former Notre Dame stars prevent Nelson from being higher on this list.