The Notre Dame Football program will be well-represented in the 2021 NFL Draft, and one four-round mock has five players selected.
With the 2021 NFL Draft only a month away, the internet is going to be loaded up with enough mock drafts to last a lifetime. For the Notre Dame Football program, they will see their guys named in plenty of mocks, whether they are only the first round or the 7-round team ones you see all over the place.
Notre Dame Football sees five selected in four-round mock
In the latest mock draft by at Pro Football Network, Oliver Hodgkinson looks at the first four rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft, and where he feels each team will go with each selection. For the Notre Dame Football team, they are well-represented across the four rounds, including two members of the Irish going in the first.
While no members of the Irish are picked in round two, there are three more prospects selected across rounds three and four. In reality, there could be even more players selected in the first four rounds, as they had 11 guys invited to this year’s ‘Combine,’ and saw players dominate in the Senior Bowl.
Owusu-Koramoah and Eichenberg land in first round
Looking at this mock draft, one thing that stands out right away is the fact that the Notre Dame Football team had two players selected in the first round. That is an incredible accomplishment for this draft class, as only 32 guys go in the first round, and having two of them shows just how good this group leaving South Bend is.
Those two players are linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg, widely considered first-round prospects by many publications.
Not only is Owusu-Koramoah chosen at pick No. 9 overall by the Denver Broncos, but he is also the first defensive player off the board. We have been speaking for a while about the fact that JOK has the talent, and opportunity to be the first defensive player selected this April, and in this mock draft, that comes true.
He is an incredible blend of size, speed, and Football IQ, and at the next level, he is going to be the kind of three-down linebacker that every team covets. Denver did a lot to bolster their offense in the 2020 NFL Draft, and by picking JOK at No. 9 overall, they improve one of the weaker positions on their defense.
Eichenberg was tabbed by the Kansas City Chiefs at pick No. 31, which makes sense considering they just released both of their starting offensive tackles from a year ago. Eichenberg is one of the more plug-and-play prospects along the offensive line in this draft class.
Irish see three more players selected in Rounds 3 and 4
The Notre Dame Football program was shut out of the second round of this mock draft but quickly made up for lost time in the third round. In that round, it was tight end Tommy Tremble who was the next member of the Irish to be picked, going to the now Drew Brees-less New Orleans Saints at pick No. 98 overall.
Since declaring for the draft a few months back, Tremble has been on a steady rise and has the perfect skill set to be a dominant tight end at the next level. With Michael Mayer‘s emergence at tight end this past season, Tremble must have seen an opportunity to move on to the next level, and all indications are that he made the right move.
In the fourth round, Eichenberg’s linemate, Aaron Banks was the next member of the Irish program to be picked, heading to Houston to protect Deshaun Watson, or whoever is under center in 2021 at selection No. 122. Daelin Hayes was the final selection from the Irish, going 16 picks later at No. 138 overall to the Dallas Cowboys.
Overall, this would be a good showing for the Irish and based on where these five players landed, they would get an opportunity to play right away. Notre Dame is going to have close to ten guys selected this year, and hopefully, the squad back on campus can continue their winning ways without them.