Notre Dame Football: Irish poised to break multiple program draft records

The 2021 NFL Draft is just over a month away and Notre Dame football is once again in a position to be well-represented across the seven rounds.

To say that Brian Kelly has turned Notre Dame back into one of the best NFL factories in the country would be a massive understatement. Since Kelly has taken over in South Bend, the Irish have pumped out 45 NFL draft picks, with 18 of those coming in the first two rounds.

From 2016-2020, Notre Dame has had the eighth-most players taken in the draft, with 25 total, and are tied with Florida for the sixth most players taken in the first round with five.

On top of the quantity of NFL selections, one of the biggest areas of improvement for the Irish has been the quality of players coming out of the program – a testament to Kelly and his staff on their player development and strength and conditioning program.

With all that said, the consistency of NFL-caliber players on Notre Dame’s roster has not surprisingly resulted in success on the field. Over the last four seasons, the Irish have posted a 43-8 record, four-straight seasons finishing the season ranked inside the Top-12, two undefeated regular seasons, and two College Football Playoff berths.

That is a resume only the likes of Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State can top.

Heading into this year’s NFL Draft, the Irish are in a great position to continue their draft-day success. If all goes according to plan, Notre Dame has the chance to break three different program draft records.

Notre Dame Football to set draft records in 2021

Over the last two drafts, the Irish have 6 players taken each year – 12 in total. The last time Notre Dame had at least 6 players drafted three straight years was 2001-2003. From 2004-2017, the Irish only reached six draft picks four times.

Reaching that number this year would match that impressive stretch of the early 2000s and push the number of draft picks under Brian Kelly over the 50 mark.

Next, since the NFL Draft moved to its 7-round format in 1994, the most total draft picks for Notre Dame in a 3-year stretch has been 19 – which has been done twice.

The span of 1994-1996 saw 19 Golden Domers drafted (10 in 1994, 5 in 1995, and 4 in 1996) and the previously mentioned run from 2001-2003 had the same (6 in 2001, 6  in 2002, and 7 in 2003. With 12 total draft picks the last two years, seven picks this year would tie that number and eight or more would set a new modern-era draft record for the Irish.

Lastly, the most draft picks out of Notre Dame in a single draft in the modern-draft era is ten, which was done in 1994. The second most is eight which occurred in 2014. With eight guys currently mocked to be taken in this year’s draft, that would tie for the most draft picks in the 21st century for Notre Dame. If a few on-the-fence guys like Shaun Crawford, Ben Skowronek, and Nick McCloud answer the phone on day three, we’ll be celebrating yet another Irish NFL Draft record.

While it is a long shot Notre Dame sees 11 guys drafted in late April, it’s worth at least mentioning that if that number is hit, it would be the most draft picks for the Irish since 1969, when the Irish had 11 picks taken in the 17-round, 442-pick draft.

Regardless of if these records are matched, broken, or shattered, this year’s Irish draft class will once again prove that Notre Dame is one of the best programs in the country in churning out NFL talent. And as much heat as Brian Kelly and the program gets for everything else, they at least deserve a lot of credit for that.