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Notre Dame Football: Biggest NFL Draft busts in program history

By Daniel Morrison

Former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn holds a jersey after being selected wth the 22nd pick overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns at the Radio City Music Hall, April 28, 2007. (Photo by Richard Schultz/Getty Images)
Former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn holds a jersey after being selected wth the 22nd pick overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns at the Radio City Music Hall, April 28, 2007. (Photo by Richard Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame Football
Notre Dame Football. (Photo by Kena Krutsinger/Getty Images) /

The Notre Dame Football program has produced numerous elite NFL players, but it has also had its fair share of NFL Draft busts in its history.

One of the funniest NFL Draft moments of all time, not just in Notre Dame Football history, was when Mel Kiper Jr. threatened to retire if Jimmy Clausen wasn’t successful in eight years. If that is the case, then he’d retire, and of course, he also said the Patriots shouldn’t have drafted Rob Gronkowski, so maybe ESPN should force him out.

Well, neither Clausen was successful nor did Kiper Jr. retire. That’s the life of being supposedly one of the best at your job in the world, you’re wrong more than you’re right.

That might be harsh on Kiper Jr. After all, the NFL Draft is almost impossible to predict, with busts and gems in every last class. Clausen was just a hysterically bad miss, especially for any Notre Dame fan who was paying attention during the Charlie Weis years.

Clausen isn’t the only Notre Dame player to not work out in the NFL. Just like anywhere that produces a lot of NFL Draft picks, Notre Dame has also produces its fair share of draft busts over the years.

But what constitutes a draft bust? How high do you have to go to be a bust, and what happens in your career that makes you a bust. Is a lineman who plays a decade, but never spectacularly a bust? Can a second round pick be a bust?

For our purposes here, a bust is someone taken in the first round, though under extraordinary circumstances (think Jaylon Smith) they can have gone in the second round, who did not dramatically reach their NFL potential. This can either be due to injuries, off the field issues, or just not developing properly on the field.

So, here are the biggest NFL Draft busts in Notre Dame history:

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