Why some 'can't quit' Notre Dame's Audric Estime ahead of NFL Draft

Former Notre Dame Football star Audric Estime has had a rather strange 2024 NFL Draft season. The good news is that it appears some of the people who are in and around the NFL are taking notice that the running back is a better prospect than he’s previously gotten credit for.

The latest instance of Audric Estime getting a bit more NFL Draft love was when two analysts took note that while he might not have 1st draft pick speed, he’s got the ability to run over and through defenders, if not around.

Former New York Jets analytics analyst Arjun Menon recently put together a graphic that showed how often some of the best running backs in college football ran into “heavy boxes” (when the box has seven or more defenders pre-snap) and how successful they were when they did. 

Notre Dame Football fans should know that Audric Estime was plenty successful. However, he might have been even more successful than people realized. 

It turns out that Audric Estime was one of the most successful running backs in the sport last year. In fact, according to Menon, there were exactly two running backs in college football who performed better. Estime ran into a heavy box nearly 80 percent of the time.

When he did meet so many defenders, so close to the line of scrimmage, he managed to average just under 6.5 yards per carry.

Ex-Notre Dame star Audric Estime shows why people are more excited about his NFL chances

The data that Menon put together showed that only South Dakota State’s Isaiah Davis and Michigan’s Blake Corum did better in both metrics. That’s an impressive duo considering that Davis ran for nearly 1,600 yards and tallied 18 touchdowns last season.

Corum ran for just over 1,200 yards and an absolutely insane 27 TDs. 

Those numbers aren’t just impressive to the lay person either. ESPN analyst Mina Kimes was quick to jump on the data, making it clear she is a fan of the former Notre Dame running back.

“This is why I can’t quit Estime.,” she wrote on X. “I know the speed measurables are an issue…but as the poet Marshawn Lynch put it: sometimes you gotta run thru a motherf**ker’s face.”

Here’s hoping now that an ESPN analyst has caught on to just how good Audric Estime is, the NFL will take notice and take the former Notre Dame Football star earlier than he’s been projected by the experts.