Joe Alt projected as first Notre Dame football player off draft board

Since Notre Dame football star Joe Alt made it official that he was headed to the NFL, the consensus has been that he will not have to wait long to have his name called. In fact, even before he officially announced it, plenty of people talked about his talent and how it would translate to the next level.

Now, one mock draft after another has made it clear that Alt will be going early. He will definitely go on the first day, according to almost everyone. It’s now just a matter of how fast will he go and what team might decide they need his services the most.

The latest indication is ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. who believes that the former Notre Dame football star will be the first offensive lineman to get drafted. In Mock Draft 1.0, Kiper believes the offensive tackle is going seventh overall.

This particular Mock has Joe Alt being drafted by a rebuilding Tennessee Titans team that needs to try and get some more strength in the trenches. Should that actually be the pick, it would mean that Alt will get selected just ahead of Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu at No. 10.

Notre Dame football’s Joe Alt is first lineman off the board

“Alt was the definition of a stalwart on the left side of Notre Dame’s line, where he started 33 games. He gave up just two sacks over the past two seasons,” Kiper wrote. “Tennessee ranked 31st in the rate of sacks per dropback (11.1%) in 2023, so putting [second-year starting quarterback Will] Levis in a better position to succeed should be a priority.”

Should Kiper call it correctly, it would mean that the former Notre Dame football star is the second straight offensive lineman the Titans selected with their first pick. In the 2023 NFL draft, Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski was drafted with the 11th pick.