Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JUNE/JULY 2022 11 UNDER THE DOME 4 Notre Dame safeties have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft all time: Clarence Ellis (1972), Jeff Burris (1994), Harrison Smith (2012) and Kyle Hamilton (2022). Ellis was selected No. 15 overall by the Atlanta Falcons, Burris was picked No. 27 overall by the Buffalo Bills, Smith went No. 29 overall to the Minnesota Vikings and Hamilton was tabbed No. 14 overall by the Baltimore Ravens. For what it's worth, only 10 safeties have been selected within the first 10 picks of the NFL Draft — and just three in the top five — since 1991. Hamilton's selection made him the highest-drafted safety in school history (the highest selection for a de- fensive back in the Fighting Irish's history is corner Todd Lyght, who went No. 5 overall to the Los Angeles Rams in 1991) and the 70th Fighting Irish player to be picked in the first round, and extended Notre Dame's streak to hav- ing at least one player drafted into the NFL to 85 years. (In 1977, the Irish only had one player selected in the NFL's supplemental draft — Al Hunter in the fourth round — which marks the only year since 1938 the Irish have not seen a player selected in the NFL's primary draft.) 7th Was where Notre Dame checked in on ESPN writer Charlie Creme's way- too-early women's basketball top 25, two spots higher than in first edition be- fore several roster changes. (See page 41 for more on the three Irish newcomers.) 10th Overall was the av- erage draft slot for Notre Dame rising junior tight end MICHAEL MAYER in five way-too-early 2023 NFL mock drafts that were published in early May. Mayer was projected to go as high as No. 6 overall to the New York Giants by Sporting News, and was tabbed to go No. 10 to the Washington Commanders by The Athletic, CBS Sports and Bleacher Report. The lone outlier was ESPN's Todd McShay predicting him to go No. 17 to the Tennessee Titans. Three other Fighting Irish players made appearances in the various mock drafts: junior safety Brandon Joseph (No. 13 to the Philadelphia Eagles by Sporting News and No. 18 to the Arizona Cardinals by CBS Sports), senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey (No. 17 to the Miami Dolphins by The Athletic and No. 20 to the Indianapolis Colts) and graduate student center Jarrett Patterson (No. 32 to the Buffalo Bills by Sporting News). No Notre Dame players showed up in the way-too-early 2023 Pro Football Focus NFL mock draft. However, Foskey (No. 29 overall, No. 5 edge rusher), Mayer (No. 42 overall, No. 3 tight end) and Joseph (No. 49 overall, No. 3 safety) all showed up on PFF's first 2023 NFL Draft Big Board. 11th Was the ranking for Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley on the list of the top 20 NBA Draft prospects put together by The Athletic. "This is purely an upside play — there's a chance Wesley ends up being ter- rible if his shooting and finishing don't progress," writer John Hollinger noted. "It's still worth taking Wesley here because his first-step quickness and lateral mobility provide a framework for some elite two-way outcomes … if he can just figure out how to shoot and make a layup. In this draft class, only [Jaden] Ivey can surpass Wesley's explosiveness getting downhill to the rim, something that should be a much greater weapon at the NBA level. "Where I feel better about Wesley is on the defensive end," Hol- linger added. "He can move his feet laterally, contest shots and had an impressive steal rate [2.8 thefts per 100 possessions]. You'd like to see him get into the ball a little bit more on the perimeter and con- cede fewer pull-ups, but he's long and bouncy enough to bother players when they rise up. I see two outs for success here: first as a downhill shot creator and second as a wing defensive stopper." 14 Former Notre Dame players that were un- drafted free agents earned their way onto NFL rosters in 2021 — the most for any college in the country according research done by Blue & Gold Illustrated writer Todd Burlage. Ohio State and Iowa were the next closest with 13 apiece, while Alabama and Georgia each featured 11 undrafted NFL players last season. The 14 Irish players were: running backs Tony Jones Jr. (Saints) and Josh Adams (Jets); offen- sive linemen Alex Bars (Bears), Tommy Krae- mer (Lions) and Sam Mustipher (Bears); long snappers Scott Daly (Lions) and J.J. Jansen (Panthers); safety Jalen Elliott (Lions); wide receivers Chris Finke (Chiefs) and Javon McKinley (Lions); defensive lineman Jamir Jones (Steelers/Rams/Jaguars); linebacker Romeo Okwara (Lions); and tight end Brock Wright (Lions). 19th Was the national ranking for Notre Dame men's basketball five-star signee J.J. Starling in the final 2022 On3 Top 150. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native by way of La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere School was also listed as a five-star and the No. 18 over- all player in the On3 Consensus, an equally weighted industry-generated average. 103rd Was the average ranking by three media outlets for new Notre Dame guard Marcus Hammond among the more than 1,600 col- lege basketball players that entered the transfer portal this offseason. ESPN had him the highest, listing him at No. 88 on its top-100 list. Jeff Goodman of Stadium ranked him at No. 97, and he was the No. 125 player in On3's Transfer Portal Top 150. $34 , 889 , 808 Was the amount of rev- enue Notre Dame re- ceived from the ACC for the 2020-21 fiscal year, per The Athletic. That figure is an equal share with the other ACC schools because the Fighting Irish were a full member of the league in football in 2020. In 2019-20, when it was not a full member in football, Notre Dame received $10.8 million from the league. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER