Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH IN THE PROS to his route running — and the more serious question mark is will he do what it takes off the field to be successful on the field. He had multiple suspensions during his time at Notre Dame, and he couldn't stay on the field. Teams have to explore and do their due diligence on him, but I wouldn't be shocked if he was drafted in the sixth or seventh round. There's such a fine line between being a sixth- or seventh-round pick and a priority free agent." KYLE BRINDZA Height: 6-1 Weight: 236 pounds Arm length: 33¼ inches Hands: 10 inches B e n c h p re s s re ps o f 2 2 5 pounds: 14 2014 stats: Made 14 of 24 field goal attempts Brindza set a personal goal of topping the NFL Combine record of 25 bench press reps for a kicker, but he fell well short with 14. That, however, won't affect his draft stock considering the questions with Notre Dame's all-time leading field goal kicker lie elsewhere. The Plymouth, Mich., native missed 10 field goal attempts as a senior, but followed up a dread- ful November by booting the game-winning kick against LSU in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 to close out a fine career. DraftCountdown.com analyst Scott Wright's take: "Pro day is a good opportunity for Brindza be- cause he has a really big leg. He can show that off in a workout set- ting. He's shown in games too that he can hit a 55- or 60-yard field goal, and the problem is consis- tency. He'll hit the 55-yard game- winner, but he'll also miss a 25- yard chip shot in the first quarter. "I think he got a little bit of a bad rap as a senior — a lot of those misses weren't his fault. A lot had to deal with issues with the hold- ing situation. You can make an ar- gument that Brindza is the most talented kicker in this draft. He can be a weapon for you on field goals and on kickoffs, but he needs to be more consistent because teams will not accept you missing 30- yard field goals. You have to make the ones you're supposed to in the NFL or you're not going to be in the NFL very long." BEN KOYACK Height: 6-5 Weight: 255 pounds Arm length: 32 5 ⁄8 inches Hands: 10 3 ⁄4 inches 40 time: Did not run 2014 stats: 30 receptions for 317 yards and two touchdowns Five straight Notre Dame start- ing tight ends have been drafted in the second round or better, and Koyack is attempting to become the sixth. He produced a quiet senior sea- son in 2014 and could fall into the middle rounds after being projected in the second or third round last offseason. DraftCountdown.com analyst Scott Wright's take: "I have him in the mid-round range, basically round four or five. What might help him is this isn't a great crop of tight ends. We saw that last year as well where a couple of guys got pushed up maybe a round or two earlier than we ex- pected just because of a dearth of options. There's a pretty signif- icant drop-off after the top three or maybe even top two, depend- ing on whether Devin Funchess of Michigan is a tight end [or a wide receiver]." CODY RIGGS Former Irish cornerback Cody Riggs was a surprising omission from the NFL Combine, but he will have the opportunity to showcase his talents at Notre Dame's pro day March 31. DraftCountdown.com analyst Scott Wright's take: "I was a lit- tle surprised Riggs got snubbed. I guess the writing was on the wall earlier on when he wasn't at the Senior Bowl or the East-West Shrine Game. He was at one of the lesser all-star games, NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. I think the con- cerns with Riggs are two-fold: size and speed. A lot of times you can get away with being small or be- ing slow. It's tough to get away with both. We know he's not real big, so how well he runs at the Pro Day is going to be pretty im- portant for Cody Riggs. "As a player, there's a lot to like about him. He's got a lot of big- time experience at Notre Dame and the SEC. He's versatile. He can help you at corner or safety. He gives you a little special teams value." ✦