BY ANDREW OWENS
T
his offseason repre-
sents what has mostly
been a rarity at Notre
Dame the past two de-
cades. The Irish carry a
wealth of NFL Draft-eli-
gible talent, with looming
decisions on whether to
remain in South Bend for
another year or to test the
professional waters.
Scott Wright, the pub-
lisher of DraftCount-
down.com, evaluates
collegiate talent and talks
with NFL scouts in prep-
aration for the annual
draft.
The centerpiece of all
that pro potential for
Notre Dame is junior line-
backer Jaylon Smith.
"It's been a long time
since Notre Dame has
had a talent like Jaylon
Smith," Wright said.
"Jaylon Smith is truly a
thoroughbred. He's a le-
gitimate top of the draft,
top-five, top-10 overall
type of talent. Of course,
a lot of it comes down to
the draft order and team
needs.
"I have him penciled in
right now at No. 4 to the
Ravens. There's plenty of
other potential landing
spots for him in the top
10 as well. He's quite a
player and the scary thing
is I'm not even sure if he's
necessarily maximized
what he's capable of in
college.
"He's got a lot more
UNDER THE DOME
NFL BOUND?
Several Notre Dame players have
to decide if now is the time to turn pro
After registering 113 tackles in 2015, Jaylon Smith is being pro-
jected as a top-10 draft pick.
PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND
