Pro Football Focus Breaks Down The Notre Dame 2020 Draft Picks

The analysis of the 2020 NFL Draft continues, and the majority of the Notre Dame players drafted continue to earn high marks for where they were picked both a fit and value standpoint.

In a pick-by-pick breakdown of the entire draft, PFF gave their thoughts on the six Notre Dame players. Below you’ll be able to find their thoughts on each player and my analysis of each pick. I would also encourage you to read the entire analysis of your favorite team. You can find the full breakdown HERE.

ROUND 2 - #43 - CHICAGO BEARS - COLE KMET, TIGHT END

PFF: "With a bunch of incredibly talented cornerbacks and safeties still on the board where the Chicago Bears actually have a need, taking tight end Cole Kmet was not a great move. He has a great catch radius that will help out whoever is under center for the Bears, as well as impressive straight-line speed for his huge size — but he’s not the dynamic tight end the modern-day NFL calls for. He broke only six tackles on his 60 career catches and performed poorly against single coverage with just a 54.0 receiving grade.”

Analysis: How you view Kmet individually is going to determine how you view this pick. For those that don’t think Kmet is a first round talent, and PFF clearly does not, then you aren’t going to like this pick. I’m of the opinion that although his game is still a bit underdeveloped, Kmet does in fact have the physical tools, traits and work ethic to become a dynamic player in the NFL. Tight end is becoming a premium position in the NFL, and the Bears were able to land the hands-down best tight end in the draft, which makes this a strong pick in my view.

ROUND 2 - #49 - PITTSBURGH STEELERS - CHASE CLAYPOOL, WIDE RECEIVER

PFF: “Few players helped themselves more than Chase Claypool did at the NFL Combine, putting up marks above the 80th percentile at the position in every drill he tested in. Recording over a 40-inch vertical and a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds is special. He adds a different element to the offense than players such as JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson. While his exact spot — whether that be more of a move tight end or a traditional wide receiver — is unknown, he certainly gives Ben Roethlisberger another viable weapon in 2020.”

Analysis: Not much to disagree with in this analysis. I think Claypool will be used as both, a pure wide receiver that is used to run some of the routes that might otherwise be designed for a move tight end. That’s what Claypool’s game calls for, and the Steelers will enjoy that part of his game.

ROUND 3 - #67 - DETROIT LIONS - JULIAN OKWARA, DEFENSIVE END

PFF: “Getting a first-round talent in the third round is always a great thing, and that’s exactly what happened with the Lions and Julian Okwara. Matt Patricia has to love Okwara’s explosiveness off the line, overall athleticism and long arms. Before he got hurt in Week 11, Okwara was having one of the best seasons by an edge rusher by owning an elite 90.4 pass-rush grade. This is highway robbery for the Lions.”

Analysis: I respect how much PFF stuck to their guns with Okwara. They graded his 2019 performance much, much better than I did. They loved him in 2018 and actually graded his pass rushing performance in 2019 as even better. I just cannot go there with them. Even using their own statistics, his overall pressure rate (15.8%) and hit/sack rate (4.5%) were much lower than his 2018 numbers (19.4%, 6.7%). But from a potential standpoint they rightly feel that a motivated, focused and healthy Okwara is a great value pick in round three.

ROUND 4 - #113 - CAROLINA PANTHERS - TROY PRIDE JR., CORNERBACK

PFF: “This is going to be one of the best picks of Day 3. Pride has the kind of elite speed that prevents any open downfield throw — in his career, Pride saw 38 deep targets of 20-plus yards and he allowed only six catches. He’s a bit of a project due to his inability to play the catch point, but his athleticism and man-to-man ability is up there with the best in the entire draft. Troy Pride Jr. was 61st on the PFF Draft Board and should have been off the board far earlier.”

Analysis: This is spot-on analysis, and I agree that Pride should have come off the board much sooner. His speed and coverage ability is elite, and if he can do a better job playing the ball he’ll turn out to be one of the biggest steals of the draft.

ROUND 5 - #147 - CINCINNATI BENGALS - KHALID KAREEM, DEFENSIVE END

PFF: “This was a really nice pickup by the Cincinnati Bengals. Kareem doesn’t do anything really at an elite level nor does he have a considerable amount of jaw-dropping reps on tape, but he is an all-around solid player who can plug right into Cincinnati’s scheme — he’s NFL-ready physically and from a technical standpoint.”

Analysis: This is also spot-on analysis. No, Kareem does not do anything at an elite level, although he does have elite length. PFF is correct that his Notre Dame tape is not loaded with “wow” play. What it is filled with, as they said, is solid all-around play. What they didn’t address, and what I admired most about Kareem’s game, is that most of his big plays came in big moments; ’he was a money player.

ROUND 6 - #186 - LOS ANGELES CHARGERS - ALOHI GILMAN, SAFETY

PFF: “Gilman isn’t one you want roaming over the middle of the field and is best suited to a box-only type of role, where he plays with great balance. You don't want him getting exposed by wide receivers (allowed 11 of 14 targets against WRs in 2019 for 175 yards).”

Analysis: This is accurate based on what Gilman was asked to do at Notre Dame, but he showed better coverage ability at Navy and his athletic testing numbers at the combine show a player with the athleticism to be much better in coverage than he showed on film for the Irish.

More draft analysis from Irish Breakdown:

PODCAST: Breaking Down The 2020 NFL Draft

Day 2 Round Up
Day 3 Round Up

What They Are Saying: Cole Kmet To The Bears
What They Are Saying: Chase Claypool To The Steelers
What They Are Saying: Julian Okwara To The Lions
What They Are Saying: Troy Pride Jr. To The Panthers
What They Are Saying: Khalid Kareem To The Bengals

Chase Claypool Was The "Easy" Choice For Pittsburgh
Cole Kmet Brings A Unique Skillset To The Bears

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