Three Notre Dame Players Go Round 2 In Draftwire Mock Draft

The NFL free agency period kicked off this week, and like we saw from the NFL Scouting Combine, the results will certainly impact the draft. It has already started to impact mock drafts, and Luke Easterling of DraftWire released his first post-free agency mock draft.

Easterling doesn’t have any former Notre Dame players going in round one, but the second round is much more active when it comes to Irish players getting placed.

The first Notre Dame player off the board according to Easterling will be tight end Cole Kmet, who is slated to go to the Chicago Bears with the No. 43 overall pick.

It’s become trendy to have Kmet going to the Bears with one of their two second round selections. Chicago has a need for a tight end and Kmet is the best tight end in this draft. There’s also the hometown effect, with Kmet coming from Lake Barrington, Ill., which is less than an hour away from Chicago.

When asked about the Bears at the combine the former Irish tight end was not shy about sharing his affection for the team he grew up rooting for.

Up next is wide receiver Chase Claypool, who Easterling has slated to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers with the No. 49 overall pick. Claypool in the same receiving corps with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and James Washington would give quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a talented group of pass catchers.

Claypool was dominant at the scouting combine, but the reaction to it has been mixed. Some aren’t impressed while others have used it to boost his draft stock; Easterling would be in the latter category.

The third and final player in this mock draft is former Irish defensive end Julian Okwara, who Easterling has going to the Miami Dolphins with the No. 56 overall pick. Miami has spent a lot of money boosting the talent on its roster, but getting Okwara late in the second round would not only give the Dolphins a talent bump, it would come with great value.

Only Alabama (8), LSU (8) and Ohio State (5) had more selections in the first two rounds than Notre Dame’s three selections. Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, TCU and Wisconsin matched the Irish total.