Drafting Board | by Pat
With the NFL draft ready to kick off on Saturday, here are some of the current mock draft projections of where we can expect the Irish seniors to fall. One thing to keep an eye on will be how the Irish players do with relation to their expected draft slot. Weis has mentioned that he has been in contact with various NFL teams regarding the Irish draft prospects (as well as some of the players the Irish faced I'm sure). Will a few complimentary words from him help some of the guys like Corey Mays, who most years might go undrafted and have to sign a free agent contract? Will a year in a pro-style offense give Stovall or Fasano a bit of a boost on draft day?
Here's a quick rundown of where the Irish draft prospects are expected to fall. There are a million and one different NFL mock drafts out there, but for this I'm going to stick with the nfl.com draft profiles, Pat Kirwan's 2-round mock draft on nfl.com, the mock draft guide on a less official site, NFL Countdown, and the position rankings on Scout.com's NFL Experts site. I figure that gives a decent range of opinions without including every random draft site on the internet.
I think it's telling that the draft profiles for Notre Dame on nfl.com only list Stovall, Fasano, and Stevenson. That tells me that LeVoir, Rashon Powers-Neal, Matt Shelton, Corey Mays, and Brandon Hoyte are expected to go undrafted or at the very least be picked up at the very tail end of the draft.
Maurice Stovall
NFL.com grade: 6.2 (3rd round pick)
Kirwan's pick: 2nd round (54th pick - Kansas City)
NFL Countdown: 2nd round (52nd pick - New England)
NFLexperts.com: 4th best WR
Anthony Fasano
NFL.com grade: 6.2 (3rd round)
Kirwan's pick: 2nd round (49th pick - Dallas)
NFL Countdown: 2nd round (57th pick - Chicago)
NFLexperts.com: 5th best TE
Dan Stevenson
NFL.com grade: 5.4 (free agent)
NFL Countdown: 13th best OG
NFLexperts.com: 9th best OG
Matt Shelton
NFL.com grade: not listed
NFL Countdown: not in top 50 WR list
NFLexperts.com: 74th best WR
Mark LeVoir
NFL.com grade: not listed
NFL Countdown: 25th best OT
NFLexperts.com: 33rd best OT
Rashon Powers-Neal
NFL.com grade: not listed
NFL Countdown: 5th best FB
NFLexperts.com: not listed
Brandon Hoyte
NFL.com grade: not listed
NFL Countdown: 29th best OLB
NFLexperts.com: 53rd best OLB
Corey Mays
NFL.com grade: not listed
NFL Countdown: not in Top 20 MLB list
NFLexperts.com: 18th best MLB
