NCAA Football Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Nobody Should Enter NFL Draft Early From Notre Dame

Fresh Videos

By

Sheldon Day Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly indicated after the season that four players had requested draft evaluations from the NFL . Those players included captains Sheldon Day and Nick Martin, left tackle Ronnie Stanley and quarterback Everett Golson.

Yesterday, Kelly announced that all four had received their feedback from the NFL, but Kelly decided not to reveal that information. Even though the evaluations haven’t been announced, all four players need to return to Notre Dame next fall and it should be a fairly straight forward decision in each instance.

Day is the leader of the defensive line and is great at causing havoc in the backfield. Day tied for second on the Irish with 7.5 tackles for loss and added nine quarterback hurries. Day will be a productive player at the next level, but he will always be hampered by his size. Day is generously listed at six-feet, two inches and 285 pounds and could struggle holding up at the next level. Day has also battled some ankle and knee injuries throughout his Notre Dame career and returning to school should help him answer any doubters.

Martin, who battled a hand injury all season, bounced between center and guard, but he needs to show more consistency to be considered at the next level. While he can play multiple positions, he’s yet to be a dominant player at the collegiate level and could re-establish his place at center next fall. If his brother, rookie Pro Bowler Zack Martin, can stay for all five years, then the younger Martin should definitely do the same. He can use the extra year to improve his strength and add another season at center to his resume.

Golson’s decision should be an easy one since no NFL team is going to spend a mid-t0-high draft pick on a quarterback who turned the ball over 22 times over the final nine games. Golson was impressive in the passing games throwing for 3,355 yards and 29 touchdowns, but he still needs to show better ball placement and accuracy. Golson completed only 60.1 percent of his passes this year and will need to raise that number significantly if he wants to see his stock improve. Furthermore, Golson’s small stature will always be a knock against him, but curing his turnover woes and leading the Irish next season could greatly impact his draft stock in a positive manner.

Stanley’s decision is the toughest to predict and he likely faces the most difficult one. The prognostications are all over the board on Stanley, from a high first-round pick to a mid-round pick. Stanley is an athletic tackle who was Notre Dame’s best offensive lineman this year, but he needs to improve his strength if he has any shot to make it in the NFL Furthermore, this is only Stanley’s first season at left tackle after switching over from right tackle last season. Another solid season at left tackle, which is a prime position in the NFL, will not only help his development but will cement his status in the eyes of NFL scouts that he’s a bonafide first-round pick.

The decisions to stay or declare early for the draft are not easy and there are many factors that come into play. Many agents are pushing collegiate players to enter the draft early in order to reach their second contracts faster. Nobody thought George Atkinson III or Troy Niklas would declare for the draft a season ago, but both surprised many people in doing so. While each of the four players has the ability to eventually be successful in the NFL, each should return to school in order to boost their draft stock and help Notre Dame bounce back after a disappointing November finish in 2014.

Patrick Leiva is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleiva4 and add him to your network on Google.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on