Irish fans will be quite happy to turn the page on 2011 Draft. Kyle Rudolph, the 43rd pick, was the only player selected from Notre Dame in the 2011 Draft. This continues a trend that has seen a lack of Irish prospects selected in the draft and especially in the first round of the draft. Since 2000, Notre Dame has only had two players selected in the first round: Brady Quinn (2007, 22nd, Browns) and Jeff Faine (2003, 21st, Browns).
As the 2011 Draft comes to a close, the debate about the 2012 Draft is just beginning from pundits around the sports world. Hope may spring eternal that Irish fans may see not one, but two Notre Dame players selected in the first round of the 2012.
Mel Kiper and Tood McShay are the most well know Draft Analyst on ESPN. Recently, they announced some of their early predictions for 2012. In Todd McShay's initial 2012 Mock Draft, he penciled in Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o at #17 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Although this pleases Irish fans, they undoubtedly want Te'o to stay for his Senior season. In Steve Muench's 2012 prospects to watch, he has Michael Floyd listed as one of the top wide receiver's in the country as well as Manti Te'o listed as one of the top linebackers.
In other mock drafts of 2012, Fox Sports' Peter Schrager has Michael Floyd going #9 to the Jacksonville Jaguars to help recently drafted Quarterback Blaine Gabbert. WalterFootball.com has Manti Te'o going #19 to the Detroit Lions. CBSSports has Manti Te'o going #16 to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Michael Floyd going #24 to Cleveland.
There are to big questions facing whether or not two Irish fans could be selected in the first round. The first, as stated above, is whether or not Junior linebacker Manti Te'o will forego his Senior season and head to the NFL. There have been conflicting rumors on this topic. The second question is how big of an impact will Michael Floyd's off-field issues make his draft status. It is pretty clear that that they everything would have to align correctly for Notre Dame to have two players selected in the first round of next year's NFL Draft.
Despite a strong desire from Notre Dame fans to have Te'o return for a Senior season, a senario such as this would benefit Notre Dame on the recruiting trail. Teams could no longer point to Notre Dame's inability to have players drafted in the first round. It would definitely positively affect Notre Dame's perceptions as a NFL pipeline. Hopefully, this would make more "Manti Te'os" commit to Notre Dame. Ultimately that is what this teams needs, multiple 5-star, NFL talent at each position.
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