Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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6 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW UNDER THE DOME 1. Alabama (2012-16 NFL Drafts) First Round: 11 Second Round: 10 Third Round: 1 Total: 22 Record From 2011-15: 62-7 (.899), three national titles. 2. Ohio State (2012-16 NFL Drafts) First Round: 7 (five in 2016) Second Round: 7 Third Round: 5 Total: 19 Record From 2011-15: 56-11 (.836), one national title. The Buckeyes were 6-7 in 2011, the year before head coach Urban Meyer's arrival, and 50-4 since then (.926). 3. LSU (2012-16 NFL Drafts) First Round: 5 Second Round: 7 Third Round: 6 Total: 18 Record From 2011-15: 50-15 (.769), with one appearance in the national title game. 4. Florida State (2012-16 NFL Drafts) First Round: 7 Second Round: 8 Third Round: 2 Total: 17 Record From 2011-15: 58-10 (.853), one national title. 5. Notre Dame (2012-16 NFL Drafts) First Round: 6 Second Round: 5 Third Round: 4 Total: 15 Record From 2011-15: 47-18 (.723), with one appearance in the national title game. Next in line with 14 players drafted in the top three rounds from 2012-16 is Stan- ford: four in the first round, six in the sec- ond and four in the third. Notre Dame's record against the Cardinal is 2-2 the past four years, with each contest decided on the game's final series. Based on this data, the Fighting Irish ap- pear to have been in line to compete with anyone in the country — outside of Alabama and Ohio State. Notre Dame lost heartbreakers in the clos- ing seconds at defending national champ Florida State in 2014 and at national runner- up Clemson (12 players selected in the top three rounds the past five years) in 2015, and it even vanquished LSU in the 2014 Music City Bowl. Furthermore, this isn't about only the first three rounds. Notre Dame has had 26 players chosen overall in the NFL Draft the past five years. That's far from Alabama's 39 and FSU's 35, while LSU is at 32 and Ohio State is at 30. Yet the Irish figure is one less than 2015 College Football Playoff participant Okla‑ homa (27), while Michigan State, also in the 2015 playoff, has had 19. Stanford is at 24. Here is some other interesting data: • As good as head coach Bob Stoops' Oklahoma program has been, it has had only one first‑round pick the past five years (none in the last three), three in the second and three in the third for a total of seven. • Texas — which has zero excuse to not recruit at a top‑10 level every year — has had a total of four players taken in the top three rounds the past five years (two in the first, two in the third). • Baylor and TCU, which in recent years has challenged or out‑dueled college foot‑ ball blue bloods Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12, have had five and three players, respectively, picked in the top three rounds the past five years. • USC, the team Notre Dame fans often concede is superior to the Irish in talent, has had 20 players selected over the past five years compared to the 26 by the Irish. During that time, the Trojans have had four in the first round (Notre Dame had six), three in the second (Notre Dame had five) and four in the third (same as the Irish). Naturally, there are other factors to consider: injuries, strength of schedule, dynamic quarterback play, coaching, early departures … that help determine a team's final record, not just NFL numbers. Unlike Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Clemson, Stanford and maybe a few oth ‑ ers, Notre Dame has not yet established itself as a "program" — which we define as a consistent, minimum 10‑win operation no matter how much talent or future pros depart every year. It's been on the threshold, but hasn't quite broken through by put‑ ting together three or four years in a row of such consistency. There are another estimated six to eight players on the 2016 Irish roster that could be in next year's NFL Draft, and for several years down the road, too, because of the consistent top‑10 to top‑15 recruiting classes and subsequent development. For further context, consider that in the last five years the Irish have had six first‑ round picks compared to the four in the 17 drafts from 1995‑2011: defensive lineman Renaldo Wynn (1997), offensive tackle Luke Petitgout (1999), center Jeff Faine (2003) and quarterback Brady Quinn (2007). Head coach Brian Kelly told Blue & Gold Illustrated the following in its 2015 Notre Dame season preview when Notre Dame was a popular top‑10 pick and College Foot ‑ ball Playoff dark horse: "We are going to be in this position every year now for a number of years, because we've built the depth within the program necessary to roll out another great group of players the next year and the year after. As long as we continue to recruit the way we've recruited, and develop our players, we'll be in this position every year. "Now — you gotta win some close games and a couple of things have to go your way." In terms of possessing and developing future NFL talent, Notre Dame should remain in the College Football Playoff conversation. Now it's about whether it can become "the main talk." As the No. 6 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, left tackle Ronnie Stanley was the highest Notre Dame selection since quarterback Rick Mirer went No. 2 in 1993. PHOTO COURTESY BALTIMORE RAVENS OTHER FACTS & FIGURES PROFESSIONAL UPGRADE Fighting Irish Among Nation's Best At Producing NFL Talent BY LOU SOMOGYI W ith six players selected in the top three rounds of the NFL Draft this spring, Notre Dame found itself in the top three with what has become the country's top two college football programs: 2014 national champion Ohio State (10) and 2015 national title winner Alabama (seven). When one delves a little deeper over the past five years, Florida State and LSU joined the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes as the lone four football operations to have more players selected in the first three rounds over the past five years than the Fighting Irish. Here is the breakdown, per Pro-Football-Reference.com: