Notre Dame Pro Day Observations
Everyone wanted to know the number of the man who came to Notre Dame’s Pro Day to do one thing: run the 40.
We got the number. 4.56. It wasn’t quite good enough for him to take a bow and leave the facility like Deion Sanders famously did after running his 40 at the NFL Combine, but the slight improvement on his combine time should be more than enough to satisfy what is obvious on film.
Hamilton can run. He can move like very few humans do at 6’4’ 220, which is why he didn’t have to do any other drills after what he already did at the combine. If he ran under 4.5, then it would have been enough to satisfy any NFL team, but a throw on the film and him running in the mid 4.5s should be more than enough to keep him as a top-5 prospect in the eyes of scouts.
- Kyren Williams ran a 4.54, which is a full tenth faster than what he ran in Indianapolis. That certainly helps teams who had questions about his speed. He also had a fantastic day catching the ball for Jack Coan.
Unsurprisingly, he was twitchy out of his breaks and he showed off that he could even track the deep ball well on a couple of throws. That’s something we didn’t see from him during his career at Notre Dame.
After seeing this catch, maybe we should have.
He’s going to be a valuable piece for whatever lucky team takes him. I know he doesn’t want to be labeled as a 3rd down back, but what a weapon to have as a guy who can do work out of the backfield or in the slot
- I thought this was the sharpest route running I’ve seen from Kevin Austin. He’s clearly been putting in time with his footwork and he caught the ball well today. There were several Coan throws where he was forced to get full extension and snatch the ball away from his body. He did that seamlessly.
I know Notre Dame fans will be upset to hear his best football is ahead of him, but it’s very likely the case for Austin as long as he can stay healthy.
- I thought Coan threw the ball terrific today. I was there for DeShone Kizer’s Pro Daysand Coan’s was more impressive in my opinion. He threw the intermediate ball with great velocity, delivered the ball on the move better than expected, and his ball placement was very good for a high percentage of throws.
The ball hit the ground five times. One was a throw that was a bit too far inside to Austin that went off his finger tips. One was a ball that Austin could have had over his shoulder. Two misses were to an NAIA receiver who was working out today and I would put those more on him than Coan. There was only one bad miss today where he was off on a slot fade to Williams.
He was very accurate with intermediate throws and this was by far the best I had seen from him throwing the deep ball. He seemed to be putting more air under it and he delivered a few dimes to Wiliams and Austin that had the players and parents cheering loudly for him.
- Kurt Hinish looked like he was in great shape. It’s amazing how much he has transformed his body since he first arrived at Notre Dame.
- Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa had an issue with his hamstring when he was running the 3-cone today. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
To me, he looks like he would be best suited to put on weight and get back to the 290 range. I see his future as an interior player at the next level and not at end.
- Hamilton might have finished the day earlier than everyone else, but he stuck around for the entire workout and chatted with the NFL Network’s Steve Smith, Jerome Bettis, Marcus Freeman, and others.
- I saw a report that New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen, Washington head coach Ron Rivera, Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst, and Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert were in attendance today. If they were there, they never stepped foot on the field during the workout, which would be very unusual for a Pro Day.
I didn’t see any NFL head coaches or general managers there, but there were representatives from at least 27 NFL teams in attendance. The only teams I didn’t see there were New England, Carolina, Dallas, Kansas City, and Minnesota, but I might have missed seeing a logo or two or three.
There were more than a few teams who sent multiple scouts there like Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, and Philadelphia.
- Several former Notre Dame players showed up to watch including Troy Pride, Alohi Gilman, Shaun Crawford, Nick McCloud, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Zack Martin, and Bettis.
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