Notre Dame Pro Day Preview

Playing college football means a lot of things for different people. For some who play at programs like Notre Dame, it's a long audition process for what they hope to be the next phase of their life: a job playing for an NFL franchise.

After the games are over, there are more steps to the audition process before being drafted that include all-star games, the combine, a college Pro Day, and then individual team workouts and interviews.

The Pro Day is huge for many reasons. For some, it's an opportunity to work out and catch the attention of NFL scouts who may not have regarded a player as a prospect before it. For others who are already being examined, it's a chance to improve on what they have shown before at the combine or on film.

The Irish will be holding their Pro Day this Thursday in the Gug. Nine former players will be taking part in it: long snapper Scott Daly, running back Tarean Folston, tight end Chase Hounshell, defensive lineman Jarron Jones, quarterback DeShone Kizer, cornerback Cole Luke, linebacker James Onwualu, defensive lineman Isaac Rochell and safety Avery Sebastian.

Originally I had written here that underclassmen could compete, but it appears my original assertion that it would count as practice was correct. They will not participate. I would expect some other potential former players or prospects from small schools at receiver to be there as well to help with Kizer's workout. Who those players are, we don't currently know. I guess we'll see on Thursday.

Who will be there watching?

For one, the media will be. Matt and I will be in attendance for ISD.

The important people that will be watching are the NFL scouts, coaches, and general managers. Who exactly will be there and from what team? We won't know until they actually show up. This isn't a year where Notre Dame has a ton of top prospects moving on to the next level, so I do not expect that it will be as heavily attended as some previous years.

Throw in the fact that Ohio State (several projected first round prospects testing) and Stanford (Christian McCaffrey and Solomon Thomas) are also holding their Pro Days on Thursday, and it's not likely going to be a who's who of head coaches and general managers. The position coaches might not be out in full force either. We'll just have to wait and see who attends.

It's fair to say that some defensive line coaches will be there to check out Rochell and Jones, but the GMs, head coaches, and offensive coordinators that show up are likely going to be there to take a look at Kizer. He is the one who is still ranked as the top quarterback on NFL Network's Mike Mayock's position rankings.

We obviously don't know where he ranks on the boards of individual teams, though. We should get an idea of who has him ranked high based on who shows up to watch him Thursday.

What will the players do?

There is a testing portion of it, which includes all of the things that were done at the combine last month. We'll see if Kizer, Jones, and Rochell decide to stick with their results or attempt some tests again. Jones in particular did not do much testing and might want to improve on his numbers from the combine. 

The testing is more important for the others who will be participating that didn't go to the combine. James Onwualu and Cole Luke, the two others who have the best shot at getting drafted, are going to have to test well.

The rest of the day will be focused on individual drill work. That is mostly run by NFL scouts or coaches. A few years back Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin worked out Louis Nix on his own. That led to speculation that they were very interested in Nix to play nose in their 3-4 defense, but they ended up drafting the other Notre Dame defensive lineman, Stephon Tuitt, instead. Tuitt was unable to workout that day due to an injury.

Kizer's workout may be run by someone other than from a team who has mapped out every throw he needs to show to the people in attendance.

There will likely be interviews with the players as well, but those will obviously be privately held by the teams.

What do the coaches and scout want to see?

We can start with Kizer, the guy who all eyes will be on for most of the day. The throwing portion is going to be huge for him after he had an okay, but not a wow day throwing at the combine.

They know he has the kind of arm that can make every throw. For him it will be about ball placement and consistency with his footwork and overall mechanics. If that looks clean and improved from the last time he threw for NFL teams, then it will help him a lot in showing that his issues are fixable. Very rarely do quarterbacks have a bad day throwing against air, but he's hoping for a near perfect performance.

For Rochell and Jones, they are going to have someone push them hard without much of a break. With Jones there are questions about his motivation and how much he loves the game. They'll want to see him in great shape showing how much it matters to him to do well.

Luke and Onwualu pretty much need to show that they are comparable athletes in the testing and drills to the players they are competing with at their position. It is a deep draft at cornerback, so Luke can't afford to not stand out. Onwualu is likely viewed as a Dime linebacker by teams at the next level so the way he moves in every drill is going to be critical for him.

For the others who aren't likely to be selected at draft time, they need to show enough that they intrigue a few of the scouts to take a deeper look at them. They are working to show they deserve to get a shot at being in a camp. It's a huge day for them where they need to surprise people.

It's truly a huge day for all involved and a big part of the audition process before Draft day.

ISD will provide updates on Pro Day on Thursday