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Will the Irish have seven or more players selected in the NFL Draft this year?
Apr 2, 2026, 7:56 AM UTC
ESPN’s [Matt Miller recently put out a 7 round mock NFL Draft](https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2026/story/_/id/48299038/2026-nfl-mock-draft-seven-rounds-257-picks-projections-matt-miller), and he has six Notre Dame Football players selected in the first 190 picks.
Round 1, Pick 4: RB Jeremiyah Love — Tennessee TitansRound 2, Pick 49: RB Jadarian Price — Minnesota VikingsRound 3, Pick 71: WR Malachi Fields — Washington CommandersRound 4, Pick 136: TE Eli Raridon — New Orleans SaintsRound 5, Pick 165: OL Billy Schrauth — Buffalo Bills
Round 6, Pick 190: OL Aamil Wagner — New Orleans Saints
The six picked in this mock draft were all NFL Combine participants, and six is a solid number. Notre Dame had 6 picked in 2025, 7 in 2024, 9 in 2021, and 6 in both 2020 and 2019. So… it’s a number that is pretty much on par with what the program has been putting into the NFL.
Still… I firmly believe it will end up being 7 this year. Maybe it will even be in round 7 to make it a straight flush. I think we should end up hearing WR Will Pauling’s name being called before the seven rounds of the NFL Draft are over. While Pauling’s numbers don’t jump off of the stat sheet, he was fairly productive, and maybe could have been more so at Notre Dame if year two CJ Carr was his quarterback instead of year one CJ Carr. Pauling was a one and done player for the Irish and was still selected to be a team captain for the Irish, so he’s a high character guy who also just ran a 4.37 40 yard dash time at Notre Dame’s pro day.
Maybe that wasn’t the best sell job, but I’m not Will Pauling’s agent. It’s just a gut feeling that someone is going to pick him up late in the draft because of what he brings to the locker room and because of how he can fly on the turf.
What do you think? Does Pauling get selected? Does Jordan Botelho or Junior Tuihalamaka sneak in there somewhere? What’s the real number according to you? Sound off in the comments below.
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