Now through the start of fall camp next week, Blue & Gold will preview the 2024 Notre Dame football season with article excerpts from the 160-page, glossy preview magazine that went out in July. To order the magazine, click here .
Here are Notre Dame’s top five NFL prospects entering the 2024 season.
1. Junior Cornerback Benjamin Morrison
Morrison is a consensus first-round pick in early 2025 mock drafts, and for good reason.
The third-year starter is a superb athlete, with fluid hips to stick with receivers through their breaks and speed to stick with them downfield. He might have the best ball skills of any corner in the country, with 9 interceptions in two seasons. Morrison (6-foot, 186 pounds) proved he can lock down bigger receivers when he held 6-foot-4 Ohio State superstar wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. to 3 receptions for 33 yards last year.
Teams will fall in love with Morrison’s makeup. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman asked him to speak at the Jack and Kathy Shields Family Hall groundbreaking ceremony before the spring game because he embodies what being a Notre Dame athlete is all about. He won’t turn 21 until six weeks before draft day, which matters at a position that tends to age poorly in the NFL.
2. Graduate Student Defensive Tackle Howard Cross II
There is some first-round buzz for Cross entering his sixth season. He’s small for his position at 6-foot-1, 284 pounds, but teams have been willing to look past that for elite quickness and hand-fighting.
Cross has both. He was also absurdly productive in 2023, leading the Irish with 39 quarterback pressures and 32 defensive stops (tackles that result in a failure for the offense). His 13-tackle, 2-forced fumble performance in a win over Duke showed he can wreck an offense’s game plan by himself.
Cross is young for his class; he doesn’t turn 23 until July 31. With another big year, he could vault himself into the first-round conversation.
3. Graduate Student Safety Xavier Watts
Watts exploded in 2023, tying for the national lead with 7 interceptions and winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as college football’s best defensive player. The ball tends to find the best ballhawks, and Watts’ speed and intelligence on the back end put him in position to make plays.
Pro Football Focus credited Watts with 13 missed tackles, which he’ll have to clean up to maximize his draft position. He also needs to prove he’s not a one-year wonder. But rangy, instinctive safeties with ball skills don’t grow on trees.
4. Senior Tight End Mitchell Evans
The one-year wonder question is amplified with Evans, who totaled 5 career receptions for 60 yards before his breakout junior season. But what a season it was. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury in late October, Evans caught 29 passes for 422 yards. At times, he was Notre Dame’s entire passing offense.
Evans is a monster at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds. While he won’t blow teams away with his athleticism, he carries that weight well. He showed a knack for acrobatic catches during his dominant stretch.
5. Senior Quarterback Riley Leonard
Leonard has the size, arm strength and athleticism that scouts crave. He’ll quickly check the leadership box when evaluators talk to his teammates and coaches. Downfield accuracy, though, stands out as a concern on his tape.
Can that be fixed in one offseason? The Irish believe it can. If they’re right, in a wide-open quarterback class, Leonard could hear his name called on Day 1.
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