Notre Dame Football: NFL Invites 3 Irish To Its Combine

DeShone Kizer, Jarron Jones and Isaac Rochell will workout for all 32 teams during the NFL’s annual combine, held Feb. 28 to March 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The three Notre Dame Fighting Irish players were among 330 participants announced Wednesday by the professional football league.

The combine includes several workouts intended to demonstrate speed, power, agility, and quick decision making. They include the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical leap, broad jump, three cone drill and shuttle run.

Quarterbacks will be expected to show their proficiency in a three-, five- and seven-step drop,. Scouts will also be looking at where they hold the ball and their arm strength on the “go” routes. Defensive tackles are expected to demonstrate their “dip,” “rip” and “swim” technique while showing off some first-step explosion.

Mock drafts released in the last week show no true consensus on Kizer’s draft position.

• CBS Sports’ Dane Brugler has Kizer going third overall to the Chicago Bears.
• SB Nation’s Dan Kadar, The Toronto Sun’s Dan Bilicki and the Washington Post’s John Harris have Kizer going 10th to the Buffalo Bills.
• Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke, Real GM’s Rob Risdon and Rob Rang, of CBS Sports, have the Cleveland Browns using their pick from the Philadelphia Eagles to pick Kizer at #12. Draftek also thinks the Browns will take Kizer, but with the first pick of the second round (#33 overall).
• Newsday’s Nick Klopsis and Chad Reuter, NFL.com draft analyst, have him picked #13 by the Arizona Cardinals.
• The Denver Broncos will snag Kizer with the 20th overall pick, according to the Palm Beach Post’s Jason Lieser.
• The San Diego Union Tribune’s Eddie Brown thinks Kizer is headed to the Houston Texans, who hold pick #25.
• The Kansas City Chiefs will make Kizer their first choice (#27 overall), according to Walter Football and Yahoo’s Eric Edholm.
• ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, First Coast News’ Mike Kaye and Daniel Jeremiah, Charlie Casserly and Bucky Brooks, all writing for NFL.com, think Kizer will fall out of the first round.

Jones is a second or third round pick, according to draft analysts. Rochell is slotted anywhere from the third to fifth rounds.

Running back Tarean Folston, cornerback Cole Luke and linebacker James Onwualu were not invited to the Combine and now must rely on Notre Dame’s Pro Day to demonstrate their mettle to the scouts in attendance. That’s usually held about four weeks after the NFL’s event.

Philadelphia is host of the draft this year, which will be held April 27-29.