NFL DRAFT 2018: Notre Dame Football’s Mike McGlinchey Drafted By San Francisco 49ers With The 9th Pick

Mike McGlinchey, one of the best offensive tackles in the history of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, is now a 1st round draft pick. The massive McGlinchey was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the ninth pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

With Quenton Nelson going sixth overall, this is the highest that two Notre Dame players have been taken in the NFL Draft since 1978, when tight end Ken MacAfee went seventh to the 49ers and defensive end Ross Browner went eighth to the Cincinnati Bengals.

McGlinchey’s first NFL contract will be worth $18,411,708, with a $11,470,332 signing bonus, according to Over the Cap.

McGlinchey was a part of the 2013 recruiting class for the Irish along with a handful of others that have already been drafted to the NFL; Will Fuller, Jaylon Smith, and Isaac Rochell. He took over the right tackle position in Notre Dame’s 2014 Music City Bowl game against the LSU Tigers, and he never looked back.

Mike started every game for the past 3 seasons, and he made the change from right tackle to left tackle during that time. He was a team captain in 2016 and 2017, and he earned Consensus All-American status for his final year at Notre Dame. He and his fellow offensive linemen won the Joe Moore Award in 2017 for having the best offensive line in college football.

Although McGlinchey earned his All-American status at left tackle, many believe that the best position for him in the NFL will be on the right side of the line. Scouts and analysts believe that McGlinchey could develop into a dominant right tackle in the NFL, and have a long career.

Some draft tidbits from Notre Dame football’s sports information department:

• McGlinchey is the fourth Irish offensive lineman in the last five years to be selected in the NFL Draft’s first round (Zack Martin, 2014; Ronnie Stanley, 2016; Quenton Nelson, 2018).
• The first two offensive linemen in the 2018 NFL Draft both played for Notre Dame, the first time since 1991 that a single program produced the first two OL picks.
• There have only been three instances in the past 50 years that two offensive linemen from the same school were among the top 10 draft picks in a single year.
• The 49ers have drafted 21 Notre dame players, but McGlinchey is the first since San Francisco grabbed Darius Fleming in the fifth round of the 2012 draft.

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Highlights from McGlinchey’s final year: