NFL Combine: Your Full Recap of Notre Dame Player Performances

The 2020 NFL Combine is now complete. Here is how the nine former Notre Dame Fighting Irish players performed last week. Notre Dame will host its own Pro Day on campus on April 1, giving these players an opportunity to improve their showings. The NFL Draft will be held April 23-25 in Las Vegas.

CHASE CLAYPOOL, WR

Height: 6-foot-4 ¹⁄₄ (third tallest of all WRs)
Weight: 238 (heaviest)
Hands: 9 7/8 inches
Arm length: 32 ¹⁄₂ inches
Wingspan: 80 inches
Bench press: 19 reps
40 yard dash: 4.42 seconds
Vertical jump: 40.5 inches
Broad jump: 126 inches
20-yard shuttle, 3-cone drill, 60-yard shuttle: DNP

Claypool definitely turned heads by running a 4.42 40 yard dash, the seventh fastest among receivers. His vertical was fourth best among his position group, his bench press fifth best and his broad jump 10th best.

His closest NFL Combine comparison is Martavis Bryant, who measured at 6-foot-3 ³⁄₄ inches, 211 pounds, with 32 5/8 inch arms and 9 ¹⁄₂ inch hands. Bryant, who played receiver for the Clemson Tigers, ran the 40 yard dash in 4.42 seconds, jumped 39 inches for his vertical and 124 inches for his broad jump. He also put up 16 reps on the bench press.

Bryant caught 61 passes for 1,354 yards and 13 touchdowns in three years at Clemson and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

JALEN ELLIOTT, SAFETY

Height: 6-foot 3/8 inches
Weight: 205
Hands: 9 1/8 inches
Arms: 31 ³⁄₄ inches
Wingspan: 76 5/8 inches
Bench press: 15 reps
40 yard dash: 4.8 seconds
Vertical jump: 34 inches
Broad jump: 125 inches
20 yard shuttle: 4.3 seconds
3-cone drill: 6.87 seconds
60-yard shuttle: DNP

Like Claypool, it was Elliott’s performance in the 40 yard dash that caught the attention of scouts and draftniks. Unfortunately for the Richmond, Va. product, people were taking notice of how slow he was. Elliot’s 4.8 second dash was the slowest of the 49 defensive backs who participated in this year’s Combine.

Elliott’s NFL Combine comparison is Lamarcus Brutus, who went undrafted in 2016 after playing safety for the Florida State Seminoles from 2012-2015. Brutus was 6-foot, 206 pounds, with 31 ¹⁄₂ inch arms and 8 ³⁄₄ inch hands. He ran the 40 yard dash in 4.76 seconds, put up 14 reps on the bench press, jumped 33 inches vertically and 114 inches horizontally (broad), did the 3-cone in 7.08 seconds and the 20-yard shuttle in 4.33 seconds.

Brutus played for the Tennessee Titans for about four months and joined the AAF’s Orlando Apollos in 2019, but was hurt.

CHRIS FINKE, WR

Height: 5-foot-9 1/2
Weight: 186 pounds
Hands: 9 inches
Arm length: 29 inches
Wingspan: 69 5/8 inches
Bench press: 7 reps
40 yard dash: 4.57 seconds
Vertical jump: 40 inches
Broad jump, 20 yard-shuttle, 3-cone drill, 60-yard shuttle: DNP

Finke injured his hamstring at the East-West Shrine Bowl, which limited his preparation and his ability to participate in lateral movement drills.

Finke’s NFL Combine comparison is Jesus “Bobo” Wilson, a Florida State Seminoles wide receiver who went undrafted in 2017. Wilson has spent three seasons as a practice squad player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. At the Combine, the 5-foot-9, 189 pound Wilson put up 10 reps on the bench and ran the 40 in 4.57 seconds.

Wilson caught 133 balls for 1,562 yards and 8 touchdowns in his four seasons in Tallahassee.

ALOHI GILMAN, SAFETY

Height: 5-foot-10 ¹⁄₂ inches
Weight: 201 pounds
Hands: 9 ¹⁄₄ inches
Arm length: 30 7/8 inches
Wingspan: 74 inches
Bench press: 17 reps
40 yard dash: 4.60 seconds
Vertical jump: 32 inches
Broad jump: 119 inches
20-yard shuttle: 4.08 seconds
3-cone drill: 6.81 seconds
60-yard shuttle: DNP

Gilman was second fastest (out of 21 DBs) in the three-cone drill and third fastest (out of 19) in the short shuttle.

Gilman’s NFL Combine comparison is Desmond King, a defensive back for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The 5-foot 9 7/8 inch, 201 pound King had 31 1/8 inch arms and 9 5/8 inch hands. He benched 14 reps, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds (at his Pro Day) and did the 20 yard shuttle in 4.18 seconds. He also did the three-cone drill in 6.67 seconds and jumped 34 inches vertically and 117 inches in the broad jump.

The Los Angeles Chargers selected King in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

TONY JONES JR., RB

Height: 5-foot-10 ¹⁄₂ inches
Weight: 220
Hands: 9 ¹⁄₂ inches
Arm length: 30 5/8 inches
Wingspan: 74 1/8 inches
Bench press: 13
40 yard dash: 4.68 seconds
Vertical jump: 32 ¹⁄₂ inches
Broad jump: 119 inches
20-yard shuttle: 4.21 seconds
3-cone drill: 7.18 seconds

Jones Jr.’s NFL Combine comparison is John Kelly. The former Tennessee Volunteers running back was 5-foot-10, 216 pounds with a 35 inch vertical. He could jump 120 inches in the broad jump, finish the three-cone drill in 7.13 seconds, and complete the short shuttle in 4.51 seconds.

Kelly rushed 327 times for 1,573 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also caught 43 passes for 350 yards. The Los Angeles Rams picked Kelly in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

KHALID KAREEM, DEFENSIVE END

Height: 6-foot-3 ³⁄₄ inches
Weight: 268
Hands: 10 7/8 inches
Arm length: 34 3/8 inches
Wingspan: 84 inches

Kareem did not participate in any of the testing, as he’s recovering from a torn labrum he suffered during the 2019 season.

COLE KMET, TIGHT END

Height: 6-foot-5, ³⁄₄ inches
Weight: 262
Hands: 10 ¹⁄₂ inches
Arm length: 33 inches
Wingspan: 79 inches
Bench press: DNP
40-yard dash: 4.7 seconds
Vertical jump: 37 inches
Broad jump: 123 inches
20-yard shuttle: 4.41 seconds
3-cone drill: 7.44 seconds
60-yard shuttle: DNP

Kmet’s NFL Combine comparison is Rob Gronkowski. The Arizona Wildcats tight end measured 6-foot-6 ¹⁄₄ inches, 258 pounds, 34 ¹⁄₄ inch arms and 10 ³⁄₄ inch hands. He ran a 4.68 40-yard dash at Arizona’s Pro Day, jump 33 ¹⁄₂ inches vertically and 119 inches in the broad jump. His short shuttle time was 4.47 seconds and his three-cone time was 7.18 seconds.

Gronkowski caught 75 passes for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdowns while at Arizona. The New England Patriots picked “Gronk” with their second round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

JULIAN OKWARA, DEFENSIVE END

Height: 6-foot-4, ¹⁄₄ inches
Weight: 252
Hands: 10 ¹⁄₄ inches
Arm length: 34 3/8 inches
Wingspan: 81.75 inches
Bench press: 27
All other events: DNP

Okwara decided not to participate in most of the drills as he continues to rehabilitate from a broken fibula suffered in early November.

It’s difficult to say what Okwara’s NFL Combine comparison is, since he didn’t participate in many of the drills. Right now, the closest is Khari Long. The Baylor Bears defensive end was 6-foot-4, 257 pounds, with 35 inch arms and 10 ¹⁄₂ inch hands. He put up 27 reps on the bench.

Long has 145 tackles (19 ¹⁄₂ for a loss), nine sacks, two forced fumbles, four passes defensed and 14 quarterback pressures in 39 college games in Waco. The Kansas City Chiefs picked Long in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

TROY PRIDE JR., CORNERBACK

Height: 5-foot-11, ¹⁄₂ inches
Weight: 193
Hands: 9 inches
Arm length: 30 5/8 inches
Wingspan: 74 inches
Bench press: 13 reps
40-yard dash: 4.40 seconds
Vertical jump: 35.5 inches
Broad jump: 119 inches
20-yard shuttle: 4.26 seconds
3-cone drill: 6.94 seconds
60-yard shuttle: DNP

Despite logging the fourth fastest 40 time among the cornerbacks, Pride wasn’t pleased with his performance.

Pride’s NFL Combine comparison is Terry Hawthorne. The former Illinois Fighting Illini cornerback measured at 6-foot, 195 pounds, 8 7/8 inch hands and 31 ¹⁄₄ inch arms. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds, did 13 reps on the bench, jumped 35.5 inches vertically and had a 116 inch broad jump.

Hawthorne collected 162 tackles (12 ¹⁄₂ for loss), one sack and six interceptions in 44 career games in Champaign. He also returned kicks and punts. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, but he was released before the season started after suffering a knee injury.