Five Notre Dame Players Invited To The NFL Scouting Combine

Five former Notre Dame players got the important NFL Scouting Combine invite

Five former Notre Dame football players earned invitations to the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine next month. Wide receiver Kevin Austin, quarterback Jack Coan, defensive back Kyle Hamilton, defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and running Kyren Williams were among the 324 players who will participate in Indianapolis, testing their talents against the best draft eligible prospects in an array of athletic testing events.

The event will take place in Indianapolis from March 1 through March 7. As part of the agenda, prospects will compete in the aforementioned athletic testing, weigh-ins, team interviews, media availability and in depth medicals.

For each of the five players invited, the opportunity means many different things. This opportunity can stand as a make or break opportunity for these former Notre Dame stars - or another opportunity to solidify their projection.

Kevin Austin

The talent level has never been in question for the Notre Dame wide receiver. The film, however, does beg for more consistency and growth to the finer points of playing the position. Austin’s work against press and consistency with his hands will need to be areas of improvement early on in his NFL career.

What can buy him that time for development? Showing off his athletic upside. Austin will need to have a huge showing at the Combine to cement himself as a draftable Day Three developmental option. A solid forty time would be huge, as well as showing off his lower body explosion in the vertical and broad jump.

Displaying strong hands while running routes would be the icing on the cake for his projection. There might not be a more important Irish performance at this year’s event.

Jack Coan

Coan is fresh off an impressive showing at the East-West Shrine Bowl out in Vegas. That momentum, including how Coan performed down the stretch of the 2021 season, has made a draftable opportunity more and more possible.

For a pocket passer who doesn’t offer much out of structure, Coan’s testing numbers aren’t going to matter as much. It’s always good to check off boxes but that ultimately will not be what makes Coan’s combine performance a success.

The ability to meet with teams, get him on the board and show off his football acumen will be huge. Seeing him throw on the field with timing and precision will be beneficial. Those are the things that aren’t as quantifiable, but will continue to move the needle for the former Notre Dame quarterback.

Kyle Hamilton

There is a real argument that could be made that former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton is the top overall player in the 2022 NFL Draft regardless of position. Hamilton is a player that is so good that he sometimes suffers from analysis paralysis (for evaluators) from being a known commodity for some time. Add in his injury from the latter part of the season and he simply has been out of sight, out of mind.

That ends at the Combine, where Hamilton is poised for a huge performance. The things he can do athletically at 6-4 and 220 pounds is not normal. He has a chance to solidify his top ten status with a big showing, and could even catapult himself into a top five lock if he tests as well as we all think.

Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa

Outside of Austin’s performance, there might not be a bigger one than Tagovailoa-Amosa. Spending the early portion of his career inside at defensive tackle, “MTA” moved outside to strongside defensive end in 2021.

He is in the situation where he could unfortunately fall into the “tweener” label without a clear position designation. Testing can alleviate some of that hesitancy on the edge. With that being a position that traits are such an important element, running a five flat forty yard dash or vertically 29 inches isn’t going to move the needle.

He has to test like an edge who can also do some things inside on obvious passing situations.

Kyren Williams

Williams is one of the outstanding running backs in the 2022 NFL Draft class, with outstanding contact balance, pass receiving chops and effort as a pass blocker. He has been extremely productive over the last two seasons, continuing to develop as a natural runner.

A solid forty time would go a long way but there are two things that are even more important. From a testing perspective, the short area explosive numbers (ie broad and vertical jump) and short shuttle/3 cone will be essential. Williams is an explosive runner who needs to show that his agility and explosiveness from a testing perspective verify what we see on film.

His week of checking boxes will start with a big one, at weigh-ins. Williams will need to weigh-in over 200 pounds. He doesn’t want to get caught in the sub 200 conversation. That severely limits the role that NFL evaluators might envision for him.  

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