Top NFL Players from Notre Dame Football in 2024

Notre Dame has a long and storied history of sending players to the NFL. Rich Cirminiello shares the 10 best Fighting Irish alums entering the 2024 season.

Jul 29, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) looks on during training camp at Loyola Marymount University. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame continues to be one of the most fertile college pipelines to the NFL. At the start of 2024 training camps, more than 50 former Fighting Irish players were on NFL rosters to rank sixth behind just Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, and Georgia. Among that large group of ND alums, these are the 10 best players entering the new season.

10. Brandon Aubrey (PK) Dallas Cowboys

Aubrey is easily the most improbable ND graduate on this list. He's a former Irish and professional soccer player who took up placekicking on a whim in 2019 and made the Pro Bowl in his NFL debut with the Cowboys last season.

9. Ronnie Stanley (OT) Baltimore Ravens

Stanley's best days may be behind him, but when healthy he's still a capable pocket protector. The former first round pick has played all eight seasons in Baltimore, starting 87 career games and earning First Team All-Pro in 2019.

8. Cole Kmet (TE) Chicago Bears

Kmet has been a steady factor in the Chicago offense since he arrived in 2020. He's started every game over the last three years and set career highs in 2023 with 73 receptions for 719 yards and six touchdowns.

7. Julian Love (S) Seattle Seahawks

The former fourth-round pick of the New York Giants has soared past expectations in five seasons. Love excelled in his Seattle debut last year, making 123 tackles, breaking up 10 passes, and landing his first Pro Bowl invite.

6. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (LB) Cleveland Browns

Owusu-Koramoah was a second round steal who's been playing like a first-rounder since getting picked in 2021. He's dynamite as a blitzer and in coverage, and he's only getting better. JOK had his best season in 2023, registering a career-high 101 tackles and making the Pro Bowl.

5. Kyren Williams (RB) Los Angeles Rams

The Rams sure found value two years ago when they plucked Williams out of the fifth round. After basically taking a redshirt in 2022, he erupted into one of the game's best young backs last season. Williams accounted for 1,350 yards from scrimmage and 15 total TDs to earn Second Team All-Pro.

4. Harrison Smith (S) Minnesota Vikings

Smith is on the back end of his career, but what a career it's been in Minnesota. The 12-year starter ranks among the Vikings' all-time leaders in tackles, picks, and passes defended, and he's a six-time Pro Bowler. He's a fringe Hall of Fame contender at this stage of his career.

3. Quenton Nelson (OG) Indianapolis Colts

From the moment Nelson arrived in Indianapolis in 2018, he's been a fixture up front and one of the league's premier guards. His 95 career starts has led to six Pro Bowls and All-Pro each year from 2018-21. After six seasons, Nelson is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

2. Zack Martin (OG) Dallas Cowboys

Like Nelson in Indy, Martin is well on his way to locking down enshrinement in Canton. One of the NFL's most dominating interior blockers of the last decade, he's been First or Second Team All Pro in all but one of his 10 seasons. For context, Martin has had more career Pro Bowl appearances than holding penalties.

1. Kyle Hamilton (S) Baltimore Ravens

Hamilton is preparing for liftoff and set to become one of the NFL's elite young defenders. He earned First Team All-Pro in his second season, making 81 tackles, 10 TFLs, three sacks, four picks, and 13 pass breakups. That's just the beginning for Hamilton, who's built like a linebacker and covers like a slot corner.

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