25 or more players from the '09 Irish will be drafted?

Perhaps the best evidence of the talent gap we have experienced here as ND fans took place on draft day the past two years, as four guys were drafted in ’08 and just one in ’09.

I thought it would be interesting to break down the current roster into a couple different categories.

1. Likely draft candidates
2. JRs and SRs who I perceive as having a possibility, but have more work to do
3. FRs and SOs who based on initial talent evaluations should be considered strong prospects

I don’t mean to disparage the guys on the two deep I’m not including on any of these lists, I hope they exceed my expectations.

Based on these projections, I’m prognosticating that this year’s team will feature 25 or more future draft picks.

Likely (12)
Clausen
Allen
Tate
Floyd
Rudolph
Young
Olsen
Johnson
B. Smith
Walls
Blanton
H. Smith

Work to Do (8)
Kamara
Stewart
I Williams
Neal
K. McCarthy
McNeil
S. Brown
G. Gray

Prospects (17)
Crist
J. Gray
Wood
Walker
Evans
Ragone
Robinson
Watt
Clelland
Cave
Kapron Lewis-Moore
Stockton
H. Williams
Filer
Fleming
Motta
Te’o

Obviously, there are many others I hope emerge once they get their chance on the field.