The first two undrafted Notre Dame players to sign free agent deals are long snapper JJ Jansen and running back/special teamer Travis Thomas. Jansen signed with Green Bay and Thomas signed with Cleveland.
Both probably have a pretty good chance at making a roster because they can fill niche roles on a team. Jansen is a pretty good long snapper and if he finds the right place, he can make an entire career based on long snapping. Mike Batrum is a guy who comes to mind who has lasted in the NFL for years because he’s been able to be a very effective long snapper.
Travis Thomas will make an NFL roster if he can show in camp that he can be a special teams standout. His running back skills alone will not get him on a roster and those skills alone probably wouldn’t have gotten him drafted. Because he’s played a lot of positions though, he has a chance to make a squad as a utility/special teams guy.
UPDATE: Joe Brockington has now also signed a FA deal with the Buffalo Bills.
The Minnesota Vikings were the 4th team to select a Notre Dame player in this year’s draft when they took John Sullivan #187 overall in the 6th round.
Sullivan was the 4th center selected in the draft and the first Notre Dame center drafted since Jeff Faine went 21st overall to Cleveland in the 2003 draft. Vikings center Matt Birk is reaching the end of his career so it is likely that Minnesota drafted Sullivan here in the hopes that he can learn behind him and eventually take his place. That is assuming Sullivan makes the roster. Snapping problems in the shot gun formation plagued Sullivan over his final season at Notre Dame and will need to be corrected in a hurry if he is to make the Vikes 53 man roster this fall.
The 3rd Notre Dame player was drafted early Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens used a 3rd round pick on former Irish safety Tom Zbikowski.
Baltimore is fairly set at safety with Ed Reed and Dawan Landry, but Zibby will be able to make an immediate impact as a special teams player and punt returner for the Ravens.
Being selected in the 3rd round is about as good as Zibby could have hoped for coming into the weekend. In any other year, a 3rd round pick would be a first day pick, but because of the format change in this year’s draft, the 3rd round was early Sunday.
The Eagles have posted some quotes from Trevor from his conference call with the local media last night. Here are some highlights - you can read the full release here.
On whether he plays defensive end or defensive tackle: “I would definitely say I’m a tackle.”
On whether he has played any defensive end: “I played end in a 3-4 scheme, but in Philadelphia, who plays a 4-3, I’m definitely an inside guy.”
On who he talked to the most when he visited with the Eagles: “The whole staff. We sat down for a little bit and talked to a few people. They were some pretty positive meetings.”
On how close he is with DE Victor Abiamiri: “We’re real close friends. We were roommates for over a year. I talk to him on a weekly basis almost. It’s really exciting to go to the same team as him.”
On whether he was worried that his stock would drop in the draft after Notre Dame struggled: “Yes, definitely. But, I think with my strong Senior Bowl and combine performances, teams kind of looked through the season and saw the player I really was.”
Again, it’s great to see Laws land in Philly where I’ll get to watch his NFL career take off.
The Philadelphia Eagles selected former Notre Dame defensive end/tackle Trevor Laws with the 47th pick of Saturday’s NFL draft. Laws was the 4th DT drafted after LSU’s GLen Dorsey, USC’s Sedrick Ellis, and North Carolina’s Kentwan Balmer.
If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know how big of a Philadelphia sports fan I am, so needless to say, I was very pleased with this pick. In Philly, Laws will be pared up with his former defensive line mate at Notre Dame - Victor Abiamiri who the Eagles drafted in the 2nd round of last year’s draft.
The Eagles have a number of defensive tackles on the roster, but it’s likely Laws will step right in as the #3 or 4 DT behind starters Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley. Patterson, however, was arrested this off-season for a marijuana charge and could be facing a suspension from the league if he is found guilty of the chargers.
We were lucky enough to have Trevor answer some questions for us back in March and we’ll try and get in touch with him again now that he’s been drafted.
On a side note - the Eagles also added DeSean Jackson two picks later, the Flyers beat the Canadians 4-2, and the Phillies collected their 6th win in their last 7 games with an 8-4 win over the Pirates tonight as well making for a preeeeeety, preeeeeeety good night of sports for yours truly.
Earlier this off-season the Seattle Seahawks signed former Notre Dame running back Julius Jones and Saturday they picked former tight end John Carlson #38 overall.
Carlson is the first Notre Dame player to be drafted this year and really helped himself with a a good 40 times at Notre Dame’s Pro Day after a poor showing at the NFL Combine. Seattle’s offense is a very nice fit for Carlson’s skills and should be a big weapon for Matt Hassleback.
Carlson was the second tight end drafted overall after Purdue’s Dustin Keller.
Many thought Carlson may have been a potential first round pick last year so it is great to see that coming back for a 5th year and enduring the season the Irish did hasn’t really affected his draft stock all that much.
For those unfamiliar with the Wonderlic, Wikiepedia defines it as:
The Wonderlic Personnel Test is an intelligence test primarily known for being administered to prospective employees for the purposes of recruitment, placement, development and retention.[1] The Wonderlic is a twelve-minute, fifty-question exam to assess aptitude for learning a job and adapting to solve problems for employees in a wide range of occupations. The score is calculated as the number of correct answers given in the allotted time. A score of 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence
On a side note, for Mario Manningham’s sake, I really hope that 6 on the previously linked site is a misprint.
I just posted an interview we had with Trevor Laws on the homepage. Trevor was kind enough to answer a bunch of questions for us about how he is preparing for the draft next month as well as questions about what happened in 2007 and what will happen in 2008 for Notre Dame.
Here’s a quick excerpt…
Q: Most of ND?s troubles on offense in 2007 started up front with the offensive line. Going up against them in practice every day, what do you think was the cause of their struggles and do you think the younger OL who saw action in 2007 will lead the way towards improvement in 2008?
A: I just think they were a very inexperienced crew. With another spring under their belt, I think that they will have a better understanding of what it will takes to be successful on the field at this level.
The 6-foot-4, 236-pound linebacker played in 86 career games (19 starts) and nine playoff contests with Indianapolis (2006-07) and Tennessee (2002-05). Last year, Boiman saw action in all 16 games (7 starts) for the Colts, registering 64 tackles and two interceptions.
In 2006, he finished third on the Super Bowl champion Colts with 17 special teams tackles. For his career, Boiman has posted 194 tackles, 5 interceptions (including one returned for a touchdown at Pittsburgh in 2003), 1.5 sacks, and 91 special teams tackles.
Boiman has had a solid NFL career since graduating from Notre Dame and it is great seeing him land in Philly where I will get to see him play on a regular basis. The Eagles recently released starting outside linebacker Takeo Spikes and will go into the 2008 season with a rotation of young linebackers Omar Gathier, Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley, and Akem Jordan. The Eagles have also signed Chris Clemons this off-season prompting speculation that the Eagles will be running more 3-4 looks this year which could open more playing time for Boiman.
As is, Boiman will challenge Gocong for the starting SAM spot. Gocong looked solid for the Eagles in the second half of the season, but is still learning how to be a linebacker in the NFL. At a minimum, Boiman will be a special teams ace on a team that is in need of some help at that department.
Former Notre Dame running back Julius Jones signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks Friday. The signing could mean the end of the Shaun Alexander era in Seattle and could mean more playing time for Jones who had his worst season as a pro in 2007.
Jones’ agent did not return phone messages today and the Seahawks’ policy is not to comment before contracts are signed and approved. ESPN.com reported it is a four-year agreement that will average about $3 million per season.
Jones is the second running back Seattle has signed this week. Seattle agreed to terms with T.J. Duckett on a multiyear contract earlier.
The immediate question is what this move means for Shaun Alexander, the franchise’s leading rusher who was the league MVP in 2005. Alexander has seen his rushing average decline in consecutive years and he is scheduled to make $4 million next season. (Seattle Times)
And a little more on the signing:
The obvious thought is that this signals the release of Shaun Alexander, who is coming off two injury-interrupted seasons and will turn 31 in August. But that is not necessarily the case. Not yet anyway.
Jones has been told that he will compete for the starting job, and the size of his contract does not indicate that the Seahawks are giving him the starting job. (Seattle PI)
After breaking 1,000 yards for the first time in 2006, Jones saw his role reduced with the emergence of Marion Barber in Dallas. Jones tallied just 588 yards in 2007 and found the end zone a career low 2 times.
Here’s a little YouTube fun of one of Jones’ more memorable plays in a Notre Dame uniform.
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The Eagles have posted some quotes from Trevor from his conference call with the local media last night. Here are some highlights - you can 
The Philadelphia Eagles selected former Notre Dame defensive end/tackle Trevor Laws with the 47th pick of Saturday’s NFL draft. Laws was the 4th DT drafted after LSU’s GLen Dorsey, USC’s Sedrick Ellis, and North Carolina’s Kentwan Balmer.
