Notre Dame football: Eifert is in position for a great draft day

Last October, Notre Dame and Stanford played to overtime, the Irish securing the victory with a goal-line stand. As Stanford has improved on the field, the two academically strong programs have battled for blue-chip athletes in recruiting.

The rivalry appears to be entering a new realm.

Former ND tight end Tyler Eifert and former Cardinal TE Zach Ertz are considered the top two players at their position in the April NFL Draft, and both were recently invited to the league's scouting combine, which will be held Feb. 20-26 in Indianapolis.

Entering that poke, prod and pick-the-brain fest, it's advantage Ertz, at least in the eyes of one analyst.

"Right now from what I've gathered, Ertz has maybe a little bit of an edge, kind of has the momentum in scouting services," said Scott Wright of DraftCountdown.com. "I probably see him as the favorite to be the first tight end selected, but Eifert is going to be right shortly after."

And where might that be? Wright sees a number of teams in the back half of the first round with a need at the spot, beginning with the Chicago Bears, who own the 20th pick. Others could include Green Bay (26) or Atlanta (30), if star tight end Tony Gonzalez retires.

"The Falcons are definitely going to need a tight end if Tony Gonzalez goes through with his plans to retire," Wright said. "I think that would be a logical landing spot for him."

Here is a look at the some other former Irish offensive players who were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis Feb. 20-26:

-- Theo Riddick, RB: Coming into the year, Riddick fell into the undrafted free agent category. Not anymore.

"Theo Riddick is a guy who's generated a little momentum," Wright said. "Great senior year, and really helped himself. Now he's in that likely draftable category."

Wright has heard that Riddick could go as high as the middle rounds, but cautioned that backs tend to slide on draft day. He also added that there were double-digit running backs who entered the draft early, clogging the pool of players.

"The thing with Theo Riddick, he's one of those guys who does everything well but nothing necessarily great," Wright said. "But I think he's a better prospect than say Armando Allen was from Notre Dame a couple years ago."

Allen is now with the Bears, but saw limited playing time this past season.

-- Cierre Wood, RB: This one, Wright says, is difficult to predict.

"I could imagine scenarios where he goes maybe as high as the third round. I could see scenarios where he goes late rounds or undrafted," Wright said. "It's really that wide of a range right now."

Wood, who bypassed a fifth year of eligibility to enter the draft, ran for 1,102 yards in 2011 but that total dropped to 742 yards as a senior. He also was suspended for the first two games of the 2012 season for violating team rules.

"Cierre Wood, it's not like he had a great senior year," Wright said. "Teams are going to ask, 'Well, we think you're more talented than Theo Riddick. Why did he win the job? Why were you suspended?'

"I think it would have behooved him to go back for his senior year and be the guy and the workhorse and have a big senior year like Theo Riddick did, whereas now he's going to kind of roll the dice here, and hopefully he's one of the lucky ones who settles kind of near the top of the pack rather than the bottom of the pack. Because it's a horserace now at the running back position, and really, workouts are going to play a key role in separating these guys."

The NFL Draft will be held April 25-27 in New York.

-- Coming Friday: A look at how Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o stacks
up in the NFL Draft.

Staff writer Bob Wieneke:
bwieneke@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6428

Source: http://www.southbendtribune.com/sports/notredame/football/sbt-notre-dame-football-eifert-is-in-position-for-a-great-draft-day-20130213,0,2896221.story?track=rss

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