The ESPN.com unveils its "all tape" team going into the draft and features not one but TWO from Notre Dame.
The filmeth don't lieth
Scouts Inc. ranking: No. 71
For the first time in NFL draft history, an RB2 is
the RB2. Price is projected as a Round 2 pick, and if he is indeed the second running back selected after Fighting Irish teammate
Jeremiyah Love, it will mark the first time teammates have been the first two running backs taken off the board.
Though Price was unquestionably the second fiddle behind Love, he still had 233 carries over the past two seasons to Love's 362, thanks in large part to the high volume at which Notre Dame ran the football. That 233-carry sample is more than enough on which to base an evaluation. Bills running back
James Cook III had only 230 career carries over four seasons before he was drafted in the second round out of Georgia, and new Commanders back
Rachaad White had 224 carries at the Power 5 level before he went to the Bucs in the third round out of Arizona State.
And Price's 233 carries are good. A loose athlete at 5-11 and 203 pounds, he's a more creative runner with quicker eyes and decision-making than Love. Price reliably puts the first would-be tackler in bad positions by manipulating tempo and activating his off hand, creating a ton of yardage after first contact. Love is the superior prospect for his receiving ability and explosive open-field speed, while Price is more of a tricky projection to the NFL. He's not a high-impact pass protector or pass catcher, so he needs to find a home as an early-down, high-volume, ground-and-pound ball carrier. Those roles don't open up often.
But teams that already have a receiving back that they want to protect from 300-plus carries over the course of a season should prioritize Price. He'd be a great running mate for, say,
Bucky Irving in Tampa Bay or
Tony Pollard in Tennessee, but the dream landing spot is alongside
Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit. Price, who ran for 674 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, is a reliable singles and doubles hitter, and pairing him with a home run threat like Gibbs would bring out the best in him.
Tight end: Eli Raridon, Notre Dame
Scouts Inc. ranking: No. 66
In last year's edition of the All-Film team, I implored you to take a staggering leap of faith and trust a tight end prospect out of Notre Dame.
Mitchell Evans, who went in the fifth round, ended up breaking into the Panthers' rotation at the position nicely, playing 424 snaps by season's end.
I'm back to the Fighting Irish well with Raridon, though through a different lens. Evans was a productive receiver in a small sample; with Raridon, it feels like the light bulb went on as a blocker last season. Raridon tore his right ACL twice (once in 2021 before he got on campus, then again in the fall of 2022 as a freshman). His development was impeded and playing time limited, especially on a dense depth chart of Notre Dame tight ends, including Evans. But over his one year as the unquestioned TE1 in South Bend, Raridon improved dramatically.
Prone to falling off blocks with an upright posture earlier in the season, Raridon learned how to use his length, flexibility and core strength to uproot defensive linemen and steer them out of gaps. He became an impactful player on pulls that Notre Dame featured in short-yardage and goal-line situations. The team
wanted to run behind the guy.
At 6-6 and 245 pounds, Raridon has enough long speed and length to be a seam runner at the NFL level, but his primary value will come as a movable blocker with the ceiling of a true hand-in-the-dirt Y tight end should he add another 10 pounds. That makes him a developmental prospect -- more of an early Day 3 pick than a Day 2 selection in a thick tight end class. But it's not hard to see a
Josh Oliver-esque arc for him at the position.