4. Julian Okwara, DE
If you haven’t already noticed, the Irish are absolutely stacked at one of the most important positions in all of football – pass rusher. With Kareem in line for an early round selection, there’s potential that both he and classmate Julian Okwara are both gone by the end of the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Some consider Okwara and Kareem to be relatively interchangeable as it relates to their respective draft selections, so it may come down to a team’s preference when deciding which of the two is drafted first. Any way you want to put it, some have Okwara going first while others have Kareem.
Either way, the most likely scenario from the Irish’s perspective is a Notre Dame squad without the likes of either of their top two pass rushers. Additionally, there’s a good chance that former starter Hayes tries his luck at the NFL in 2020, leaving it up to Ogundeji and those who come after him to make up for the lost production.
Speaking of production, Okwara enjoyed a similar statistical year to Kareem, posting 37 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks in 2018. Although an unofficial stat, Okwara and Kareem finished as one of the top duos in the nation in quarterback pressures. This alone should have both of them near the top of every team’s draft board in 2020.