Notre Dame's future stars, including CJ Carr, Leonard Moore, and Tae Johnson, dominate early NFL Draft projections. See who lands in the first round.
Notre Dame is expected to contend for a national championship in 2026, and a big reason is that the Irish return a great deal of talent on both sides of the ball. You are seeing that in the way too early projections for the 2027 NFL Draft. In fact, in a mock draft from ESPN's Jordan Reid, Notre Dame had three players projected to go in the first round.
Reid has Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr as the top player picked. He projects Carr to go No. 4 overall to the Cleveland Browns.
"Every year a QB ascends from the pack and shoots up the draft. Carr could be that guy in 2027 after an encouraging first season as a starter. He finished last season with 2,741 passing yards and 24 touchdowns to six interceptions. He has a snappy release and excellent command at the line. And Carr has polished throwing mechanics, with his eyes, base and throwing motion all tying together. The sample is small (12 starts), but expanding on his 2025 season would put him in position to be taken by a team such as the Browns, who will likely be willing to take a swing at a QB early despite selecting three in the past two drafts." - Reid
Carr has been a bit hit or miss in various early mock drafts. Reid has him going No. 4 overall, I saw another mock draft that had him in the Top 15, and others don't have him in the first round at all. Some of those are based on evaluation, while others project that Carr returns to Notre Dame for the 2027 season.
Next up is Leonard Moore, a unanimous All-American cornerback in 2025. Moore is the hands down best cornerback in the country and Reid projects him to be the No. 8 overall pick, going to the Carolina Panthers.
"Like in 2024, it could be a while before the first defensive player is selected. Moore is a long, fluid prospect who is a high-quality press-man corner. He finished with five interceptions last season and allowed only 12 receptions. Moore's length, speed and recognition of passing concepts also allow him to clog windows in zone coverage. He needs to improve as a tackler and can be overly handsy, but Moore reminds me of Christian Gonzalez and can be a true shutdown corner in the NFL. With Mike Jackson entering a contract year, Moore could be a great pairing with Jaycee Horn in Carolina - if he makes it this far." - Reid
The third projected first round pick is safety Tae Johnson, who he projects to go No. 27 overall to the San Francisco 49ers.
"Johnson burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman last season, finishing with four interceptions, and he is a candidate to make a big rise in 2026. He's an excellent blend of speed, football IQ and versatility, and his fluid movement ability allows him to be a mistake eraser on the back end. Along with his strong coverage skills, Johnson is an enthusiastic tackler who can make plays against the run. The 49ers didn't draft a safety last week, and Ji'Ayir Brown is set to be a free agent, so Johnson could work here." - Reid
Staying healthy will be the big key for Johnson. With the return of Moore and Johnson to go with three-year starting safety Adon Shuler and corner Christian Gray, and the arrival of transfer cornerback DJ McKinney, plus loads of talented depth players, the Irish are expected to have arguably the best secondary in the country in 2026.
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!