Four Notre Dame football players invited to NFL rookie minicamp

Four members of last season’s Notre Dame football team will have the chance to impress NFL coaches and evaluators in person this spring. 

Running back Devyn Ford (Las Vegas Raiders), cornerback Max Hurleman (Pittsburgh Steelers), kicker Mitch Jeter (Minnesota Vikings) and defensive end RJ Oben (Kansas City Chiefs) have all accepted invitations to take part in NFL rookie minicamp. 

Rookie minicamp is a three-day orientation where first-year NFL players—and up to five veterans—participate in practice, workouts and classroom sessions within two weeks of the NFL Draft. It basically gives rookies a “day in the life” look at what it is like to be an NFL player. 

Each NFL team’s draft picks and undrafted free agent signees partake in the rookie minicamp. So, Ford, Hurleman, Jeter and Oben will have the chance to compete for a contract to be on the 90-man offseason roster for organized team activities (OTAs), mandatory minicamp and training camp. Teams must reduce their rosters to 53 players by Aug. 27 at 4 p.m. ET. 

In addition to its four rookie minicamp invitees, Notre Dame had six players drafted: cornerback Benjamin Morrison (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), safety Xavier Watts (Atlanta Falcons), linebacker Jack Kiser (Jacksonville Jaguars), defensive tackle Rylie Mills (Seattle Seahawks), tight end Mitchell Evans (Carolina Panthers) and quarterback Riley Leonard (Indianapolis Colts).

Three former Fighting Irish players also landed on NFL rosters as undrafted free agents: defensive tackle Howard Cross III (Cincinnati Bengals), wide receiver Beaux Collins (New York Giants) and defensive back Jordan Clark (New York Jets). 

Notes on the four former Notre Dame football players invited to NFL rookie minicamp

— Ford heads to Las Vegas, where he will reunite with former Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough. The Raiders hired McCullough in February after three seasons with the Irish. McCullough added Ford to the Notre Dame roster out of Penn State before the 2023 season. Ford switched to safety last spring, but then went back to running back in the summer after junior Gi’Bran Payne suffered a season-ending knee injury. Ford had 21 carries for 99 yards during his two-year Notre Dame career. 

— Hurleman transferred to the Irish to play defensive back after four years as a running back at Colgate. He primarily served as Notre Dame’s punt returner last season and was a key special-teams teams contributor. The Wyomissing (Pa.) High product grew up about 250 miles from Pittsburgh.

— After being one of college football’s most accurate kickers across four seasons at South Carolina, Jeter transferred to Notre Dame in 2024 and battled a groin/hip injury for most of his time in South Bend. He was 13-21 for the Irish, including 7-9 in the College Football Playoff. The Vikings’ kicker, Will Reichard, was 24-30 in 2024, his first NFL season. 

— Oben appeared in some NFL Mock Drafts. Toward the end of his career at Duke, he looked like an NFL player, but he only had 1.5 stops for loss and 1 sack for Notre Dame in 16 games. The Chiefs will give him a shot to impress this spring. 

— Wide receivers Jayden Harrison and Kris Mitchell, defensive back Rod Heard II and tight end Davis Sherwood have not announced whether they have been invited to rookie minicamp.