Howard Cross III found the perfect landing spot after the NFL Draft!

Ryan Roberts discusses how former Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive tackle Howard Cross III landing with the Cincinnati Bengals is a great move.

Transcript

00:00there were six notre dame players that heard their name called during the 2025 nfl draft but

00:04even more that signed as undrafted free agents afterwards i want to talk about a player who is

00:11going to be going under the radar for their new team but i believe can have a role in 2025 and

00:17surprise a ton let's talk about him next ryan roberts from a to z sports bringing on everything

00:24notre dame football folks 2025 nfl draft is in the books six notre dame players were drafted during

00:31the three-day stretch in the marathon that ensued we had benjamin morrison come off the board in the

00:36second round to the tempe buccaneers xavier watts third round to the atlanta falcons fourth round

00:42jacksonville jaguars select linebacker jack kaiser fifth round couple guys that came off the board

00:47riley mills defensive lineman to the seattle seahawks we also had mitchell evans go to the

00:51carolina panthers and in the sixth round finally quarterback riley leonard was selected by the

00:57indianapolis coles to stay in the state of indiana which was pretty cool to see but i want to talk

01:02about some undrafted free agents and actually one in particular because we've seen jordan clark

01:07signed with the new york jets already already have seen several other guys but i want to really talk

01:12about one in particular howard cross the third signed with the cincinnati bangles and immediately

01:18some radars are probably going off a little bit because that means that he is going to be reunited

01:22with his former defensive coordinator al golden as the new defense play caller for cincinnati i really

01:29like this fit for several reasons okay first and foremost howard cross went undrafted this year

01:36because smaller body smaller frame but more than anything he was banged up all year you'll talk to

01:43scouts and see blesto grades before the season howard cross had a lot of early day three grades

01:49fourth to fifth round grades on him unfortunately he was not as good as he was in 2023 because he was

01:54hurt from the onset of the season and then he got more injured during the middle section of the season

01:59and he was hobbled i mean anybody that saw him play know that he was playing maybe at 50 by the end of

02:04the year like he was just it was a very injury riddled season and it was troubling because for a

02:10undersized guy he needs his explosiveness he needs that pop off the line of scrimmage he did not

02:15have that so you saw bad i don't say bad you saw lesser film than what you saw in 2023 and that did

02:24not overcompensate for the lack of size so he goes undrafted i still love the possibility of howard cross

02:31as long as he's healthy now that is we'll see if he's able to stay healthy ultimately on the nfl level

02:39but if he is then that means that the cincinnati bangles have a steal on their hands as an undrafted

02:44region because he was a he would have been drafted even in a deep defense attack class if he just

02:50repeated what he did in 2023 on full scale had a healthy draft process i believe that howard cross

02:56would have been drafted reunited with al golden in a position that doesn't really have a set rotation

03:04right now if you know anyone says any bangles in this rebuild defense was the main priority going

03:10into the draft they needed help on the defensive line they needed help on the second level with the

03:16linebackers they also need help with the secondary right so that's kind of kept talking about maybe

03:21benjamin morrison xavier waltz will be reunited but they did go on the edge very early in this class and

03:26got a player like shamar stewart in the first round but the interior defensive line was not a spot

03:31that was seemingly a priority but i really believe that if howard cross is healthy he has a chance to

03:37find a roster spot in 2025 and he finds a roster spot depending on health of others around him or

03:44the impact that he's making on a day-to-day perspective and practice don't be shocked if

03:48howard cross at least sees the field in 2025 and has a huge impact moving forward folks put into the

03:55chat right now who is the most undervalued prospect this year for notre dame who are you excited to

04:01watch in the nfl make sure you hit that like button subscribe on your way out and as always go irish