Notre Dame football: 5 great players who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

Notre Dame football NFL busts: Jimmy Clausen.

Arriving at Notre Dame as a highly decorated recruit, there was plenty of hype around Jimmy Clausen when he put on the Fighting Irish uniform. Those expectations, however, were dashed a bit in his freshman season. After not opening the season as a starter then going 1-5 early in his career as a starter, he had a lot to prove after throwing for just 1,254 yards, seven scores and six picks in 10 games played.

Clausen really started to live up to the hype the following year, even if the Fighting Irish were still trying to find their footing in what amounted to a 7-6 overall season. He still threw for 3,172 yards and 25 touchdowns, though he did toss 17 interceptions. However, he starred in the Hawaii Bowl in a victory, which ended a nine-game bowl losing streak for the program, which can’t be understated.

In his junior campaign, Clausen had by far the best season of his college career. He completed an impressive 68.8 percent of his passes for 3,722 yards, 28 touchdowns and just four interceptions, though Notre Dame went only 6-6. Even still, Clausen finished his career as second all-time in program history in passing yards before declaring early for the 2010 NFL Draft.

Selected in the second round, No. 48 overall, by the Carolina Panthers after a surprising draft day slide out of the first round. He started 10 games as a rookie and clearly wasn’t ready for the big leagues. He went 1-9 and threw nine interceptions to just three touchdowns. He would make just four more starts over his career as he continued to struggle and, by the end of the 2015 season, was out of the league.