Notre Dame CB Benjamin Morrison has an interesting 2025 NFL Draft decision in front of him, mixed reviews around the league

Notre Dame football announced some awful injury news on Monday with All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison being lost for the remainder of the 2024 season. Morrison suffered a hip injury that will require surgery. This is just deflating news for an Irish team that has been playing well, but have been dealing with a long list of injuries.

Obviously Notre Dame will have to make some decisions here moving forward, but so will Morrison. Largely projected as a first round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft class, it was assumed that Morrison would declare early to make this his last season in South Bend. When speaking to various NFL sources, it sounds like the league might not be quite as high as the hype out there in the media.

“It depends on the severity but it is not a good injury for a guy who already wasn’t very explosive,” one NFC South scout said. “He’s also a guy the general public and media has been higher on than the actual NFL. We have 3rd-4th round grade on him.

“Media had him as a top three cornerback in the class, and he was never that,” they continued. “I’d say the league is mostly around a 3rd so not too far off but projection wise, we see him as just a solid third cornerback on your roster so really a 4th round grade.”

From other sources, there are a couple of teams who do have first round grades on Morrison, but there aren’t many. The majority of the feedback does seem to be in the Day Two range (rounds 2-3). There is always a need for experienced cornerbacks with proven ball production, which Morrison certainly has, including nine career interceptions and 18 pass breakups.

Clearly, however, there is a big variance of opinions on the Irish star. That begs the question, should Morrison consider returning for the 2025 college football season? It’s certainly at least worth a deeper conversation for the Morrison family, who I’m sure will not rush a decision.

It will depend a ton on the long term outlook for the injury, not to mention the fact he has some questions around his offseason shoulder injury. Will Morrison be able to test prior to the 2025 NFL Draft? What does the long term outlook look like overall? Those are the factors unknown to us right now.