ND’s Estime, Kiper’s No

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterDec 14, 2023, 06:28 PM ET

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  • College football reporter.
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.Notre Dame running

back Audric Estime, who set a group single-season record for rushing goals this season, stated for the NFL draft Thursday.Estime will not bet the 16th-ranked Irish against

No. 19 Oregon State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas, although he prepares to attend the game. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Estime as his No. 3 draft-eligible running back, while ESPN’s Matt Miller has Estime at No. 2. Estime made second-team AP All-America honors this fall.The 5-foot-11, 227-pound junior from Nyack, New york city, became Notre Dame’s featured running back in

2022, when he led the group with 920 rushing lawns and 11 goals. Estime built on those overalls this fall, tape-recording 1,341 rushing lawns– the fifth-highest overall in group history– and 18 goals. He ran for a career-high 238 backyards and four touchdowns in Notre Dame’s regular-season finale at Stanford.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated In a post on X, Estime thanked his coaches and colleagues while including,”I have actually always envisioned myself completing at the greatest level, and

with that comes preparation. So, for the next couple months, I will be following the journey that God is picturing for me. “Estime joins numerous other Notre Dame standouts who are opting out of the championship game, consisting of quarterback Sam Hartman, offending tackle Joe Alt and cornerback Cam Hart, who also declared for the draft Thursday.