Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate Will Enter NFL Draft

As expected, Notre Dame juniors Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate made their decision to enter the NFL draft in April official at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

From ESPN.com’s Tom Friend:

Following the advice of deposed Irish coach Charlie Weis, Clausen has decided to forgo his senior season and enter this April’s draft. Rated as perhaps the top quarterback in this year’s class, he is believed to be coveted by St. Louis, Cleveland and Washington — three teams that will conceivably pick in the top 5.

“After the season, in talking to my parents and obviously Coach Weis, I just feel it’s the right time,‘’ Clausen told ESPN.com on Monday before a scheduled 2 p.m. ET news conference in South Bend. "Coach Weis told me whether he was going to be here or not be here, it was time for me to go. He thought I’ve improved so much since I came to Notre Dame. So, I’m taking his advice, and I’m going to head out.’’

Redskins fan: “Please, by all means, St. Louis, you take him. We insist.”
Rams fan: “That’s very nice of you, Washington, But, no, no, we couldn’t possibly. Cleveland, you guys don’t seem to like that Brady Quinn fellow. We’ll let you draft Jimmy. Consider it a belated Christmas present.”
Browns fan: “Oh both of you are too kind, but we are full up to HERE with QB busts …”

And so on …

There is a press conference planned for 2 p.m. ET Monday afternoon, at which Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate are expected to announce their decision to enter the NFL draft.

Neither announcement should come as much of a surprise — both were expected to make the jump to the pros, and Charlie Weis’ firing only further cemented that decision.

SB Nation’s Mountain West Connection explains that Clausen’s decision is actually part of a domino effect for this year’s Irish team:

First, is the inevitable that Charlie Weis is nearly all but fired which is now creating a domino effect within the program. Now it appears that QB Jimmy Clausen is jetting to the NFL as well, and the first clue was when the Clausen family put up and then sold their house this past week.

The next domino is WR Golden Tate who is a draft eligible stud receiver who is the second rated wide receier and 32nd overall prospect according to SB Nation’s Mocking The Draft. The Irish offense was their glue and besides that Clausen and Tate are more then gone the Irish also lose two senior offensive line man who look to be drafted in the NFL: Center Eric Olsen and tackle Sam Young.

To make matters worse the quarterback situation for the Irish might be up in the air next year because current backup and only rostered scholarship quarterback Dayne Crist tore his ACL. The injury happened back on Halloween against Washington State in a 40-14 blowout by the Irish. Notre Dame realistically could be looking at starting a true freshman for next season if Crist’s knee is not completely healed and the front runner is four star verbal commit Andrew Hendrix. I am not sure on the rules of enrolling early at Notre Dame, but if Hendrix is able to be on campus in January to compete in spring drills then the quarterback situation might be a little more stable.