Notre Dame Lineman Blake Fisher Has A Lot To Gain At The NFL Scouting Combine

It wasn’t long ago that former Notre Dame offensive tackle Blake Fisher was one of the more hyped recruits in recent Irish history. Before his first season in 2021, Fisher had done something very rare with the program, winning the starting left tackle position as a true freshman. Unfortunately an early season injury cost him the majority of that first season, but Fisher would still become a full time starter at right tackle over the last two years.

There was some tremendous moments for Fisher, but he was a pretty inconsistent fixture up front for the Irish. He opted to declare early for the 2024 NFL Draft, testing his skills on the highest level. Fisher now heads to the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine later this week with some big questions to answer.

Here is what Fisher could do to help his draft stock, and maximize his decision to declare early.

CURRENT PROJECTION

Fisher is a very interesting evaluation right now. He is obviously a very talented player, but he never really took the big step that most people expected. Even if he never hit his ceiling, Fisher is still a young player and brings a lot of upside to the table. There are some third to fourth round grades out there on him, with some other teams not quite as high.

WHAT’S ON THE LINE AT THE COMBINE?

Let’s start with the testing, which should be a part of the Combine that Fisher does very well in. There has never been a single question raised about his overall talent and there is a good chance he captures the evaluator’s attention in Indianapolis.

Here are some testing numbers that Fisher could be looking to achieve.

40-Yard Dash: 5.15-5.25 seconds
Vertical Jump: 30-32 inches
Broad Jump: 9 feet
3-Cone Drill: 4.70 seconds
Short Shuttle: 7.60 seconds
Bench Press: 24-26 reps

One major thing to watch, outside of on-field drills, is what weight Fisher comes in at. After player between 325 and 335 pounds his first two seasons, Fisher lost a ton of weight as a junior and got down to about 310 pounds. That appeared to sacrifice some of his power, which was arguably his biggest asset. It will be interesting to see what weight he comes in at this week, and whether he put some good weight back on.

The other major part of the week is going to be the meetings with teams. In that setting, hard questions are going to be asked. Fisher must be ready to answer them and make sure that each team is comfortable with him as a player, person and potential teammate.

NEXT STEP

The interviews with teams are going to be the biggest element of this draft process for Fisher, which will happen both at the Pro Day and on Top 30 visits leading up to April. Depending on how Fisher tests at the Combine, he may also need to test again at the Notre Dame Pro Day on March 21st. The more important part, however, is getting decision makers on board with him as a player, prospect and person.