Julian Love to skip senior season at Notre Dame, enter NFL draft

Notre Dame All-America cornerback Julian Love and tight end Alize Mack announced Friday that each would forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

Love told reporters at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic last week that he received a second-round grade from NFL scouts at the end of his junior season.

He is considered the No. 3 and No. 4 cornerback, respectively, in the latest positional rankings by ESPN's Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr.

"While I'm confident that this is the best choice for my future, the decision to leave Notre Dame was not an easy one," Love said in a written statement via social media. "It was a childhood dream of mine to put on the gold helmet and play football for the Fighting Irish, and my experience at this university has been just that -- a dream."

Love set a Notre Dame school record for career pass breakups midway through the 2018 season. He broke up 20 passes as a sophomore in 2017, which was also a school record, and finished the 2018 season with 16.

Mack, who made his announcement on Twitter, is ranked eighth and ninth at his position, respectively, by McShay and Kiper. He caught 36 passes for 360 yards and three touchdowns in 2018.

Overall, Mack, who was suspended for the 2016 season because of academic issues, caught 68 passes for 716 yards and four scores.