Feb 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Kyle Hamilton and Reese Damm on the red carpet before the NFL Honors show at Resorts World Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Very few schools in the country produce more NFL-ready talent these days than Notre Dame. It's a trend that will continue as Marcus Freeman and his staff continue attracting and developing elite talent at a high rate.

As the 2024 NFL season gets started, there are 36 former Fighting Irish student-athletes on NFL 53-man rosters, which ranks the school in a sixth-place tie with Penn State.

Only Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, LSU, and Michigan have more players on NFL rosters to start the new season. And that makes Notre Dame's standing doubly impressive since those five programs don't have the same academic restrictions as the Irish. The ND staff has to be more selective in the athletes it targets which is a recruiting hurdle the SEC and Big Ten schools don't face.

Notre Dame doesn't just boast plenty of alums playing on Sundays. The university has quality to go along with that quantity, especially in the trenches and in the defensive backfield. Kyle Hamilton and Harrison Smith are two of the league's premier safeties, while Zack Martin and Quenton Nelson have been named All-Pro 13 times combined.

Seven Notre Dame players were drafted in April, headlined by fifth overall pick Joe Alt who was taken by the Los Angeles Chargers. And the Irish are flush in next-level stars on this year's team as well, namely CB Benjamin Morrison, another All-America candidate with a first round grade.

As long as Freeman is the head coach, blue-chip high school recruits and transfers know that Notre Dame is an ideal program for getting developed and getting noticed by NFL scouts and GMs.