Howard Cross III
Howard Cross III  DL  Notre Dame | NFL Draft 2025 Souting Report - Portrait Image
Howard Cross III
Height
6-1
Weight
285
College
Notre Dame
Position
DL
Class
Senior
Home town
Paramus, NJ
82.1/100
Player Rating
46
PositionRank (DL)
4.96
FortyYD Time
Sacks
4
Fumbles Forced
Tackles
27
Sol tackles
13

Howard Cross III DL Notre Dame | NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Howard Cross III DL Notre Dame
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

SUB-POSITION: DT 3-TECH
Last Updated: 03/03/2025
Draft Year: 2025
40 time: 4.96 seconds (49%*)
Measurables:
Height: 6-1 (10%*) Weight: 285 (49%*)
Hands: 10 1/2 (77%*) Arm: 32 1/4 (28%*)
Forty: 4.96 (O) (49%*)
Vert: 29 (C) (26%*) Broad: 104 (C) (19%*)
0% 100%
(C) - NFL Combine (P) - Pro Day (O) - Other (HS) -Estimated from High School Combine
For an explanation of how the (HS) data is calculated see this article
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SUB-POSITION: DT 3-TECH
Last Updated: 03/03/2025
Draft Year: 2025
40 time: 4.96 seconds (49%*)
Measurables:
0% 100%
Height: 6-1 (10%*) Weight: 285 (49%*)
Hands: 10 1/2 (77%*) Arm: 32 1/4 (28%*)
Forty: 4.96 (O) (49%*)
Vert: 29 (C) (26%*) Broad: 104 (C) (19%*)
(C) - NFL Combine (P) - Pro Day (O) - Other
(HS) -Estimated from High School Combine
For an explanation of how the (HS) data is calculated see this article
SHARE THIS PROFILE:
Overall Rating: 82.1 / 100
Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced
Offense Rating:
77%
Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects.
Tackling:
76%
Pass Rush:
85%
Run Defense:
77%
DRAFT PROJECTION: 7th
Overall Rank: #216 Position rank: #46
College Games: 64 College Snaps: 2125
Grade: 4 ESPN  Stars 4 ESPN  Stars ESPN RATING: 80/100
College Combine Results
Grade: 247 Sports 4  Stars 247 Sports 90 Stars 247 RATING: 90/100
Player Comparison* (Similarity level)
Kobie Turner - Wake Forest
73%
Byron Young - Alabama
72%
Jonah Tavai - San Diego State
69%
Draft Profile: Bio
The son of a Super Bowl champion, Howard Cross III followed a different path than his tight end father, carving out his own legacy in the trenches at Notre Dame. The New Jersey native arrived in South Bend as a 4-star recruit and steadily climbed the depth chart over his six-year collegiate career. After seeing limited action his first two seasons, Cross emerged as a consistent force on the Fighting Irish defensive front, culminating in back-to-back Second-Team All-American selections in 2023 and 2024. His breakout 2023 campaign saw him rack up 66 tackles from the interior, an eye-popping figure for a nose tackle, while adding 7 tackles for loss and forcing two fumbles.

Cross's wrestling background is evident in his play style, utilizing exceptional leverage and hand-fighting techniques to overcome size limitations. Standing at just 6'1" and 285 pounds, he's significantly undersized for an NFL interior defender, but compensates with quickness and technical savvy. His production speaks volumes - across 64 career games, Cross amassed 169 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. His durability took a slight hit in 2024 when an ankle sprain forced him to miss three games, but he returned to finish strong in Notre Dame's postseason run, including standout performances against Georgia and Penn State.

The Bednarik Award semifinalist repeatedly demonstrated a knack for disruptive plays, including a career-defining performance against Duke in 2023 where he registered 13 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and two forced fumbles. His relentless motor and technical proficiency earned him the Notre Dame Moose Krause Defensive Lineman of the Year honor.
Scouting Report: Strengths
  • Fires off the snap with disruptive burst that shows up consistently on film, creating immediate backfield penetration that wrecks blocking schemes before they develop.
  • Uses advanced hand techniques refined through years of wrestling, consistently winning the hand-fighting battle with precise strikes that leave offensive linemen grasping at air.
  • Natural leverage master who plays low to the ground, routinely getting underneath taller opponents' pads and turning their size advantage into a liability.
  • Demonstrates exceptional lateral agility when slanting across gaps, showing the quickness to cross an offensive lineman's face before they can recover their positioning.
  • Plays with relentless energy that borders on maniacal, chasing down screen passes and pursuing ball carriers with the same intensity on play 70 as on play 1.
  • Reads and reacts to blocking schemes with veteran savvy, rarely getting caught out of position and showing an innate ability to sniff out screen plays.
  • Pass rush toolkit features multiple counters and setup moves when initial rush stalls, particularly effective with a quick swim move that exploits overaggressive blockers.
  • Excels at finding and exploiting narrow rush lanes, demonstrating uncommon flexibility when squeezing through tight spaces to disrupt the pocket.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
  • Significantly undersized for an NFL defensive tackle, with a frame that creates legitimate concerns about durability and ability to hold ground against pro-level offensive linemen.
  • Struggles mightily when caught directly by double-teams, getting uprooted and driven out of his gap despite fighting to re-anchor with proper technique.
  • Lacks the arm length to dictate initial engagement, frequently forced to counter rather than control blockers and losing valuable time in the process.
  • Shows minimal ability to collapse the pocket with power moves, limiting his pass rush arsenal primarily to finesse and quickness-based counters.
  • Over-aggression leads to occasional gap integrity issues, creating cutback lanes when he shoots upfield too quickly on run plays designed to exploit his eagerness.
Scouting Report: Summary
Cross enters the league as a defensive lineman whose calling card is creating interior havoc with quickness and technique rather than power and size. The tape shows a player whose impact comes primarily through disruption in the passing game - shooting gaps, winning with hand usage, and creating immediate penetration that forces quarterbacks off their spots. His wrestling background manifests in exceptional leverage and hand-fighting abilities that allow him to play bigger than his frame suggests, though these technical advantages only partially offset his physical limitations.

He profiles as a rotational defensive tackle in attacking, one-gap fronts where his quickness can be weaponized rather than schemes that ask him to hold ground against double teams. The film reveals a defender who thrives when allowed to penetrate but struggles when asked to anchor against power. This suggests an immediate role as a designated pass-rush specialist on third downs while developing a more complete game over time. His NFL bloodlines show in his football instincts and technical refinement, traits that should serve him well despite physical disadvantages.

The most realistic projection sees Cross carving out a focused but valuable role rather than becoming an every-down defender. While his motor and technical prowess will endear him to position coaches, the physical realities of the NFL interior will limit his deployment. What makes Cross intriguing is the combination of high-level production in college and the athletic traits to translate that disruptive ability in specific situations at the pro level. Defensive fronts that utilize multiple alignments and value penetration over anchoring provide his clearest path to consistent playing time.
Written By:
K.C. Martinez (IND-FBS)

Howard Cross III percentiles vs other Defensive Lines (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)

How other scouting services rate Howard Cross III (Overall Rank)

All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
185.1
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
48.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance. For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.

*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.