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Tough news out of 49ers rookie minicamp this week, as former Notre Dame linebacker and fifth-round draft pick Darius Fleming tore an anterior cruciate ligament and could miss his rookie season, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.

Fleming's agent, Andy Simms, told Rapoport that the ACL was the only ligament Fleming tore.

Fleming, a 6-foot-1, 245-pounder from Notre Dame suffered the injury in a non-contact drill, coming down on his knee awkwardly. He attempted to continue doing drills, but quickly realized his knee was giving out. He had an MRI, which confirmed the injury.

Fleming had signed his contract Thursday, a day before suffering the injury. When fellow Irish linebacker and good friend Steve Filer went down with the a similar injury in November, ending his college career, Fleming wore Filer's No. 46 jersey for the Nov. 12 game against Maryland. Here's hoping for a quick recovery for Fleming, one of the better guys both on and off the field from last year's Notre Dame team.

2011 overall record: 8-5

Returning starters: Offense: 7; defense: 7; kicker/punter: 1

Top returners
QB Tommy Rees, QB Andrew Hendrix, RB Cierre Wood, RB/WR Theo Riddick, RB/WR George Atkinson III, TE Tyler Eifert, LT Zack Martin, LG Chris Watt, C Braxston Cave, C/G Mike Golic Jr., WR Robby Toma, WR John Goodman, WR T.J. Jones, DE Stephon Tuitt, NG Louis Nix, DE Kapron Lewis-Moore, ILB Manti Te'o, ILB Dan Fox, OLB Prince Shembo, S Jamoris Slaughter, S Zeke Motta

Key losses
WR Michael Floyd, RB Jonas Gray, RG Trevor Robinson, RT Taylor Dever, DE Aaron Lynch, NG Sean Cwynar, DE Ethan Johnson, OLB Darius Fleming, S Harrison Smith, CB Gary Gray, CB Robert Blanton

2011 statistical leaders (* returners)

Rushing: Cierre Wood* (1,102 yards)
Passing: Tommy Rees* (2,871 yards)
Receiving: Michael Floyd (1,147 yards)
Tackles: Manti Te'o* (128)
Sacks: Aaron Lynch (5.5)
Interceptions: Robert Blanton/Gary Gray (2)

Spring answers

1. Tyler Eifert: His offensive teammates -- and the next starting quarterback, in particular -- owe Eifert the world for returning. New offensive coordinator Chuck Martin will use Eifert in a variety of different ways this season, and his position will resemble that of Michael Floyd's more than it will a traditional tight end's. A strong season will likely propel Eifert into the first round of next year's NFL draft.

2. No shortage of skill players: Yes, the all-time leading receiver is gone. But the Irish still boast a plethora of skilled, versatile assets who can make big plays with their speed. Tony Alford is in charge of the running backs and slot receivers this season, and Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick, Robby Toma and George Atkinson III all have the ability to make things happen out of the backfield. Look for a big year from DaVaris Daniels on the outside as well.

3. Defensive leaders: Manti Te'o would appear to be a shoe-in for a captain role this season, and he'll have plenty of help bringing along some of the unit's young talent. Jamoris Slaughter is back for a fifth year, and becoming a father this spring has forced him to grow up fast. Kapron Lewis-Moore is back for a fifth year as well, and the defensive end is one of the more respected voices on the team.

Fall questions

1. What will happen to Tommy Rees and, by extension, the QB race? Rees' immediate future is up in the air following his May 3 arrest, though his chances of starting this season figure to have greatly diminished in light of being charged with four misdemeanors. Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson will likely benefit the most and should enter camp as the favorites, while prep phenom Gunner Kiel continues to adjust after enrolling in January.

2. What about those corners? Bennett Jackson has the talent to play well at the boundary in his first year starting but will likely have to endure some growing pains, especially against some of the elite passing offenses the Irish will face in 2012. At the field, Josh Atkinson has pushed Lo Wood for the No. 1 spot, and that will be one of the more intriguing position battles once preseason camp opens.

3. Can anyone handle this schedule? The two Big Ten favorites, the Big 12 favorite, the Pac-12 favorite. A trip to Dublin. The 2012 schedule is absolutely loaded, and the Irish will have several new pieces in key places entering the season. How quickly everybody can adjust to their roles will go a long way in determining whether Brian Kelly's third season at Notre Dame is a success.

Abro was all that was right about college sports. Cheers.

• SI.com's Andy Staples looks at what postseason reforms could mean for Notre Dame.
• Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt tells the NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano that Larry Fitzgerald wasn't involved in the franchise's decision to draft Michael Floyd.
• Harrison Smith won over the Vikings at the Senior Bowl, Mike Strange writes in the Knoxville News Sentinel.
• The Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Sid Hartman says the Vikings are getting an Irish accent with so many draft picks from Notre Dame.
• Darius Fleming thinks his early role with the 49ers will be on special teams, Eric Branch writes in the San Francisco Chronicle. (Also, Fleming used to room with new San Francisco teammate Ian Williams at Notre Dame.)

Happy Birthday to one of the biggest Irish fans I know, my grandma. (Who doesn't own a computer and therefore will never see this message.)

• Our NFC West blogger Mike Sando says Arizona taking Michael Floyd shakes up the division. Sando also details the rude welcome to the division that Floyd has gotten from Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.
• Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton weren't the only set of college teammates the Vikings drafted, Kevin Seifert writes in the NFC North blog.
• RecruitingNation looks at some of the top uncommitted linebackers, including Jaylon Smith.
• The Saturday stress was worth it for Darius Fleming when he was drafted, Brian Hamilton writes in the Chicago Tribune.
• Blanton returned to some unfinished business upon being drafted, Wes Morgan writes on BlueandGold.com.

Expect a little more purple and gold than usual on the Notre Dame campus this fall.

Robert Blanton became the latest in the Irish-to-Vikings pipeline Saturday, going to Minnesota in the fifth round (139th overall) one day after the franchise drafted the cornerback's teammate from Notre Dame's defensive backfield, Harrison Smith.

Minnesota now has five former Irish players on its roster: Blanton, Smith, Kyle Rudolph, John Carlson and John Sullivan.

Darius Fleming was drafted a round later (165th overall) by the 49ers, who made Fleming the first Notre Dame linebacker drafted since 2004, when the Saints took Courtney Watson. San Francisco had not drafted a Notre Dame player since taking Arnaz Battle in the sixth round in 2003.

Several former Irish players signed free-agent deals with NFL teams -- defensive end Ethan Johnson with the Chiefs, running back Jonas Gray with the Dolphins and offensive tackle Taylor Dever with the Cowboys. Guard Trevor Robinson posted on Twitter on Sunday that he signed with the Bengals.

One last Wednesday, one last roundup of our experts' forecasts for this weekend's NFL draft.

One thing I think we can all agree on after some earlier offseason debate: Michael Floyd will be chosen Thursday.

Floyd, who will be in New York for the draft, is ranked as the No. 15 prospect on Todd McShay's 32-man draft board , 14 spots ahead of safety Harrison Smith, who's at No. 29. Mel Kiper has Floyd 12th on his 25-man Big Board .

Kiper has both players going in the first round in his latest mock , with Floyd Buffalo-bound at No. 10 and Smith headed to New England at No. 31.

There are plenty of draft boards that will have Floyd as the best overall WR in this class. The Bills could go a few different ways here, but they really need another threat in the passing game, and Floyd gives them size and smarts. He'll grasp the route tree early, and can both stretch the field and work underneath.

The Patriots will address the pass rush with one of the first two picks, but I think they'll also look for help in the secondary if they like the value. Smith is a very good player. He takes great routes to the ball, and he doesn't shy away when he's closer to the line and has to take on runners. Corner could be a target here, but Smith also makes your coverage better.

McShay, meanwhile, teams up with Scouts Inc. partners Steve Muench and Kevin Weidl to mock the entire seven-round draft . In addition to Floyd and Smith, the group has Darius Fleming going in the fifth round (No. 143, Panthers), Robert Blanton going in the sixth round (No. 185, Cardinals) and Jonas Gray going in the seventh round (No. 249, Falcons).

Can seriously watch Gladiator over and over and over again ...

• Scott Booker is a star recruiter in the making, Eric Hansen writes in the South Bend Tribune.
• IrishIllustrated.com's Pete Sampson talks all things Notre Dame on the Solid Verbal Podcast.
• Chuck Martin is working on a QB makeover, Tim Prister writes on IrishIllustrated.com.
• Jamoris Slaughter has worked at cornerback, Dan Murphy writes on BlueandGold.com.
• Darius Fleming made a big pro day statement last week, Mark Potash writes in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Representatives from 27 NFL teams were present Tuesday for Notre Dame's pro day. The Irish just released numbers and notes from the event. Here you go ...

• Robert Blanton (4.53/4.56) had the fastest 40-time among the five former Irish players who ran it. His 4.53 would have been fourth among safeties at February's combine in Indianapolis, and would have tied for 12th among cornerbacks.
• The other 40 times from Tuesday: Darius Fleming (4.58/4.54), Gary Gray (4.75/4.70), Trevor Robinson (5.24/5.22), and Taylor Dever (5.38/5.34).
• Robinson, who was not invited to the combine, would have been the only offensive lineman there to rank among the top 10 in vertical jump (30 inches; tied for 8th), broad jump (8 feet, 9 inches; tied for 6th), bench press (31; tied for 8th), and 40-yard dash (5.22; 8th).
• Jonas Gray improved his bench press number from 20 at the combine to 22 Tuesday.
• David Ruffer hit 13 of 15 field goals.
• Harrison Smith's 60-yard shuttle time (11.52) would have been the fastest time among safeties at the combine. That was the only timed drill Smith participated in Tuesday.
• Michael Floyd ran an 11.66 in the 60-yard shuttle. The 3-cone drill (7.13/7.11) and pro agility drill (4.23/4.37) were the only other timed drills he took part in Tuesday.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jimmy Clausen is scheduled to fly out of town Wednesday morning, but the former Notre Dame signal caller is hoping to re-schedule his flight so he can get an in-person glimpse of the Irish's quarterback competition during the team's ninth spring practice.

The current reserve signal caller for the Carolina Panthers went through a four-man competition at the position during his freshman year in 2007, emerging as the starter for the Irish's second game.

"Oh man, it seems like a long, long time ago," Clausen said. "But it was a lot of fun. Coming in as a freshman — I came in early — it was kind of a whirlwind for me. Just learning the playbook and everything like that. But [Tommy Rees'] done a great job, [Andrew Hendrix's] done a great job and I'm looking forward to watching those guys this year."

He said he met Gunner Kiel on Monday, offering whatever advice he could to another early enrollee who entered Notre Dame with huge expectations following a decorated prep career.

"I talked to him yesterday for a little bit, introduced myself to him and just said good luck with everything," Clausen said. "If he needs anything just give me a call, we'll talk."

Some other pro day items, per Notre Dame officials:

• Cornerback Robert Blanton's 40-yard dash time was in the low 4.5s. Linebacker Darius Fleming's was between 4.50-4.59. NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock, who also does color commentary for Notre Dame home games on NBC, said he can see Blanton playing safety at the next level.
• Right guard Trevor Robinson bench pressed 225 pounds 31 times.
• Running back Jonas Gray, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Nov. 19, ran pass patterns and was able to explode and cut, and he did not wear a brace on his knee. Gray did not run a 40, saying he won't be able to until late May or early June, by which point it would be unnecessary.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A rainy Friday forced Notre Dame indoors for spring practice No. 6, which shed no new light on the four-man quarterback competition.

Not that the Irish are expecting any definitive answers in the next three weeks, anyway.

The signal callers went against a three-man rush Friday, coach Brian Kelly said, making sure they could keep plays alive against eight-man coverages and secure the ball.

"Each day we're staging different tests for the quarterbacks," Kelly said. "That's why this is gonna be a long process. We're not gonna have this thing accomplished because we have not even got to the checks in our offense yet. There are no checks in yet. It's call it and play.

"So as you know last year we ran so many checks that we checked ourselves out of plays. So just to give you a perspective of how far we are from even being able to say the quarterback is ready, we're not even there in terms of our system."

Kelly said the starter will be whoever takes care of the football, and he thinks the quarterbacks have done a better job of understanding that "zero" is an OK play.

"We've gone back and taught fundamentals so nobody started ahead of the other quarterback," Kelly said. "So now we're seeing progression from each one of them in picking up the things that we want."

Some other notes from Friday ...

• Prince Shembo's left foot was immobilized because of turf toe, and he is expected to miss two to three days. Ishaq Williams took reps with the first-team defense during practice, the first half-hour of which was open to the media.
• Robby Toma took reps at running back, but Kelly said that was more a function of the Irish's slot receiver position meshing with running back: "It's matching personnel. So it's not necessarily that Robby runs the inside zone extremely well, it's matching personnel so we can move guys to different positions on the field. So again it's just multiple formations that allow us to move the defense and it might be just to move the defense in a position where it opens up for Tyler Eifert or it opens up something else, so it's not something we would evaluate as he's in the mix to be one of the running backs, but because we've tagged the position as a slot receiver position, when the play-call comes in and he's in the game, sometimes he'll find himself in that position."
• Kelly said the Irish are putting pieces together for their return teams, but no catching has been done yet.
• Nine former Notre Dame players will participate in the school's pro day Tuesday: Robert Blanton, Taylor Dever, Darius Fleming, Michael Floyd, Gary Gray, Jonas Gray, Trevor Robinson, David Ruffer and Harrison Smith.

Michael Floyd and Harrison Smith remained at Nos. 13 and 24, respectively, on Mel Kiper's 25-man Big Board this week.

Floyd jumped two spots on Todd McShay's 32-man draft board , to No. 21.

Scouts Inc. has offered some more cheat sheets for this week's NFL scouting combine, which features three Notre Dame players on the defensive side of the ball.

Safety Harrison Smith is the most notable of the group, and the former Irish captain grades out well. Among safeties, Smith is second in instincts/recognition and No. 1 in run support . He is listed as the fifth-most draftable prospect among secondary players.

Robert Blanton comes in at No. 3 among cornerbacks in run support, and he is the 25th-most draftable prospect among secondary players.

Among outside linebackers, Darius Fleming is No. 2 in take-on skills and No. 23 overall among draftable linebacker prospects .

The NFL scouting combine gets started today in Indianapolis, running through Tuesday. A full schedule of events can be found here.

Jonas Gray, Michael Floyd, Taylor Dever, Darius Fleming, Robert Blanton and Harrison Smith will be there from Notre Dame. Among the most pressing questions facing the Irish contingent:

• How will Floyd respond to all of the questions about his multiple off-field run-ins with alcohol? The receiver has answered every question from the media the right way so far, but the environment will be much more intense in Indianapolis. Also, is he 100 percent after suffering a rib injury in his finale? Floyd skipped the Senior Bowl to heal, so there is a bit of uncertainty surrounding him there as well.
• How much can Smith improve his stock? The safety and former Irish captain has received rave reviews since his college career ended, and he was even a first-rounder in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft. Don't expect Smith to be fazed by the circus of the combine.
• How much will Gray's ACL tear hurt him? The running back told the South Bend Tribune that he will not work out at the combine but is confident he'll be ready for Notre Dame's pro day, though whether he will be able to run a 40-yard dash remains up in the air.

Robert Blanton, Taylor Dever, Darius Fleming, Michael Floyd, Jonas Gray and Harrison Smith were all invited to the NFL scouting combine, held Feb. 22-28 in Indianapolis.

Here is the breakdown of Notre Dame’s 2011 opponents who will be at the combine:

USC: 7
Stanford: 6
Michigan State: 6
Florida State: 6
Wake Forest: 4
Pittsburgh: 4
Michigan: 3
South Florida: 1
Boston College: 1
Purdue: 1
Maryland: 1

Early reaction: I’m a little surprised Trevor Robinson and Gary Gray were not invited. Robinson improved a lot toward the end of his Notre Dame career and added plenty of strength. Gray, despite his well-documented struggles this season, has the tools necessary to impress scouts. I’m also hoping this means Jonas Gray’s rehab is going well so far, as the running back will be just three months removed from an ACL tear when the combine begins. Despite the limitations that he likely still has, here’s hoping he did enough to impress scouts during this past season and that some team takes a chance on him come April’s draft.

Thanks again to those who stopped by for the weekly Notre Dame chat. The full transcript is available here.

A sampling:

• Lucas (Indiana): With all the talk about the QB's and who might start...who is going to be the WR's that are going to step up? Is there anyone on the roster that the coaches are looking forward to see play or get more passes thrown their way? And is Theo Riddick a RB next season or WR?
• Matt Fortuna (2:19 PM): Lucas, that's what makes the Greenberry loss hurt so much. Michael Floyd told the SBTribune this week he thinks Daniel Smith is a sleeper. I think TJ Jones is a very good receiver, but he's no Floyd (few are). I wouldn't be surprised if someone was moved there — be it Theo or Atkinson — with the newfound depth at RB.

• Raphael (Chicago): how many players besides Floyd will get drafted this year?
• Matt Fortuna (2:25 PM): Raphael, Harrison Smith definitely. Darius Fleming, Robert Blanton and Gary Gray likely will, too, though you never know when you get to those later rounds. Here's hoping a team takes a shot on Jonas Gray, too, though it's tough to gauge how recovered he will be at that time.

• Andrew (Michigan): Matt you have to look at Golson's high school tape & know hes the guy to lead the Irish next year right? Theres no better athlete or arm in the group.
• Matt Fortuna (2:28 PM): Andrew, you cannot make that assertion based on just high school tape. Sure, the skill set is there, but how will it measure up against elite college defenses, not HS ones? How will the kid handle all of the attention that comes with being the QB at Notre Dame? How will he bounce back from a mistake? None of this is to say Golson can't do it, and I am as anxious as anyone to see how his skills translate to the college level, but you can't say he's "the guy" based off just HS highlights.

• Otto (CA): Do you got Matt Barkley throwing for 400 against ND?
• Matt Fortuna (2:48 PM): Otto, ND probably won't be the only team he has a big day against, though the combination of a POTENTIAL title game spot and POTENTIAL Heisman candidacy up for grabs there could make that game interesting on many levels.