Draft Profile: Mike Gandy
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
April 15, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind (UHND) - The first player profiled by UHND
for the Draft was Jabari Holloway back at the end of February. With the Draft only a week
away I realized that I should get some more profiles up. Look for more profiles of the
other five players who may get drafted (Driver, Denman, Getherall, O'Leary, and Brock
Williams) during the week.
UPSIDE
At 6-4, 315, Mike Gandy certainly has the size to play in the NFL. He is also
very mobile for a guy his size. He runs the 40 in about 5.0 and has been the strength of
the Notre Dame offensive line the last two seasons. Gandy is one of the better offensive
linemen to come out of Notre Dame in recent years. He can move around well. Mel Kiper has
Gandy listed as the second best offensive guard in the Draft this year and says that its a
good bet that he will go in the second round. Mike is also a very smart player who uses
his mind to his advantage. Back in 1999, before the Notre Dame-Tennessee game, Phillip
Fulmer had stated that Gandy looked like the best offensive linemen they had played
against to that point. Later on Tennessee played against Alabama and Chris Sammuels, but
being #2 to Chris Sammuels is not bad at all.
DOWNSIDE
Sometimes does not play to the maximum of his ability. Is a very good guard, but
has the talent to be great. Coaching could have a lot to do with that since Notre Dame's
offensive line coaching has been suspect at best under Davie. He is a hard worker though
who finished every play. He has never really played tackle since he was a defensive
lineman and tight end in high school and then was only a guard at Notre Dame. This makes
him less attractive since whoever drafts him will have a hard time moving him around.
COMMENTARY
Mike will most likely be the first player taken from Notre Dame and that will
most likely be in the 2nd or 3rd round. He could sneak his way into the first round ala
Luke Petigout back in the '99 Draft because of his impressive showing at the Senior Bowl.
Overall he is good in all aspects of the game, but is not really great at any. With a good
offensive line coach, he could become a dominant player. Whoever gets Mike will get more
than they thought they were since Mike still has a lot of untapped talent. After Steve
Hutchinson gets taken Mike should be the next guard to go although Sporting News has him
ranked as only the 6th best guard in the draft. I tend to agree more with Kiper who has
him ranked #2.