Along with wide receiver, this was the easiest list to assemble because the starting four, as well as the fifth player, had Irish careers (or beyond) that speak for themselves.
Here are our top 5 defensive linemen from 2000-09:
1. Justin Tuck
The Alabama native probably was the most prominent Notre Dame defensive player of the decade (2001-04), although a case could be made for cornerback Shane Walton (2000-02). Tuck was the type of recruit the SEC powers usually land: relatively isolated in a small town, not necessarily hailed as a “big-name,” but a superior athlete (also a star in basketball) with room to grow and develop from outside linebacker into a defensive end.
 |
|
Laws nearly achieved a Notre Dame single-season record with 112 tackles in 2007.
|
A third-round pick in 2005, Tuck is one of many Notre Dame players in the last decade whose pro careers eclipsed their college years. David Givens, Ryan Grant, Jordan Black, Rocky Boiman, John Owens, etc. are among the others.
Still Tuck did record 43 tackles for loss during his three-year career, after redshirting as a freshman in 2001. That is third on the Notre Dame chart (since 1967) to Ross Browner’s unbelievable 77 and Kory Minor’s 43.5. His 24.5 career sacks — a stat first kept in 1982 — is tops. The New York Giants star came close to receiving the MVP award in the 2008 Super Bowl victory over 18-0 New England, and last year he received All-Pro notice.
One of the top what ifs of the decade is “What if Tuck would have returned for a fifth season in 2005 to team with Trevor Laws, Derek Landri and Victor Abiamiri on the 2005 Irish defensive line? Could he have made a difference in 11th-hour 44-41 and 34-31 setbacks to Michigan State and USC en route to an 11-0 regular season?”
2. Anthony Weaver
Weaver started as a true freshman in the 1998 opener versus defending co-national champ Michigan and earned first-team Freshman All-America notice that year. Quick enough to play end but strong enough to line up at tackle, Weaver was a junior mainstay on the 2000 defense that helped the Irish earn a BCS berth.
He was even better as a senior in 2001. Despite a 5-6 record, Notre Dame’s defense ranked 14th in the nation and Weaver was named Team MVP with his 21 tackles for lost yardage (including seven sacks), the most since Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner had 28 in 1976. A second-round pick now in his eighth year in the NFL (Chicago), Weaver also earned second-team All-American notice by ABC Sports Online. His 42 career tackles for lost yardage are fourth most at Notre Dame.
3. Trevor Laws
After recording 112 tackles his first three seasons, Laws totaled a remarkable 112 (eight for lost yardage, with four sacks) during the 3-9 train wreck that marred his senior year. His mark was one short of Steve Niehaus’ school-record 113 for a defensive lineman, set in 1975.
Like Weaver, Laws was named the Team MVP at the end of the season and also became a second-round NFL pick. Unlike Weaver, he received no postseason All-America notice for his sensational individual effort. Still, a triple-digit tackle total in one season by a lineman might never again be seen at Notre Dame — and seldom anywhere.
4. Victor Abiamiri
In 2003, he arrived as one of Notre Dame’s three or four most-heralded pass rushers recruited in the last 25 years (along with Kory Minor and Oliver Gibson). Popular opinion held that Abiamiri and Justin Tuck (who saw his first collegiate action a year earlier) would be the best pass-rushing bookends at Notre Dame since the Ross Browner and Willie Fry tandem in the 1970s.
Abiamiri was good enough to be a second-round pick after his senior year in which he received honorable mention All-America notice and also was recognized as the Notre Dame Lineman of the Year a second straight season. He recorded 128 tackles during his career, 40 for lost yardage, with 21.5 of them sacks.
Abiamiri recorded four sacks against Stanford in 2005, and added three more versus the Cardinal the following year.
5. Derek Landri
Rated by Parade as the nation’s No. 1 line recruit when he arrived at Notre Dame in 2002, Landri overcame an early injury to become a productive tackle during Charlie Weis’ first two seasons that resulted in BCS bids.
During those two years in 2005-06, the relatively undersized Landri recorded 108 tackles, 23.5 for loss (10 sacks), and also became proficient at blocking kicks. He maximized his skills and became a fifth-round pick.
Honorable Mention: One of the most underrated players of the decade was defensive end Ryan Roberts (2000-02), who recorded 18 sacks during his career. Inside tackles Lance Legree (2000), Cedric Hilliard (2000-03) and Darrell Campbell (2000-03) sometimes were overshadowed but did yeoman’s work for some pretty good defenses.
.jpg)
