With the recent addition of the 23-man freshman class, Notre Dame has 83 players on scholarship — 45 on offense, 34 on defense and four on special teams — by Blue & Gold Illustrated’s count. Today we look at the defense.
Defensive Line
Seniors (3) — Kerry Neal, Emeka Nwankwo and Ian Williams
Juniors (5) — Sean Cwynar, Ethan Johnson, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Brandon Newman and Hafis Williams
Sophomore (1) — Tyler Stockton
Freshmen (3) — Bruce Heggie, Louis Nix and Kona Schwenke
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Fleming can stand up or play with his hand on the ground and gives the Irish a solid pass rusher off of the edge.
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The numbers seem fine, but much better results are needed.
The 6-3, 315-pound Nix was a huge pickup in December, but we anticipate he will be red-shirted the way Stockton was in 2009.
Incumbent Ian Williams, Newman, Stockton and Nix (and maybe even Hafis Williams) all probably will be aligned at nose tackle in the 3-4.
“(Nix) wasn’t a guy we needed to step in this year,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “He’s a guy that we needed to have moving forward … he’s not going to have to come in like some people think and improve our defense and be ‘the guy.’ He’s got some time.”
Along with offensive tackle and safety, defensive end was the most crucial recruiting need in the 2010 class because the Irish signed none in 2009. Had five-star recruit Chris Martin and four-star Blake Lueders stayed with Notre Dame after verbally committing last year, this class would have been rated much higher.
Maybe Heggie, who reportedly was not offered any other major college scholarships, and Schwenke, who is only 227 pounds, might blossom, but Kelly acknowledged it will take some time and development.
“We were so late in it, we couldn’t hit the profile of the kind of player we wanted at that position in particular,” said Kelly, who added that defensive end will be the primary need in the 2011 haul.
The X-factor is whether outside linebacker Justin Utupo will settle in at defensive end.
Veterans such as Ian Williams, Neal, Johnson, Lewis-Moore and Cwynar need to flourish in 2010 to mitigate the shortages from the past two seasons.
Outside Linebackers
Senior (1) — Harrison Smith
Juniors (3) — Steve Filer, Darius Fleming and David Posluszny
Sophomore (1) — Dan Fox
Freshmen (2) — Prince Shembo and Justin Utupo
Smith started at outside linebacker in 2008, shifted to free safety in 2009, where he struggled, and then moved back to OLB midway through last season. With four safeties from last year graduating (Kyle McCarthy, Sergio Brown, Ray Herring and Leonard Gordon), will Smith receive another look at safety in 2010? If he does, the possibility of a freshman cracking the two-deep at outside linebacker would appear to be better.
Fleming is the defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid that Utupo, who is listed at 6-3, 250, projects to be.
“Maybe he’s a little bit out of profile,” said Kelly of Utupo at outside linebacker. “But visually you can see he may be able to make up for that … He brings a fire and passion for the game that allows us to project him at a number of positions.”
Fleming is considered the team’s best pass rusher, and Filer also was inserted in passing situations last year.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if at least one of the two freshmen makes the two-deep or participates on special teams. Utupo eventually could grow into a defensive end, while Shembo, according to outside linebackers coach Kerry Cooks, might move to the inside in the future.
Inside Linebackers
Senior (1) — Brian Smith
Junior (1) —Anthony McDonald
Sophomores (2) — Carlo Calabrese and Manti Te’o
Freshman (1) — Kendall Moore
Smith and Te’o return as the incumbents. Smith’s 150 career tackles are the most among returning Irish players, while the 63 stops posted by Te’o last season were the third most ever by an Irish freshman, behind luminaries Bob Golic (82 in 1975) and Ross Browner (68 in 1973).
After red-shirting as a freshman in 2008, McDonald lettered on special teams last season, and that might be a path Calabrese also takes. Just one injury could put Moore on the two deep, so a red-shirt season for him might not be automatic.
Safeties
Junior (2) — Dan McCarthy, Jamoris Slaughter
Sophomore (1) — Zeke Motta
Freshman (1) — Chris Badger
Although Slaughter played cornerback most of last year, he began to line up at safety in the latter part of the season. This will be one of the least seasoned units on the team entering 2010, which is why one can’t rule out the possibility of outside linebacker Harrison Smith returning to the secondary.
Slaughter did play 33:51 last season (not including 110 special teams appearances), while Motta, whom former head coach Charlie Weis referred to as one of the team’s best-conditioned players as an early enrollee freshman, played 11:06 and added 166 special teams appearances. What’s intriguing about McCarthy is he arrived at Notre Dame with more fanfare than his brother Kyle, a mainstay at safety the past two years while pacing the team in tackles with 110 (2008) and 101 (2009) to go with seven interceptions.
Because the Irish have come up short at safety the past several years, Badger has a chance to be on the two-deep this fall almost by default. The fact that he is an early enrollee should help facilitate the process. Similar to Motta last year, he could find an immediate role on special teams, especially because Kelly lauded his “contact skills.”
Cornerbacks
5th-year Senior (1) — Darrin Walls
Senior (1) — Gary Gray
Junior (1) — Robert Blanton
Sophomore (1) — E.J. Banks
Freshmen (2) — Stephen Boyd, Lo Wood
With Boyd and Wood already enrolled at Notre Dame, the Irish will be able to use three full scholarship units at cornerback during spring drills, a luxury seldom seen.
Walls had the most playing time at corner last year with 221:31, while Blanton (166:57) and Gray (152:31) were second and third. Banks was a medical red-shirt.
Similar to most positions on defense, just one injury could put either Boyd or Wood on the two-deep. They could end up seeing action on special teams anyway.
Special Teams
Junior (1) — Brandon Walker
Sophomores (3) — Ben Turk, Jordan Cowart (long-snapper) and Nick Tausch
Walk-ons always have a way of finding their way onto the roster in the areas of kicking, punting and long-snapping.
There are two crucial factors here. One is the football future of Walker, who purportedly is dealing with a back problem. The other is whether senior Eric Maust, who has punted the past three years while also pitching for the baseball team, would want to come back. If not, who punts if Turk were to get injured? The same inquiry applies to Tausch.
Among the nine freshmen defensive recruits, the best bets for limited playing time, special teams or otherwise, might be one of the three linebackers, Badger, and perhaps one of the two corners.
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