The statistics for Robert Blanton didn’t take any kind of dramatic nosedive from his freshman to his sophomore seasons, but the junior cornerback was anything but satisfied with his play last year.
After busting onto the scene with a terrific freshman year in 2008 – 33 tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions and three pass breakups – we thought Blanton had enough talent to emerge as an All-American candidate last season as a sophomore.
Blanton plateaued a bit as a sophomore last season while barely improving on his numbers as a freshman.
Instead, Blanton kind of leveled off, recording 38 tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions and two pass breakups last year. Again, solid numbers, but not the kind of improvement Blanton was expecting during his second go around, neither personally, nor team-wise.
“Too many breakdowns last year. We have to limit mistakes,” Blanton said this spring. “Way too many last year.”
With three cornerbacks that could start about anywhere in the country, Blanton will have to battle just to beat out senior Gary Gray for one of the two starting spots. Gray actually worked ahead of Blanton during the spring season. But starter or not, Blanton will obviously be a mainstay in the defensive backfield this season.
Blanton leads all returning players with four career interceptions, including one he returned 47 yards for a touchdown against Purdue in 2008. The North Carolina native has emerged as a steady tackler, a playmaker in pass protection and a special teams mainstay with 98 appearances. His rangy 6-1 frame also helps him patrol large chunks of the field.
Blanton made 35 appearances on special teams and played 166:57 last season, which was second among the cornerbacks behind Darrin Walls (221:31). Blanton has appeared in every game of his career except the first game of his rookie season against San Diego State.
The Notre Dame coaches stressed throughout spring ball that the pass coverage has to dramatically improve this season if the Irish are going to have better success defensively. Notre Dame finished only No. 82 in the country in pass efficiency defense last season, in part because of the numerous big plays allowed by Blanton and the other secondary players.
One collateral advantage the Irish coaches hope will come out of fall camp is better secondary play in games because of tougher challenges in practice.
“The one nice thing is the speed at which Coach [Brian] Kelly and Coach [Charley] Molnar will run their offense,” said Irish defensive backs coach Chuck Martin. “There will be other teams we see this year that run that up-tempo type of thing, but not as fast as we’re seeing out here [in practice]. This is a 15-second, two-minute drill, which at times is a little unrealistic. The game will seem easier.”
What’s A Good Season?
The one gripe we’ve had the last several years about the talented Irish secondary is its inability to make more game-changing type of plays. And of all the members of this secondary unit, Blanton seems to have the greatest knack for making the big ones, given his results.
Even in the Blue-Gold Game from two years ago, Blanton was showing his playmaking ability, landing defensive MVP honors for his interception returned for touchdown and his blanket coverage work against star receiver Michael Floyd.
Expect Blanton to be around the 40 tackle mark again this season – we really don’t want him making any more – but a good season will be marked by more big plays. We’d like to see Blanton be a part of at least six turnovers, and about four tackles for loss off the edge. We would also like to see him record more than two pass breakups and at least three interceptions.
But ultimately, a good season for Blanton or any of the Irish cornerbacks will be to limit those big plays and the easy third-down pickups opponents thrived on last year. Improvement and the level of success for the entire secondary is likely to be the best measure of a good season for any of its individual players.
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