Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 PRESEASON 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED SECONDARY SUCCESS Notre Dame was in desperate need of achieving a high success rate with its 2016 defensive back recruits. De- spite attrition, it has indeed been a tremendous group. Love was a four-star recruit com- ing out of high school, but injuries thrust him into the starting lineup as a true freshman. He played strong football during that 4-8 season, but his game soared as a sophomore in 2017 when he set a school record with 23 passes defended. He was even better in 2018, earning consensus All-America honors while helping form one of the nation's top secondaries. Love declared for the NFL Draft following the season and was selected by the New York Giants in the fourth round. Despite Love going pro and safety Devin Studstill — who was a nine- game starter as a freshman in 2016 — transferring, the 2016 class will still likely fill three of the four starting spots in the Irish secondary. Cornerback Troy Pride Jr. was a bit inconsistent last season, but accord- ing to PFF he was Notre Dame's best cornerback in the final six games of the season. After a dominant spring in which he ran a 4.32 during test- ing, he is expected to pick up where Love left off and become one of the nation's top cover men. Three cornerbacks in the class started at least three games when they were freshmen in 2016, and a case could be made that Donte Vaughn was the most effective of the group. Despite playing 495 fewer snaps than then senior Cole Luke, and 266 fewer than Love, Vaughn tied for the team lead with six passes broken up. His lone interception came at the expense of Duke quarterback Daniel Jones, who the Giants picked No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Vaughn was banged up and largely ineffective over the next two seasons, but he has been healthy in the early portion of fall camp and has shined. Through the first two weeks of camp, he had seized hold of the starting cornerback spot opposite Pride. If Vaughn can remain healthy, he will have a chance to help the Irish to once again have one of the best cor- nerback tandems in the country. Jalen Elliott was a quarterback in high school, and a pretty good one at that. He led Chesterfield (Va.) L.C. Bird to a 25-3 record in his final two seasons, which included a 2014 Virginia High School League 5A state championship. His lack of experience on defense kept him from making much of an impact in 2016 and was a cause for his subpar play in 2017, despite start- ing all 13 games. Entering the 2018 campaign, Elliott and the safety position overall were considered a prime weakness on the defense, but it didn't take long for Notre Dame followers and opponents to realize his dramatic improvement. Elliott, who will serve as a team captain this fall, enters the 2019 season as PFF's No. 12 safety in the country after registering 67 tackles, seven passes broken up and four in- terceptions last year. OFFENSIVE LINE STALWARTS Notre Dame's 2016 line haul was small, and it became even smaller when former four-star recruit Parker Boudreaux transferred to UCF after just one season. Despite the low numbers, the line Troy Pride Jr., who clocked a 4.32 40-yard dash in the spring, is expected to pick up where he left off after a strong finish in 2018 and is capable of being one of the nation's top cover corners. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER