Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 16, 2019 19 Chase Goodbread listed him as the 11th-fastest player in college football, even though Pride appeared in only five games the previous fall. The next summer, Goodbread had him at No. 4. Pride's speed also earned him back-to-back appearances on Bruce Feldman's annual college football "Freaks List," which highlights play- ers with rare physical abilities. Per a Notre Dame team combine in the spring, Pride had the fastest 40-yard dash time at 4.32 seconds. Yet speed will only get a player so far, even at cornerback. The high- est 40 times at the 2019 NFL com- bine came from cornerbacks Jamel Dean (Auburn) and Zedrick Woods (Mississippi). Dean ran a 4.30 and was taken in the third round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 94th overall pick, but Woods — who ran a 4.29 — went undrafted. While Pride's speed certainly ben- efits him, he said it's his advanced technique, added strength and im- proved knowledge of the defense that makes him a better overall cor- nerback than he was previously. FOOTBALL AS HIS SOLE FOCUS Entering Pride's senior year at Notre Dame, he is once again asked to be different. This time, he has hung up his track spikes to focus on football — now his main and lone organized competitive outlet. This season, it's Pride's turn to be the No. 1 cornerback, slide into the boundary and match up against the opponent's best receiver. But that's because Love is no longer on the team, and so he won't be lined up along the opposite sideline, pushing him every day in practice to break up one more pass or grab one more interception. Pride still looks to the opposite cornerback for a competitive edge, whether that be Donte Vaughn, Shaun Crawford or TaRiq Bracy, but he's driven to be better each and every day by a player on the other side of the ball: senior wide receiver Chase Claypool. While Pride may be considered one of college football's elite cover cor- nerbacks, Claypool quickly emerged as a formidable opponent. In the spring, repetitive losses to Claypool got to Pride. At one point, head coach Brian Kelly had to pull him aside. "I said, 'Troy, that's the life of press at corner … that kid [Claypool] could be a first-round draft pick," Kelly said. "These are the kind of days that certainly you want to win some of those matchups but they're only go- ing to make you better.' "Let's look at your technique, things you could have done better … because you're going up against an elite receiver." At best during fall camp, Pride won 50 percent of the battles against Claypool, but there were still days where Claypool got the better of Pride seemingly every time he was targeted, no matter how good a posi- tion Pride was in. But unlike in the spring, Pride has shown an unwavering commitment to go right back at Claypool the next play. "For the most part, we battle," Pride said. "There have been some tough battles, where I'm like, 'Sheesh, this dude is still getting up, and we're still going every play.'" While their battles have been in- tense, both players know where their limits are and make it a priority to keep each other injury-free. "I think they have found a great balance of pushing each other but knowing where that line is," Kelly said. "If they're in a vulnerable posi- tion in terms of their body, Troy will make sure that he holds Chase up and vice versa. "It's a very healthy, competitive situation that we have going on be- tween those two guys." This is similar to the battles in the boundary between wide receiver Miles Boykin and Love the previous spring, which Boykin frequently won. But those losses to Boykin didn't hurt Love when it came to the 2018 season — they actually helped him. After the regular season, Love ended up a consensus All-American and Jim Thorpe Award finalist. When the NFL Draft commenced, he was taken in the fourth round by the New York Giants. "Troy has had a pretty good camp," defensive pass game coor- dinator Terry Joseph commented. "Obviously, going against a great down-the-field catcher like Claypool day in and day out, it really gives him an opportunity to sharpen his skills. "And we've been preaching to 'sharpen the axe' all camp." ✦ Notre Dame Cornerbacks In The NFL Draft In 2018, cornerback Julian Love became a consensus All-American and Jim Thorpe Award finalist. But college football accolades don't guarantee a high NFL Draft selection. Love was taken in the fourth round — 108th overall — in the 2019 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. By then, 11 other cornerbacks were drafted. That type of draft outcome may have disap- pointed Love and Notre Dame followers, but the Irish faithful are not accustomed to much fanfare at the cornerback position, especially when it comes to the NFL Draft. During head coach Brian Kelly's first nine years at Notre Dame, only four cornerbacks have been drafted. If Troy Pride Jr.'s name is called at the 2020 NFL Draft, it will mark the first time since 2014 that Notre Dame corner- backs were taken in back-to-back years. To become the highest-drafted cornerback of the Brian Kelly era, Pride will need to be taken before the 11th pick of the third round, which is when KeiVarae Russell was selected in the 2016 NFL Draft. It wasn't that long ago that Notre Dame was consistently producing top-tier NFL corner- backs. From 1991-95, a former Irish cornerback was taken in either the first or second round of the NFL Draft each year. The highest overall selection was current Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Todd Lyght. He was the No. 5 overall pick in the 1991 first round by the Los Angeles Rams. — Andrew Mentock NOTRE DAME CORNERBACKS DRAFTED IN THE BRIAN KELLY ERA Robert Blanton Fourth pick of the fifth round (139th over- all) by the Minnesota Vikings in 2012 Bennett Jackson The 11th pick of the sixth round (187th overall) by the New York Giants in 2014 KeiVarae Russell The 11th pick of the third round (74th overall) by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016 Julian Love The sixth pick of the fourth round (108th overall) by the New York Giants in 2019 "Your [competition] level is huge at the cornerback position. … To be really successful at cornerback, you have to have the win-at-all-costs mentality." DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH TODD LYGHT