Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 95 LINEBACKERS NOTABLE DATA Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah's 13.5 tackles for loss are the second most of any Notre Dame defender under Brian Kelly, behind Sheldon Day's 15.5 in 2015. Since 2006, Day and Owusu- Koramoah are the only two Irish defenders to top 13 in that category. Pro Football Focus credited Owusu-Koramoah with just 54 pass-rush snaps in 2019, but he produced 16 pressures on them for a gaudy pressure rate of 29.6 percent. His safety background allows him to excel in coverage as a linebacker and stay on the field in passing situations where he's not a rusher. Per PFF, he allowed 36 yards on 114 coverage snaps in the final six games of the year. He did not al- low a touchdown pass as the primary defender in 291 overall coverage snaps and was called for just one penalty all season. DID YOU KNOW? The five Buck linebacker candidates have a com- bined 61 tackles, with Jack Kiser and Marist Liufau not registering any stats in four-game redshirt samplings as freshmen on special teams. Of those 61, 11 were from Jordan Genmark Heath on special teams in 2017. The four players behind Jeremiah Owusu-Kora- moah and Drew White have a combined 52 tackles. Two of those four, Osita Ekwonu and JD Bertrand, were redshirted last year and played in only four games each, primarily special teams. Second-stringers Paul Moala (rover) and Bo Bauer (Mike) were productive when given the chance. Moala had a 27-yard fumble return touchdown ver- sus Navy on a loose ball he forced, while Bauer had 28 tackles (two for loss) and a blocked kick. 2019 VS. 2020: STOCK UP OR DOWN? A tenuous situation heading into the 2019 season turned into an encouraging development. Drew White and Jeremiah Owusu- Koramoah emerged from nowhere to become the team's leading tacklers. The latter became an NFL Draft prospect. Now gradu- ated Buck linebacker Asmar Bilal slid over from rover and, after a rough start, delivered as a fifth-year senior. Defensive coordinator and position coach Clark Lea knows two of the three spots are locked down — possibly for multiple years. Notre Dame would lose only one of its 11 linebackers if everyone with eligibility for 2021 returned. The potential continuity is one reason the Irish did not sign a linebacker in the 2020 class and aren't after too many in 2021. Bilal's departure leaves one hole, at Buck, where former blue- chip recruits Jack Lamb and Shayne Simon will try to prove their health and win the job over senior Jordan Genmark Heath and a pair of sophomores who redshirted last year. X-FACTOR Lamb was the second-highest-ranked player in Notre Dame's 2018 class (No. 77 nationally by Rivals, behind safety Houston Griffith at No. 43) and an early enrollee, but has barely seen the field in two years. He did not play at all his freshman year and suffered a torn hip muscle in early November. Similarly, Simon suffered a dislocated patella late in the season. Two players ex- pected to be big parts of Notre Dame's linebacker unit are instead stuck in a glut at Buck linebacker and have yet to emerge. Owusu-Koramoah is proof that someone can shake off an injury and break out. He recorded no stats his first two years and broke his foot in 2018. Simon and Lamb, though, are dealing with more serious injuries and have seemingly no pronounced edge over everyone else at the position. Getting the chance to live up to their rankings in fall camp can't happen until they're fully healthy. A breakout from either with their natural abilities would take an already reliable position group with one star and make it one of the country's better linebacker units collectively. Similarly, Genmark Heath could follow in Bilal's steps and save his impact for his final year. FRESHMAN OUTLOOK There were no true freshman linebackers signed in the 2020 recruiting cycle, although Jack Kiser, Marist Liufau, JD Bertrand and Osita Ekwonu all redshirted in 2019 and have four years of eligibility remaining. Junior Jack Lamb, the second-highest- ranked player in Notre Dame's 2018 class (No. 77 nationally by Rivals), was a regular in sub packages last year before suffering a torn hip muscle in early November. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS (11) Listed after the class year is the years of eligi- bility remaining. Mike Linebacker 40 Drew White (6-0, 227), Sr./2 52 Bo Bauer (6-3, 225), Jr./2 34 Osita Ekwonu (6-1, 236), So./4 27 JD Bertrand (6-1, 228), So./4 Buck Linebacker 2 Jordan Genmark Heath (6-1, 225), Sr./1 31 Jack Lamb (6-4, 228), Jr./3 33 Shayne Simon (6-3, 228), Jr./2 35 Marist Liufau (6-2, 221), So./4 24 Jack Kiser (6-2, 221), So./4 Rover 6 J. Owusu-Koramoah (6-1½, 215), Sr./2 13 Paul Moala (5-11½, 220), Jr./2