Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2020 35 In 2019, they combined for a rela- tively modest 12.5 stops behind the line and three sacks, and lack the dominant anchor the 12-0 units from 2012 and 2018 had inside with Louis Nix III and Tillery, respectively. The more push they can provide in the middle, the less offenses can scheme against the Fighting Irish's perimeter. 4. BANG FOR THE BUCK A year ago at this time, rover Jere- miah Owusu-Koramoah and middle linebacker Drew White had six career tackles between them, all by White. This season, they are two of the prime mainstays after recording a team-high 80 tackles apiece last fall (a combined 21.5 for loss), with Owusu- Koramoah now also receiving some first-round draft projection. For the third year in a row, though, Lea will need to find a new Buck linebacker after having shifted for- mer rovers Drue Tranquill (2018) and Asmar Bilal (2019) there with superb success the past two years. Other than running back, there might not be a single position on the team more wide open for a starting position by so many candidates. The good news is there are enough prom- ising prospects to where the staff felt it could skip signing a linebacker in the 2020 recruiting cycle. Juniors Jack Lamb and Shayne Si- mon — both former top-100 recruits by different services — are back after suffering season-ending injuries last November. "We have a lot of really good, young athletic players in there, and Clark's got his hands full," Kelly said of linebackers coach Lea assessing the myriad candidates. 5. SAFETY NETS IN THE SECONDARY Similar to defensive end, Notre Dame graduated a pair of captains and leadership linchpins at safety in Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliot. From a sheer talent standpoint, the 2020 safety unit could be an upgrade — highlighted by three former top-50 prospects, per various outlets — as long as the base established by Gil- man and Elliott also is followed. Hamilton was too productive to keep out of the lineup last year, fin- ishing with a team-high four inter- ceptions, tying for second with six passes broken up and ranking sev- enth with 41 tackles despite his part- time role. Junior Houston Griffith, Notre Dame's top-rated recruit (No. 43 nationally by Rivals) in 2018 who worked at nickel and corner his first two seasons, needs to have the kind of breakout that Owusu-Koramoah had at rover in 2018. Finally, Ohio State graduate trans- fer Isaiah Pryor, who has two years of eligibility remaining, provides re- inforcement to the group with his physicality in the box. There are only five scholarship players at the two safety positions compared to nine at the two cor- nerback spots, but Kelly notes that versatile sixth-year senior Shaun Crawford is a wild card at safety, especially with his coverage skills. Plus, Owusu-Koramoah offers a "big nickel" ability in passing situations. "We have Kyle Hamilton, who's one of the best guys in the country play- ing that position," Kelly noted of the 6-4, 216-pound safety prodigy. "We re- ally feel good that we have some guys there that have the ability to impact the game as they have in the past." Two years ago, Lea utilized more three-corner sets on the back end. Last year, it was more three safe- ties — especially against top passing teams such as USC — which could be the case again this year, although not just because of extreme youth at cornerback. "It's more belief in the fact that we have guys who are going to step in at the safety position and enhance that depth and allow us the flexibil- ity to play multiple safeties on the field," Lea said. "Part of that is also an adaptation to modern football. You want to have enough skill in that room to where you can line up against these teams that are going four wide [using four receivers] and spreading the field out." ✦ Without access to practice this August because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is our best edu- cated guess of how the 2020 lineup might look. Strong-Side End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 91 Ade Ogundeji 6-4 252 5th-Sr./1 94 Isaiah Foskey 6-5 255 So./4 19 Justin Ademilola 6-2 248 Jr./3 47 Kofi Wardlow 6-2 240 Sr./2 98 Alexander Ehrensberger 6-7 247 Fr./4 Nose Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 296 Sr./1 54 Jacob Lacey 6-2 293 So./3 55 Ja'mion Franklin 6-1 310 Jr./3 92 Aidan Keanaaina 6-3 302 Fr./4 Defensive Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 95 Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa 6-2½ 286 Sr./2 57 Jayson Ademilola 6-3 279 Jr./2 56 Howard Cross III 6-1 265 So./4 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 259 Fr./4 Walk-on: Zane Heemsoth (93) Vyper End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 270 5th-Sr./1 29 Ovie Oghoufo 6-3 232 Jr./3 17 Jordan Botelho 6-2½ 248 Fr./4 18 Nana Osafo-Mensah* 6-3 249 So./4 Walk-on: Giovanni Ghilotti (94) * Sidelined for the regular season with a knee injury Mike Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 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 No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 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 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 221 So./4 Rover No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 6 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah 6-1½ 215 Sr./2 13 Paul Moala 5-11½ 220 Jr./2 35 Marist Liufau 6-2 221 So./4 Walk-on: Reed Gregory (50) Boundary Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 4 Nick McCloud 6-1 190 5th/1 16 KJ Wallace 5-10 185 So./4 5 Cam Hart 6-2½ 205 So./4 21 Caleb Offord 6-1 184 Fr./4 Field Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 28 TaRiq Bracy 5-10 180 Jr./2 20 Shaun Crawford 5-9 180 6th-Sr./1 15 Isaiah Rutherford 6-0½ 189 So./4 11 Ramon Henderson 6-1 182 Fr./4 26 Clarence Lewis 6-0 180 Fr./4 Walk-ons: Chris Velotta (30), Eddie Scheidler (36) and Chase Love (37) Stud Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 3 Houston Griffith 6-0 204 Jr./2 10 Isaiah Pryor 6-1½ 199 Gr./2 23 Litchfield Ajavon 6-0 198 So./4 Free Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 14 Kyle Hamilton 6-4 216 So./3 12 DJ Brown 6-0 194 Jr./3 Walk-ons: Stephen Betts (42), John Mahoney (25), Pat- rick Pelini (32) and Marcus Thorne (43) 2020 DEFENSE SCHOLARSHIP CHART