Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 AUGUST 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Hart takes over at boundary corner. The latter two begin fall camp as the presumed favorites. They impressed this spring, but need to continue their ascent in camp to earn starting designations. Kiser is battling graduate student Isaiah Pryor and senior Paul Moala at rover, but most of the first-team work in the spring went to Kiser. His tackling skills and ability to patrol the flat in coverage stood out in the Blue-Gold Game. A Will linebacker in 2020, the 6-25/8, 227-pound Kiser was Notre Dame's highest-graded tackler, per Pro Foot- ball Focus. In his one 2020 start, he had eight stops and 2.0 tackles for loss. His big day came against South Florida as an emergency starter when Liufau and senior Shayne Simon weren't available. From there, Kiser 's contributions were off and on. He had four games with 11 or fewer defensive snaps and three with at least 20. He did not see the field on defense in the College Football Playoff loss to Alabama. Hart was the No. 2 boundary cor- ner last year, but he played just 88 snaps. The 6-2½, 207-pound former wide receiver's length and ball skills are intriguing traits for a defender. Notre Dame signed him knowing his future could be on that side of the ball. Classmate Isaiah Rutherford, though, looked like the on-paper boundary corner of the future in the 2019 group. He was Rivals' No. 110 player regardless of position in 2019, a 6-0½, 193-pound corner with length and fluidity. But it didn't translate to Notre Dame. Hart passed him on the depth chart, and he transferred in January after playing just 28 snaps last season. Hart is healthy after two seasons of nagging shoulder issues and com- peting with a host of underclassmen for the job. He took most of the first- team reps this spring. Liufau ended an up-and-down 2020 playing his best football. His breakout showing came against North Carolina in late November, when he had six tackles with 0.5 sacks and caused frequent disrup- tion as a blitzer. He started the Irish's final two games. But he's not locked into the job. After a bumpy 2020, Si- mon put forth a strong spring that has him in contention as well. Even if none of them win their re- spective position battle, Liufau, Kiser and Hart should still be on the two- deep and among the possibly 12 ju- niors who could have weekly roles. A look at the rest: • When Lacey was limited last year and out this spring, Howard Cross III shined with his slipperiness and gap- shooting ability at both tackle spots. He's undersized as a nose tackle, but it didn't stop him from penetrating into backfields last fall or during the spring game. "Just a dynamic accelerator," de- fensive line coach Mike Elston said of Cross. "Speed off the ball, low pad level. He finds ways into creases and gaps. He's always in the backfield. He's quick with his hands, has good speed, really good agility. He has been a load to block. He's going to have a breakout season." • A third defensive lineman from the class, end NaNa Osafo-Mensah, will try to crack the defensive line rotation with his positional versatil- ity. He missed most of 2020 due to meniscus surgery, but returned for the spring. If the Irish expand their defensive line rotation to 10, he's a candidate to be the last player. • Defensive back KJ Wallace worked at nickel corner this spring and is battling senior TaRiq Bracy for the job. Nickel was an important part of Freeman's Cincinnati defenses and is a widely used position these days. Wallace has played corner and safety in his first two seasons, but mainly in mop-up duty. He split first-team reps there this spring. "Wallace had a really good spring," Freeman said. "He did some good things." DOWN THE ROAD Notre Dame has 19 of the 22 play- ers from its 2019 class available in 2021. Twelve of them being in- volved on a weekly basis means a lot of playing time and impact for the group. For the other seven, it's not too late to turn heads in camp and slide onto the depth chart this year. If that doesn't happen, perhaps better opportunity will arise when they're seniors. • Kristofic and Carroll figure to earn spots on the two-deep, but of- fensive linemen aren't often shut- Linebacker Jack Kiser (left) started one game last season and could replace Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah at rover. He made 20 tackles (3.0 for loss) in 11 appearances as a part-time player. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS