Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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11. LB DREW WHITE Notre Dame's third-year middle linebacker is one of three graduate student starters on a defense that lost several leaders from last season. More important, he has been steadily productive since stepping into his role at the start of 2019. White has amassed 137 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and three passes broken up in his first two sea- sons as a starter. He's one of Notre Dame's better run defenders and had more run stops the past two seasons (72) than 2020 Butkus Award winner Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (63), per PFF. 12. LB JACK KISER It is not easy to replace a Butkus Award winner, but the player poised to try certainly deserves his name on the list of Notre Dame's 25 most important players. Jeremiah Owusu- Koramoah did so much for the Irish defense last year at rover. Kiser, with just one start to his name, is tasked with attempting to do the same in 2021. If Kiser, a junior, can be the player he was in his one start last year, then Notre Dame might not be missing out on much with Owusu-Koramoah's departure for the NFL after all. Kiser led the Irish with eight tackles, two of which were for a loss, while adding a quarterback hurry in a 52-0 victory over South Florida in September. 13. DT KURT HINISH No regular starter from last sea- son's Notre Dame defense had a higher tackle-for-loss percentage than Hinish. Seven and a half of Hin- ish's 19 total tackles (39.5 percent) came behind the line of scrimmage. Obviously, 19 total tackles aren't a lot for 12 starts. Hinish does much more than make stops, though. Plays in which he does not have to make a tackle usually mean he's freeing up other Irish defenders to make the stop. Hinish's 296-pound frame draws plenty of attention from opposing of- fensive linemen. When they're busy blocking Hinish — often with the use of double teams — other Notre Dame defenders have an edge. 14. OT BLAKE FISHER Fisher, an early enrollee freshman and former five-star recruit, was always going to be part of Notre Dame's future. A spring season that revealed he's ahead of schedule com- pared to most freshmen might make him part of the present. He's a strong contender to start at left tackle. If he does, Notre Dame is entrust- ing Jack Coan's blind side to a skilled freshman, but a freshman nonethe- less. There's a reason a first-year player has started only five times on the Irish's offensive line since 2010. But Fisher 's mobility at his size (6- 6, 335) and his quick learning curve have warranted a long look. T15. OG ZEKE CORRELL Kelly said at the beginning of fall camp there aren't too many certain- ties on the Irish offensive line. He listed two: Josh Lugg at right tackle and Jarrett Patterson at center. If he had named a third, it might have been junior Zeke Correll. Correll played center during the spring while Patterson rehabbed an Graduate student Drew White ranked third on the team last year with 57 stops, and finished second with nine tackles for loss. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS 24 PRESEASON 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED