Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2022 27 ing NFL linebackers, the last two with the Cincinnati Bengals. His film ses- sions often include NFL and Bengals clips. Rees' observation suggests Notre Dame's linebackers have taken to them. Combine the smarts with the talent and experience at linebacker, the Irish have a unit that looks to be two-deep across all three positions. Senior Marist Liufau returned to full participation for the first time since his late August ankle fracture. Anyone who watched him then and saw him this spring would have seen no drop-off. He's the likely starter at Will linebacker, which pushes senior JD Bertrand to the Mike position. His 101 tackles in place of Liufau last fall were enough to earn a permanent spot, but the Irish still had to make room for one of their most ath- letic and explosive linebackers. Bertrand and graduate student Bo Bauer will both play at Mike, but how their snaps are divided remains unclear after winter wrist surgery limited the former to drill work this spring. Senior Jack Kiser remains the starter at rover. Spring practice affirmed that quartet as Notre Dame's top linebacker group. The less expected development was the depth that emerged behind them. Freeman called Junior Tuihalamaka the most college-ready of the three freshmen linebackers, and his Blue- Gold Game performance backed that up. Sophomore Prince Kollie pushed past the freshman mental hurdles he battled last fall and delivered a strong spring as well. One of them will likely back up Liufau. Both look ready to play. Junior Jordan Botelho not only settled in a rover after a bumpy 2021, but he made it his home. The former defensive end didn't lose his oft-displayed edge, but channeled it this spring. Rover has more shared responsibilities with vyper than in years past, which should make converted defensive end Botelho a more natural fit there than he appeared to be last fall. 3. BRANDON JOSEPH LOOKS THE PART Senior safety Brandon Joseph was an All-American at Northwestern in 2020. He was a good player in 2021. That drop-off is why he transferred from the Wildcats instead of declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft. He's hoping a move to Notre Dame will help him rediscover his 2020 form. Notre Dame's task of replacing an All- American at safety isn't so daunting if he can. One way or another, the spring would reveal which version of Joseph was closer to his true self and which was the anomaly. He sure looked a lot more like a difference-maker than a solid but unremarkable starter. Joseph picked off at least one pass in each of the first seven practices, a nod to the play-making ability and rare coverage skills for his position he displayed two years ago. Those were less in doubt than his run defense and tacking, which were shaky in 2021. Pro Football Focus credited him with 21 missed tackles last year. His spring game suggested those bumps might be in the past, too. On two occasions, Joseph wrapped up 228-pound sophomore running back Audric Estime, once off the edge in backside pursuit for no gain and another time after taking a tight angle and stop- ping him near the sideline for a five- yard loss. "He has great instincts, great ball skills," safeties coach Chris O'Leary said. "The stuff you saw early in his ca- reer at Northwestern, it's innately in him. We have to bring it back out." ✦ Freshman cornerback Jaden Mickey made a strong case for consistent playing time this fall. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER