Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2024 21 linebacker positions, but Notre Dame needs someone with experience in the middle. Viliamu-Asa will be learning behind a good one. Freeman called him the most college-ready recruit in Notre Dame's class of 2024, so there might not be much learning necessary to begin with. If he's as good as advertised, then the Irish's two- deep at middle linebacker can compete with that of any in the country. ROVER Starter: Jaylen Sneed (Jr.) Others: Jaiden Ausberry (So.), Teddy Rezac (Fr.) Rover is a position that calls on players' athleticism, and there is plenty to be had between Sneed and Ausberry. Neither is particularly proven at this level, including Sneed, but both have serious potential as sideline-to-sideline disruptors. If Notre Dame can coach these guys up to be dis- ciplined football players, their talent will naturally show up in every game. BOUNDARY CORNERBACK Starter: Benjamin Morrison (Jr.) Others: Chance Tucker (Sr.), Leonard Moore (Fr.) Morrison is preparing for what is prob- ably his last season of college football. He's a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Tucker isn't necessarily his backup; Notre Dame could pull from the other corner spots in a pinch; for in- stance, you could and likely will see Clar- ence Lewis and/or Jaden Mickey play this spot in a reserve capacity. SLOT CORNERBACK Starter: Jordan Clark (Gr.) Other: Clarence Lewis (Gr.) It'll be Lewis playing the No. 2 role in the slot behind a graduate transfer for the second season in a row. Last year it was Thomas Harper from Oklahoma State who was Notre Dame's primary nickel corner. This year it'll likely be Clark from Arizona State. Clark was a good get. His father, Ryan Clark, played 13 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Notre Dame seems to always know what it's doing at nickel. Clark should continue the good fortunes there. FIELD CORNERBACK Starter: Christian Gray (So.) Others: Jaden Mickey (Jr.), Micah Bell (So.), Karson Hobbs (Fr.) Mickey started the Sun Bowl, but Gray ended up playing five more snaps, 30 to 25. It really feels like Gray is trending to- ward taking over for Cam Hart as Morri- son's cohort. Mickey is a versatile backup who can play all three corner positions, so Notre Dame is in good hands depth-wise. SAFETY Starters: Xavier Watts (Gr.) and Rod Heard II (Sr.) Others: Ben Minich (So.), Adon Shuler (So.), Taebron Bennie-Powell (Fr.), Ken- nedy Urlacher (Fr.), Tae Johnson (Fr.) Watts, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner as the nation's most outstand- ing defensive player, led Notre Dame with 708 defensive snaps last season. He could have gone into the NFL Draft, but his return signals another season in which he's on the field almost all the time for the Irish. Notre Dame is better because of it. Heard ate up a ton of snaps at North- western. He played 853 on defense in 2023, 145 more than anyone at Notre Dame. With how young the Irish are at safety, you can expect to see plenty of Heard in 2024. He mostly played slot corner for the Wildcats, though, so it'll be worth checking in to see if he's tran- sitioning well to full-time safety. KICKER Starter: Mitch Jeter (Gr.) Others: Eric Goins (Gr.), Zac Yoakam (Jr.), Marcello Diomede (So.) Jeter comes in from South Carolina having made 92.0 percent of his career field goal kicks in two years as a starter. He was 23 of 25 in Columbia. That's an upgrade from Spencer Shrader, who fin- ished his career with a make percentage of 68.3 percent. Jeter does not have as big of a leg as that of Shrader, but he has a far more accurate one. PUNTER Starter: Bryce McFerson (Jr.) Others: Chris Salerno (Sr.) As long as McFerson stays healthy, the Irish have nothing to worry about in the punting department. He performed admirably in his first year as a collegiate starter in 2023, averaging 45.1 yards on 38 punts. McFerson is also Notre Dame's holder for place kicks. LONG SNAPPER Starter: Rino Monteforte (Jr.) Others: Andrew Kros (So.), Joseph Vinci (Fr.) The "Milk" era at Notre Dame is over with Michael Vinson moving on after ex- hausting his eligibility. He gives way to the undersized Monteforte — all 5-7, 194 pounds of him. ✦ Jack Kiser is the only one of three graduate student linebackers from the 2023 Notre Dame roster who elected to return for a sixth season. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER