Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/156066
'A Dimension We Have Not Seen' The top-five ranked 23-man freshman class has made its presence felt D By Lou Somogyi uring the summer, Notre Dame strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo barely realized that the Fighting Irish had assembled a 23-man recruiting haul. That's because the collective group fit in so well with the rest of the team, even from a physical standpoint. "What he was most excited about was the single-minded purpose of the entire group — the ability to bring the freshman class in with this existing class at the same level," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "They were a highly skilled, highly conditioned group that he could mix in. … A freshman class that will really add a dimension we have not seen — that he's never seen in his time as a strength coach." Here's our annual preseason overview of the harvest based on two weeks of practice. Most Likely To Play The top five freshman standouts from Aug. 4 through the weekend of Aug. 18, in our humble opinion, were: 1) linebacker Jaylon Smith, 2) wide receiver Corey Robinson, 3) cornerback Cole Luke, 4) running back Greg Bryant and 5) offensive tackle/guard Steve Elmer. The health ailment that ended senior Danny Spond's football career has hastened Smith's ascent to a potential starting role already at Dog (or drop) linebacker, although junior Ben Councell, who has a clear size advantage, will play regularly as well. This position can be complex and thankless because it's not necessarily about piling up stats, but rather effectively executing your assignment. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said nobody graded out better week after week last year than Spond. Remember the hybrid linebacker/ safety "Star" position where Jamoris