Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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maybe even the "Star" position where former Irish safety Jamoris Slaughter thrived, especially during the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State when he utilized all his assets in coverage and pursuit, including recording two sacks. "Obviously I have a long way before I reach my full potential, but really just being able to cover and to attack the run, it's something that the Dog position requires," Smith said. Adding too much bulk to Smith's frame might negate his quickness, and he feels comfortable at his current weight. "I love my speed and want to keep my speed," Smith said. "It's really just from a physical standpoint gaining the most strength that I can. … I haven't had that full season in the [college] weight room to be able to gather that strength." Smith is just now getting acclimated to recognition of college offenses, and his impact at the drop/Dog position — one of the toughest to play mentally because of so many roles — is beginning to come to the forefront. He represents an archetype of today's linebackers who can be part corner, part linebacker and even part lineman against today's spread schemes. "That position is being constantly probed and attacked on a game-togame basis," Kelly said of the position Smith plays. "Teams are in three and four open [receivers] against us because they can't run the ball inside — primarily because we have got the best nose guard in the country. "So they are attacking Jaylon Smith. … He learned a lot [against Arizona State]. They ran some play-action boots to his side that we had not seen before, and he's got to learn how to level off on flooding his zones. The biggest improvement is that he's learning football and how he's being attacked at his position week in and week out." Moving him to the inside in the fu- Pro-Active Linebackers In the eight NFL Drafts from 2005-12, only two position groups at Notre Dame were not represented. One was inside linebacker while the other was running back — although Ryan Grant did latch on as a free agent with the Green Bay Packers and rushed for 3,457 yards in the three seasons from 2007-09. Both of those droughts finally ended last spring when inside linebacker Manti Te'o was the secondround pick of the San Diego Chargers and running back Theo Riddick was chosen in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions. (Darius Fleming was picked in the fifth round in 2012, but that was at outside linebacker, not inside.) The lone inside/middle linebacker figure from Notre Dame to be selected in the first round is Irish alltime tackles leader Bob Crable in 1982. However, Notre Dame has had an inside linebacker representative taken in the second round each of the past five decades: Jim Lynch (1967) in the 1960s, Greg Collins (1975) and Bob Golic (1979, but a future nose guard) in the 1970s, Crable representing the top two rounds in the 1980s, Demetrius DuBose (1993) in the 1990s, Courtney Watson (2004) in the "aughts" and Te'o most recently. — Lou Somogyi