Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/311901
sented by sophomores, notably 2013 Freshman All-American Jaylon Smith at linebacker, who is moving to the inside after playing outside last year. 5. Linebacker — Smith is the top returning tackler from last season (67, including 6.5 for loss) while also break- ing up three passes and intercepting another. When the 6-1, 215-pound Onwualu arrived, the player we immediately compared him to was 2003-06 safety Chinedum Ndukwe, who played in the NFL after beginning his Irish career at wide receiver. Onwualu's appetite for contact made him a natural fit on de- fense. First it was at safety this spring, but he was moved to outside linebacker (Sam) around the halfway point be- cause he's "a different bird," accord- ing to Notre Dame outside linebackers coach Bob Elliott, when it comes to hit- ting. "He was just not trained as a guy that would backpedal, so I think it was a natural move for him to do the perim- eter things that you do as an outside linebacker without having to move backwards," Elliott said. Onwualu finished the spring working with junior John Turner at Sam line- backer. Inside linebackers Michael Deeb (Mike) and Doug Randolph (Will) both redshirted last year, but could earn their first monograms on special teams in 2014. Their next challenge, along with Onwualu's, is to see how they can hold off the challenge of an incoming fresh- man class that includes five lineback- ers (Jonathan Bonner, Kolin Hill, Greer Martini, Nyles Morgan and Nile Sykes). 6. Tight end — Senior Ben Koyack could become the sixth straight Irish tight end since 2005 to be at least a semifinalist for the Mackey Award, pre- sented to the nation's top tight end. Nevertheless, head coach Brian Kelly almost sounds as excited about sopho- more Durham Smythe in the No. 2 role as he did about Tyler Eifert backing up Kyle Rudolph during his first season with the Irish in 2010. "He's going to be a key contributor for us in the fall," said Kelly of the 6-4½, 242-pound Smythe. Like at running back, two of the three scholarship players at tight end this spring are sophomores, with Mike Heu- erman also in the mix. Special teams might be the first role for Heuerman, whose 6-3½, 225-pound frame will need to be bulked up. 7. Quarterback — With only three scholarship signal-callers on the roster once freshman DeShone Kizer enrolls this summer, it is going to be imperative that Malik Zaire be prepared in emer- gency situations, a la Tommy Rees in 2012 when he was the finisher in four hard-fought victories. By all accounts, Zaire was putting himself in that position, although with no prior game action he will have thrown 575 fewer passes than Rees did before 2012. The beauty is the offense doesn't have to be redefined because all three quar- terbacks provide dual threats to the at- tack. 8. Defensive Line — Only two were signed in 2013, which is why the Irish restocked the cupboards this February with a half-dozen prospects. Isaac Rochell (10 tackles) had to be forced into the two-deep last year be- fore his time, and this spring he worked