Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/998819
LINEBACKERS 96 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW QUOTABLE: DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR/LINEBACKERS COACH CLARK LEA ON SENIOR ASMAR BILAL AND THE ROVER POSITION: "He's got a lot of meaningful repetitions built up. We're bringing along young players at that position as well. … They just need time because this is all new to them, and they're growing into it. I would say that position can change based off what we're seeing from the [opposing] offense." Starters ★★★★★ Notre Dame is one of only four schools nationally to return a pair of linebackers — Te'von Coney and Drue Tranquill — ranked in the preseason top 10 at their position by Lindy's Sports. If both stay healthy, Notre Dame should get outstanding inside linebacker play. Coney began the 2017 season as a rotation player, but by the middle of the season he was Notre Dame's best inside linebacker, and ended up leading the defense in tackles (116) and stops for loss (13). He was a force against the run, which will serve him well at Mike linebacker. Tranquill played on the outside last season, but moving to Buck — the po- sition Coney primarily played last fall — will give him a chance to improve upon his 85 stops and 10.5 tackles for loss. Experience ★★½ Tranquill has made 29 career starts and Coney 16. The pair played a com- bined 1,367 snaps a season ago. At issue for Notre Dame is that behind those two players there is minimal ex- perience, which drags down this grade. Starting rover Asmar Bilal totaled 388 snaps the last two seasons combined, and junior Jonathan Jones played only 37 defensive snaps in 2017. In mid-June, sophomore David Ad- ams — who did not see game action last year — announced he was taking a medical exemption. The rotation is so thin that former safeties Jordan Genmark-Heath and Isaiah Robertson were moved to the position during the spring. That pair is joined by a redshirt freshman (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah), another converted safety (D.J. Morgan), injured sophomore Drew White and four true freshmen. Depth ★★★½ Experience behind the starters is questionable, but the Fighting Irish have plenty of athletic bodies with eight inside linebackers and five rov- ers on scholarship. Jones spent the 2017 season at Buck before moving to Mike during the spring. His experience in the system, versatility and athletic skills give him a chance to earn a rotation role at two different spots. Genmark-Heath is athletic enough to play safety, but his thicker frame and desire to play an aggressive down- hill game makes him better suited at linebacker. By getting work at Buck in the final two weeks of spring he received a head start on fighting for a backup spot behind Tranquill. Notre Dame's four-man freshman class, one of the nation's best, further bolters the depth chart. Overall Grade ★★★½ Returning two of the best lineback- ers in the country and having a deep and athletic depth chart has provided reasons for bona fide optimism in South Bend. The Buck is meant to be a high-vol- ume production position in the Irish defense, and Tranquill took to it im- mediately during the spring. If he can stay healthy there is little doubt that his production will explode. Coney must become a better all- around player — specifically pass coverage — at Mike, and if he can he'll be able to back up the second- team preseason All-American honors Lindy's Sports gave him. Defensive coordinator and position coach Clark Lea wants a rotation at both linebacker spots. Who they will be and if those players are ready to make plays remains uncertain. BY THE NUMBERS 1 Player in Notre Dame history who was selected exclusively as a linebacker in the first round of the NFL Draft: Bob Crable (1982), who was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Myron Pottios (1961) was a No. 19 overall selection to Crable's No. 23, but back then the No. 19 pick was in the second round. 9 Interceptions recorded by Notre Dame linebackers the past five seasons (2013-17), with only five in the last four and three in the last three. That might not seem consequential, but it is amaz- ing when compared to the seven All- American Manti Te'o produced himself during the 12-1 season in 2012. 116 Tackles recorded by junior Te'von Co- ney in 2017, the most by a Fighting Irish player since Manti Te'o accumulated 133 in 2012 (the most in the Brian Kelly era, which Te'o also posted in 2010). Coney and graduated senior Greer Mar- tini mostly split snaps, too, with Coney totaling 549 and Martini 435. PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern Senior Asmar Bilal, who has yet to start at game at Notre Dame, enters the fall atop the depth chart at rover. PHOTO BY ANGLEA DRISKELL