LB Jaylen Sneed Ascending in Year Three at Notre Dame
It’s year three for Jaylen Sneed and it appears that the junior linebacker could be on track for his best season at Notre Dame.
Linebackers coach Max Bullough is typically reserved with his praise to individual players, but he didn’t hold back over the weekend when discussing Sneed’s growth over the last eight months.
“I can't talk enough about how far Jaylen Sneed has come from year one to right now,” explained Bullough. “You talk about a guy that his weight is where it needs to be. He's 225 consistently. He's playing with knee bend. He's playing with details. He's getting lined up. He's executing. He's communicating.
“If there was one person I'd say I can't be prouder of from when I got here to right now, it's No. 3. It's No. 3 and he's going to have a big year.”
Sneed has worked on all aspects of his game, but over the last two weeks, he has focused specifically on his hands.
“I’ve been focusing on my hands, just being able to disengage and engage on linemen and blockers,” stated Sneed. “That was my biggest thing last year, I wasn’t able to get people off of me. So this year, that’s what I’ve been working on the most.”
A year ago, Sneed played Rover, some Will and off the edge in sub-packages. It’s a role that he’s likely set to play this year, but he’ll be fighting for playing time as Notre Dame has four other linebackers who can be interchangeable at various spots at the second level.
“It’s been working great,” Sneed said of the five-man rotation. “To know that we have five guys that can play this year and that are going to be really good for us. And just know that even if I’m tired on the field, I’m gonna have guys in there that are just as good as me and able to play.”
In terms of playing multiple positions, it’s not easy, especially in Al Golden’s defense. Yet, Sneed has embraced it and come into his own after getting a taste of it last fall.
“I’ve been lining up all over since I got here,” Sneed explained. “Golden’s really been trying to use me and all the linebackers in different ways this year, so it’s just great to have us moving around.”
Notre Dame has yet to officially name starters, but that’s fine with Sneed. The daily competition has fueled the room and each backer is becoming better because of it.
“I think it’s great because competition brings out the best in everybody,” stated Sneed. “I feel like me, Drayk (Bowen), Jaiden (Ausberry), Jack Kiser and Kyngstonn (Viliamu-Asa) are all getting better because of the competition. We really don’t know who the starters are gonna be, so it’s just making us all better and we’re just learning at the same pace.”
In May, Sneed joined defensive end Jordan Botelho in Fort Myers at X3 Performance for a week of work and a final tune-up before returning to school for the summer.
Lawrence Barnett worked with both players and was extremely impressed with Sneed as a pure athlete as he hit elite marks in various testing.
“Twitchy,” stated Barnett. “From an acceleration standpoint, Jaylen’s 5-yard build, 10-yard fly was 1.20, which is really good. We had some safeties come in and they were running 1.25 or 1.26. He can run. 1.20 is elite for the position he plays. Some of our guys who were drafted ran low 4.5, high 4.4 and were right around that time at the end of their Combine training.
“He can jump as well. I believe on the vertical mat, he jumped 36 or 37 (inches). He’s springy. He can accelerate and he has good reactive strength as well.”
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