Photo by Rick Kimball/ISD
Notre Dame Football
Spring Review: Cornerback
May 8, 2017
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Cornerback is a problem for Notre Dame in recruiting right now. The future is a bit murky there and it will remain that way until they get some recruits on board in the 2018 class.
The picture is a lot clearer at cornerback on the current Irish football team, though. Todd Lyght has a good group to work with that came into spring with some promise and left spring with maybe even more promise than they came in with. There's a lot to be excited about with this group.
Two players separated themselves as the starters and they are getting a player who is capable of starting back this summer as well. Things might not be so hot with cornerback recruiting right now, but the arrow is pointing up with the corners on the 2017 roster.
Julian Love ended up playing a ton last season with injuries and inconsistency from veterans forcing him into the lineup. All things considered, he played well for a freshman and ended up making some splash plays late in the season versus Army, Navy, and USC.
His level of play jumped in this spring to the point where he not only looks like the top corner on the team, but maybe one of the top defensive players in general. Tackling has always been a strength for him, but he was even more physical in coverage than he was previously and made a ton of plays on the ball.
Where last season he seemed to struggle a bit with 50/50 balls against taller receivers, he was winning at the catch point almost all the time when the ball was thrown his way in the spring.
He is a very valuable player to this defense and I think he would likely be the best safety on the team if they played him there. The one question with him would be his long speed and if he can run with an elite speed receiver. It's tough to say because Notre Dame doesn't really have one to test him in practice.
But if he can handle that, then he can handle pretty much everything. He should be a very good football player this season and he is only a sophomore.
Through two season Nick Watkins hadn't played a ton of football for Notre Dame. He finally got his shot in the Fiesta Bowl versus Ohio State and was adequate in a tough spot. Last year was supposed to be his big chance to take over the starting job opposite Cole Luke and he was running with the ones before he broke his arm.
Typically a broken arm in spring is not a huge deal. Unfortunately for Watkins that was not the case. The bone was not healing properly and he ended up having to get a couple of procedures done to fix it. At one point there was some speculation that he may not be able to recover to play again.
But here he was this spring back and healthy on the field for the first time in a year and he looked like a different player. I don't know if it was the Body by Balis approach that ignited his transformation, but physically he looked so much bigger and stronger than he had ever looked before.
He played bigger and stronger too. It did not seem like a mismatch when he had to line up against some of the giants Notre Dame has at receiver. He was much improved and won a lot of times in man coverage when asked to play press. Technically he looks night and day compared to the player he was in 2015 too.
His interception in the spring game was more of a bad read by Brandon Wimbush than a great play by Watkins, but that wasn't the first ball he picked off over the last couple of months. No one knew what to expect from him before spring practice started, but he leaves the spring as the clear starter opposite Love.
I assumed going into spring that both Donte Vaughn and Troy Pride would compete to be starters, but there was a clear separation between them and the pair of Love and Watkins.
Vaughn can stand side by side with Watkins and they would look similar in how they are built, but Watkins play was quite a bit more consistent. Vaughn had his ups and downs and needs to get better at preventing bad reps transforming into a bad day, but when he is on, he is very good. I think he was clearly the third corner in spring and that's not a bad thing.
There was also some separation between Vaughn and Pride. He is the best athlete out of the group and no one can run like him, but he still needs to improve as a tackler and read his keys better. He is a half-step slow with his recognition and can make up for some of that with his speed, but not all the time.
Pride's ceiling might be the highest out of any corner on the roster, but he still has to close the gap to become the third corner first.
We know that help isn't on the way in terms of true freshmen because the Irish struck out at corner after three players de-committed last cycle (womp wah). However, they should be getting a big boost with a healthy Shaun Crawford.
He practiced in the spring and was running around pretty well, but was not cleared for contact. He is fully cleared now and let's hope that his injury woes are over.
Is it too much to expect for him to jump in and compete with Love and Watkins for a starting job in the fall? I would say so, but that doesn't mean he can't contribute.
The best thing Notre Dame can hope for with Crawford is that they get to use him at nickel this season as he eases his way back from his second straight season ending injury. A pitch count is not something he would want to have hovering over him, but they do need to be careful to not overextend him.
It's different circumstances and a different position, but last season the Miami Dolphins eased back defensive end Cameron Wake into the lineup after he had suffered an Achilles tear the previous year. He was a part-time player before they inserted him back into the starting lineup for the final 11 games of the season.
It worked out really well for them. He got better as the season progressed and finished with 11.5 sacks on the season, which matched his season total from the year before his Achilles injury.
In a perfect world, this is the kind of thing that could happen with Crawford. He will play sparingly early in the year before expanding his role later on and making more of an impact. Hopefully the end result will see him have an injury free year.
They have to be very careful with him, though. Depth is an issue. Five corners on a roster is not a lot of options to have in a season. One or two injuries and there could be some serious issues.
But if they go through the year injury free, then this could end up being a good or a possibly even great group of corners based on what we saw in the spring.
The picture is a lot clearer at cornerback on the current Irish football team, though. Todd Lyght has a good group to work with that came into spring with some promise and left spring with maybe even more promise than they came in with. There's a lot to be excited about with this group.
Two players separated themselves as the starters and they are getting a player who is capable of starting back this summer as well. Things might not be so hot with cornerback recruiting right now, but the arrow is pointing up with the corners on the 2017 roster.
Love emerging as one of the best on the team
Julian Love ended up playing a ton last season with injuries and inconsistency from veterans forcing him into the lineup. All things considered, he played well for a freshman and ended up making some splash plays late in the season versus Army, Navy, and USC.
His level of play jumped in this spring to the point where he not only looks like the top corner on the team, but maybe one of the top defensive players in general. Tackling has always been a strength for him, but he was even more physical in coverage than he was previously and made a ton of plays on the ball.
Where last season he seemed to struggle a bit with 50/50 balls against taller receivers, he was winning at the catch point almost all the time when the ball was thrown his way in the spring.
He is a very valuable player to this defense and I think he would likely be the best safety on the team if they played him there. The one question with him would be his long speed and if he can run with an elite speed receiver. It's tough to say because Notre Dame doesn't really have one to test him in practice.
But if he can handle that, then he can handle pretty much everything. He should be a very good football player this season and he is only a sophomore.
Don't call it a comeback (but I'm going to)
Through two season Nick Watkins hadn't played a ton of football for Notre Dame. He finally got his shot in the Fiesta Bowl versus Ohio State and was adequate in a tough spot. Last year was supposed to be his big chance to take over the starting job opposite Cole Luke and he was running with the ones before he broke his arm.
Typically a broken arm in spring is not a huge deal. Unfortunately for Watkins that was not the case. The bone was not healing properly and he ended up having to get a couple of procedures done to fix it. At one point there was some speculation that he may not be able to recover to play again.
But here he was this spring back and healthy on the field for the first time in a year and he looked like a different player. I don't know if it was the Body by Balis approach that ignited his transformation, but physically he looked so much bigger and stronger than he had ever looked before.
He played bigger and stronger too. It did not seem like a mismatch when he had to line up against some of the giants Notre Dame has at receiver. He was much improved and won a lot of times in man coverage when asked to play press. Technically he looks night and day compared to the player he was in 2015 too.
His interception in the spring game was more of a bad read by Brandon Wimbush than a great play by Watkins, but that wasn't the first ball he picked off over the last couple of months. No one knew what to expect from him before spring practice started, but he leaves the spring as the clear starter opposite Love.
Some separation between ones and twos
I assumed going into spring that both Donte Vaughn and Troy Pride would compete to be starters, but there was a clear separation between them and the pair of Love and Watkins.
Vaughn can stand side by side with Watkins and they would look similar in how they are built, but Watkins play was quite a bit more consistent. Vaughn had his ups and downs and needs to get better at preventing bad reps transforming into a bad day, but when he is on, he is very good. I think he was clearly the third corner in spring and that's not a bad thing.
There was also some separation between Vaughn and Pride. He is the best athlete out of the group and no one can run like him, but he still needs to improve as a tackler and read his keys better. He is a half-step slow with his recognition and can make up for some of that with his speed, but not all the time.
Pride's ceiling might be the highest out of any corner on the roster, but he still has to close the gap to become the third corner first.
Help on the way
We know that help isn't on the way in terms of true freshmen because the Irish struck out at corner after three players de-committed last cycle (womp wah). However, they should be getting a big boost with a healthy Shaun Crawford.
He practiced in the spring and was running around pretty well, but was not cleared for contact. He is fully cleared now and let's hope that his injury woes are over.
Is it too much to expect for him to jump in and compete with Love and Watkins for a starting job in the fall? I would say so, but that doesn't mean he can't contribute.
The best thing Notre Dame can hope for with Crawford is that they get to use him at nickel this season as he eases his way back from his second straight season ending injury. A pitch count is not something he would want to have hovering over him, but they do need to be careful to not overextend him.
It's different circumstances and a different position, but last season the Miami Dolphins eased back defensive end Cameron Wake into the lineup after he had suffered an Achilles tear the previous year. He was a part-time player before they inserted him back into the starting lineup for the final 11 games of the season.
It worked out really well for them. He got better as the season progressed and finished with 11.5 sacks on the season, which matched his season total from the year before his Achilles injury.
In a perfect world, this is the kind of thing that could happen with Crawford. He will play sparingly early in the year before expanding his role later on and making more of an impact. Hopefully the end result will see him have an injury free year.
They have to be very careful with him, though. Depth is an issue. Five corners on a roster is not a lot of options to have in a season. One or two injuries and there could be some serious issues.
But if they go through the year injury free, then this could end up being a good or a possibly even great group of corners based on what we saw in the spring.
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