ISD Top 25 Players of the Brian Kelly Era: 20-16
ISD decided to rank the Top 25 players for the last five Irish head coaches---Brian Kelly, Charlie Weis, Tyrone Willingham, Bob Davie and Lou Holtz. This was quite an undertaking, but we thought we'd have fun as a staff doing it, and we felt our readers would enjoy it as well. We will start this week with our Top 25 for Brian Kelly, and throughout the spring and summer we will be releasing the other Top 25 for the other coaches as well.
We met as a staff, and after a much-heated debate (I should've recorded it because you'd probably find that conversation even more interesting), we're releasing our Top 25 Irish players from the Brian Kelly era.
We know there will be a lot of debate about this moving forward, and that's great because everyone has different opinions.
Our first order of business was figuring out which players should be classified with each coach. We settled on each player had to play at least two years for the coach they're assigned to, and have their two best years playing at ND while playing for that coach, so that is how each player was classified.
We also ranked each player by how much impact they had on the teams they played for. It had nothing to do with NFL potential or overall talent...simply the results based on their performance while at Notre Dame.
Understanding that, here is ISD's rankings of the No. 20 through No. 16 players for the Brian Kelly era. We will release the rest as the week goes on finishing with our No. 5 through No. 1 on Friday.
Please feel free to discuss our rankings by posting your comments below. Feel free to discuss how you feel they should be ranked, and ask any questions you may have of our staff or our rankings.
Enjoy!
20. DL Kapron Lewis-Moore
Lewis-Moore is up here not just for the part he played in the 2012 season, but the standard he set in the two years before on some pretty good defenses.
His numbers were good, but not eye-popping. The numbers rarely tell the story for an end in a 3-4 defense, though. A terrific defender against the run with a great motor, the example he set was a big reason why Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt reached the levels that they did for the Irish.
KAP arrived in South Bend in 2008 and did not see the field in 2008. A much larger Lewis-Moore took the field in 12 games in 2009 and that included nine starts. Lewis-Moore led the defensive line with 46 tackles and recorded seven tackles against Boston College.
In 2010, Lewis-Moore started all 13 games and recorded 62 tackles. He set a career-high 10 tackles against Navy.
Lewis-Moore played in seven games as a junior and recorded 32 tackles and four tackles for loss. An injury against USC ended his season.
In his final season at Notre Dame, Lewis-Moore started 13 games and helped get the Irish to the National Title game. He racked up 40 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss.
Former Notre Dame linebacker Joe Schmidt on Kapron Lewis-Moore:
"Kap was one of the more electric personalities I came across at ND. He ran what was probably the best collection of defensive line talent that I've ever been around and was a major reason we went 12-0 in 2012. I learned a ton about leadership, dealing with adversity and bringing people together by just watching Kap and feel very lucky to have been his teammate."
Stats
- 42 career starts in 45 games
- 180 career tackles
- 22.0 career tackles for loss
- 12.0 sacks
19. OL Nick Martin
Nick is unfairly compared to Zack, and because of that, some Notre Dame fans probably don't give him the credit he deserves. All he did was start three dozen games, and many of those came with him playing injured.
Dominant is the not the right word to describe his play, and that isn't uncommon for a center. Consistent is more appropriate, and that's always high praise when you can use it with an offensive lineman. He was tough, intelligent, and occasionally nasty.
After not seeing action in 2011, Martin played in all 13 games as a sophomore backing up the tackle position while playing guard.
In 2013, Martin started 11 games before a knee injury ended his season against BYU on November 23rd. The offensive line allowed just eight sacks on the year, which was second in the nation. Notre Dame ran for a season-high 235 yards against BYU.
Martin started all 13 games in 2014, which included the first three games at center and then left guard for the remainder of the season.
In his final season at Notre Dame, Martin started all 13 games for the Irish, helping establish a running game that rushed for 207.6 yards per game, the highest since 1998. Notre Dame recorded at least 400 yards of total offense in 11 of its 12 regular season games.
Stats
- 36 career starts
- Appeared in 49 career games
Honors and Awards
Rimington Trophy Watch List (2014)
Lombardi Award Watch List ( 2014)
18. WR TJ Jones
Jones had one great season to cap a really good career. One would think that a player with the second most receptions in the Notre Dame history would be higher up than this, but this feels like the right spot for him.
He was a strong route runner with good hands that showed he could be more explosive if given the opportunities that he had in 2013 to be the featured guy in the offense. Jones is a notch below the other great Irish receivers of the era regarding overall talent, but he could play on any team in any era and be a contributor.
Jones ended his Notre Dame career as one of six receivers in the program’s history with at least 150 receptions, 2,000 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.
Jones started seven games as a freshman and finished the season with 23 receptions for 306 yards and three scores.
As a sophomore, Jones started 12 games and caught a pass in every game. The Georgia native finished the year with 38 catches for 366 yards and three touchdowns.
Jones recorded 50 catches for 649 yards and four touchdowns. He started 11 of the 13 games and was a large part in Notre Dame getting to the National Title game. Jones recorded five catches for 55 yards at Oklahoma and had game-changing touchdowns against Stanford and Pittsburgh.
As a senior, Jones had his best season with 70 receptions, 1,108 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. His five 100-yard games tied the fourth-best season in program history.
Career Stats
- 2,429 receiving yards
- 181 receptions
- 51 games
- 21 total touchdowns
Honors and Awards
Biletnikoff Watch List (2011, 2012, 2013)
17. QB DeShone Kizer
It's easy to forget how good Kizer was at his best because the 2016 season was so disappointing on every level, but in two years he threw for 47 touchdowns and ran for another 18. He was the best Irish quarterback during the past eight years, and it's frankly not even close between him and the next best guy.
If the defense played better versus Stanford in 2015 and Texas in 2016, his legacy would be at looked differently. Those losses still don't take away from clutch moments against Virginia and Temple. Or the fact that he connected with Will Fuller on the deep ball for so many bombs.
If he stayed another year, he would have been a top-10 player on this list.
After not playing as a freshman in 2014, Kizer played in 13 games as a sophomore and started 11 games. Kizer led the Irish to a Fiesta Bowl appearance in his first year as the starter by throwing for 2,880 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
As a junior, Kizer threw for 2,925 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The highlight of the season was throwing for 471 yards and three touchdowns against Syracuse. Kizer also threw for 381 yards against Duke and 344 yards against Michigan State in 2016.
Career Stats
- Completed 422-of-695 passes
- 5,805 passing yards
- 47 passing touchdowns and 19 interceptions
- 997 career yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
Honors and Awards
Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List (2016)
Davey O’Brien Award Watch List (2016)
Maxwell Award Watch List (2016)
Notre Dame Offensive Newcomer of the Year (2015)
O’Brien Quarterback of the Week Honorable Mention (9/15/15)
O’Brien Quarterback of the Week Honorable Mention (10/18/15)
O’Brien Quarterback of the Week Honorable Mention (11/3/15)
FWAA/AutoNation National Offensive Player of the Week (11/3/15)
Manning Award Stars of the Week (11/9/15)
O’Brien Quarterback of the Week Honorable Mention (11/9/15)
16. OL Mike McGlinchey
This might seem low for someone who was a consensus All-American as a senior, but McGlinchey earned that designation by being great against most of the competition. Not all of the competition. He struggled against the better edge rushers when he went up against them.
It can't be denied that he was an elite run blocker. His mobility at his size was remarkable, and it allowed him to make blocks that many others would not be able to make. He was a really good offensive tackle for the Irish, but not a great one.
McGlinchey made his first start in 2014 against LSU in the Music City Bowl. In his final three seasons, McGlinchey started 38 games.
Started at right tackle in 2015 and helped the Irish average 5.63 yards per rush, which was No. 8 in the country. Notre Dame finished No. 27 in total yards per game at 466.4.
In 2016, McGlinchey moved to left tackle and helped Josh Adams rush for 100 yards four times. The offensive averaged 417.6 yards per game in 2016.
As a graduate student, McGlinchey led an Irish rushing attack that averaged 6.37 yards per rush that was third-best in the country. Notre Dame also rushed for 3,349 yards and 271.9 yards per game.
Stats
- 39 starts
- 51 games
- 1 field goal block
Honors and Awards
Notre Dame Captain (2016, 2017)
101st Consensus All-American in School History (2017)
American Football Coaches Association First-Team All-American (2017)
Associated Press First-Team All-American (2017)
Football Writers Association of America First-Team All-American (2017)
Walter Camp Football Foundation First-Team All-American (2017)
The Sporting News Second-Team All-American (2017)
Maxwell Award Watch List (2017)
Outland Trophy Award Watch List (2017)
Lombardi Award Watch List (2016)
Associated Press Second-Team All-American (2016)
Phil Steele Third-Team All-American (2016)
ISD Top 25
25. CB KeiVarae Russell
24. RB CJ Prosise
23. DL Louis Nix III
22. K Justin Yoon
21. RB Cierre Wood
20. DL Kapron Lewis-Moore
19. OL Nick Martin
18. WR TJ Jones
17. QB DeShone Kizer
16. OL Mike McGlinchey