The Top Defensive Position Groups ND Will Face in 2018
As everyone knows, things can flip very quickly in college football. A few days ago Virginia Tech looked all set at quarterback for the next three years. Now it’s unclear what they will do at the position with Josh Jackson’s short and long term future in doubt at the school.
This comes after the last couple of weeks when they learned that returning starting cornerback Adonis Alexander was not going to be available due to academics and projected starting cornerback Jeremey Webb will miss the season due to an Achilles tendon injury. After missing out on landing Nick Watkins as a graduate transfer, “DBU” could have a rough time in 2018.
They won’t be included in the top defensive back groups the Irish will face this season and neither will their linebackers. They lost freakishly athletic Tremaine Edmunds to the NFL Draft and will be very young at that position.
But maybe Bud Foster can work some magic and get them to their annual perch in the top-20 S&P+ defensive rating. If it happens, it will largely be because of the strength on their defensive line.
Defensive Line
Defensive tackle Tim Settle left school a couple of years early so they won’t be as good as they could have been, but Ricky Walker returns as yet another disruptive presence up front for the Hokies. He put up double digit tackles for loss last season and will be a handful to block.
Houshon Gaines and Trevon Hill return at end with Hill set up to have a huge season off the edge. He is very twitchy. Though they don’t load up with blue-chips on the line year after year, they always have others waiting their turn to be the next guy. So even if it’s not a deep group, it’s going to be the strength of Virginia Tech’s defense.
No team the Irish face this season has a better pair at defensive end than Michigan. Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary might be the best duo in the country. Don Brown’s defense puts them in favorable matchups one on one as rushers too. They need former 5-star Aubrey Solomon to step up inside to help replace Maurice Hurst, but they will have plenty of bodies to play beside him that can help fill the void.
As an overall group, Florida State has as much talent up front as any team in the country. Brian Burns is undersized, but far too quick for most tackles to handle. Robert Hainsey and Liam Eichenberg are going to be tested when they line up opposite him.
On the other side they have former stud recruit Joshua Kaindoh, who had a very good debut last fall, and several other former elite recruits ready for bigger roles along with him. One of them is former 5-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson who is set to pair up with Demarcus Christmas on the interior.
They need some young players to step up to provide depth, but the front end players are all there in Willie Taggart’s first season at Florida State.
Northwestern doesn’t have anywhere close to the level of talent that Florida State does, but they have three returning starters and junior Joe Gaziano is the best of the bunch. He had nine sacks, five pass deflections, and four forced fumbles last season.
This would have been a good year to have a first round caliber talent returning to start at left tackle based on who the Irish will have to block at end.
Linebacker
In an ideal world for Notre Dame fans, both Cameron Smith and Porter Gustin would have left for the NFL after last season. They both stuck around and are All-American candidates for USC. Smith is one of the best inside linebackers in the country and Gustin might as well be included with all of the edge rusher talent I mentioned in the previous groups. They lose Uchenna Nwosu at one outside linebacker, but they have so many other players with experience that they should be fine without him.
Inside linebacker Devin Bush was an All-American for Michigan last season and nickel backer Khaleke Hudson could have been. They are both perfect fits for the scheme they play in and are constantly creating havoc. Josh Ross was one of my favorite linebacker prospects in the 2017 recruiting class and he is set up to start next to Bush. He is a physical, downhill football player.
Nate Hall led Northwestern with 16.5 tackles for loss and he is back in 2018 along with Paddy Fisher in the middle. They won’t be as talented or deep as these other teams, but those are two very good linebackers.
Stanford has numerous question marks on the defensive line and in the secondary, but Bobby Okereke returns for them at linebacker. Notre Dame struggled to block him last season and they weren’t the only ones.
Sean Barton is back after injuring his knee early last year and they have several others who have played a lot of snaps at the position. Outside linebacker Curtis Robinson, a former Notre Dame recruiting target who picked off Brandon Wimbush last season, is someone to watch out for as a breakout candidate.
Defensive Back
I’m sure no one is too thrilled to see Michigan mentioned again, but they are really good on all three levels of their defense. Defensive back might be their strongest group and they are helped greatly the pass rush too.
Corners David Long and Lavert Hill were statistically the best in the country at preventing completions. Both starting safeties are back too. Free safety Tyree Kinnel gets his hands on the football a lot and he is aggressive versus the run as well. They are deep with others ready to step in if injuries occur too. It will not be easy to make plays in the passing game against them.
FSU’s Levonta Taylor is probably the best corner the Irish will play this season. He’s technically the only returning starter that is back in the secondary for them, but Stanford Samuels III and Carlos Becker are very good options to step up on the opposite side. Samuels might even be better than Tarvarus McFadden, who started last season.
They would be much scarier if Derwin James was back, but they still have talent at safety. There are plenty of athletes to choose from like 5-star freshman Jaiden Woodbey.
They had them there last year too, but they often looked lost. Notre Dame fans can expect former Michigan State defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett to get things straightened out. They can also expect to see them play much more physical and challenge Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool on just about every snap.