Notre Dame Linebacker Drew White Is Underrated Heading Into 2020

ESPN ranked senior linebacker Drew White as the most underrated Notre Dame player for 2020

ESPN recently ranked the most exciting player for each Top 25 team, and Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton was their pick for the Fighting Irish. Now they are breaking down their most underrated player for each ranked team, and another Irish defender was their pick.

Senior linebacker Drew White was listed as Notre Dame's most underrated player by ESPN college football writer Tom VanHaaren.

Here is what ESPN had to say about White:

"The Irish defense has a chance to be very good in the 2020 season, and there are quite a few names to watch. One name that probably doesn't get a lot of credit nationally is linebacker White. Whether it's because Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah gets a lot of the attention, or if people are talking about the first season Kyle Hamilton had, all White did was rack up 80 total tackles last season, tied with Owusu-Koramoah. White also had eight tackles for loss, including two sacks, and has become one of Notre Dame's leaders on defense. He surprised a lot of people in 2019, given he played sparingly in the previous seasons, but he should get more attention than he does."

This is a spot on prediction by VanHaaren, and White is certainly an overlooked player on the Irish defense. I would question the "Irish defense has a chance to be very good in the 2020 season." Notre Dame had the fifth ranked defense in 2019 (FEI) and the 16th best defense in 2018. The Irish defense is already really good, the question is can it be elite.

Back to White, the senior linebacker had his first fully healthy season in 2019. His statistics were impressive, and his impact play does not get enough credit when talking about what made the defense so effective last season. 

White is an underrated athlete, and his range, instincts and closing ability impressed. Heading into 2020, White must be more assignment sound and improve his tackling ability to take his game to the next level.

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