Notre Dame Linebackers Are Receiving A Lot Of Outside Praise

The Notre Dame linebackers are getting a lot of recognition as one of the best returning units in college football

Arguably no position on the Notre Dame football team in 2022 and heading into 2023 has received more negativity from Irish faithful than have the linebackers. The positional whipping boy among Notre Dame fans, the perception of the group is quite different when looking at the view of outsiders.

I must admit, I was quite surprised to see the Irish backers get so much preseason love in the various preseason magazines. Notre Dame's linebackers certainly had some rough moments in 2022, but the unit wasn't nearly as bad as you'd think if you listened to Notre Dame fans on Twitter, message boards or in our YouTube chat. The perception from outsiders is the polar opposite of that view.

Both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports ranked the Notre Dame linebackers as Top 10 units heading into the 2023 season. Phil Steele ranked the Notre Dame linebackers as the 7th best returning unit in college football and Athlon ranked the Irish backers as the 9th best unit.

"The Irish held foes to 74 ypg below their season average last season despite having to replace two starters at LB. This year they return their #1, #2 and #3 tacklers and they are backed by two VHT rFr and three more VHT True Frosh." - Phil Steele

The team's top returning tackler is fifth-year senior JD Bertrand, who racked up 82 tackles last season and has racked up 183 tackles and 15.5 tackles for loss the last two seasons. Bertrand's numbers were deflated a bit last season thanks to a pair of ejections for targeting that also cost him the first half of the next game. That is a big reason why he played 173 fewer snaps in 2022 than he did the previous season. 

Bertrand actually had a better tackles per snap played rate in 2022 than he did the previous season when he had 101 tackles. If he played the same number of snaps in 2022 that he played in 2021, and made tackles and tackles for loss at the same rate he did the previous year he would have finished with 106 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.

Notre Dame also returns Jack Kiser (58 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks) and Marist Liufau (51 tackles, 4.5 TFL) to the starting lineup. Bertrand was actually good for Notre Dame last season and Kiser, when used properly, was an impactful player as well. Liufau is the one linebacker who struggled the most, and he'll need to step up his game a great deal in 2023 if the linebackers are going to live up to the Top 10 rankings.

This year's squad should have much better depth, with sophomores Nolan Ziegler and Jaylen Sneed fighting for playing time. Both could challenge for starting roles if they can have strong fall camps, but at the very least they will be important rotation players. Notre Dame also has a very talented freshman class of Drayk Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry and Preston Zinter, who were all early enrollees.

If Steele and Athlon are right about the Notre Dame linebackers they'll fuel a much improved Irish defense in 2023.

Note: VHT stands for "Very Highly Touted" in the Phil Steele magazine.

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