Jarrett Grace Signed by the Chicago Bears

On Wednesday former Notre Dame linebacker Jarrett Grace was signed by the Chicago Bears.

His route to the NFL is probably not how he, or most Irish fans, envisioned, but nevertheless he is on his way to the league. In 2013 Grace was anointed Manti Te’o’s successor and was on track to be the next great Notre Dame linebacker. Unfortunately, just six games into his first season as a full-time starter Grace suffered a gruesome broken leg injury. The injury forced Grace to sit out the next year and half.

He finally returned to the field this past season and was used sparingly. Grace appeared in all 13 games, while mostly being used on special teams. He  finished his fifth year senior season with 26 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. His best game of 2015 was perhaps his performance in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. Grace was used in an emergency role after Jaylon Smith and Tevon Coney went down with injuries. In that game Grace registered nine tackles and one tackle for loss, while playing out of position at outside linebacker.

During 2015 Grace expressed his desire to apply for a sixth year of eligibility, but ultimately the NCAA said he did not fit the requirements for a sixth year. Through his Notre Dame career Grace played in 32 games, while tallying 78 games with 2.5 tackles for loss.

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With the Bears, Grace will most likely be used as a backup and for depth purposes. This offseason the Bears have signed linebackers Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman to go along with Pernell McPhee, Lamarr Houston and Christian Jones.

Now that Grace is signed Notre Dame has had 13 guys from the 2015 team either signed or drafted by an NFL team, which is the most we’ve seen in quite some time.