Notre Dame Football: Storylines to follow heading into Fall Camp

Linebacker Competition

What could be the biggest question mark out of all of these is the linebacker position. Now that Drew Tranquill and Te’von Coney have graduated and are in the NFL — Tranquill with the Chargers and Coney with the Raiders — the only returning starter is mike linebacker Asmar Bilal.

Bilal is the presumed starter, but even he isn’t a lock. While there are plenty of options at each position, that could be either a good or a bad thing. Other options available at the mike linebacker position include Shayne Simon, Bo Bauer, and Drew White.

The next linebacker position to cover is the buck. While this one looks to be in favor of sophomore Jack Lamb, Jordan Genmark Heath is still making a push for the starting job as well. Freshmen Osita Ekwonu and JD Bertrand are both very impressive when it comes to a physical standpoint, and could be in play for the starting job as well. Brian Kelly mentioned in his press conference yesterday that they wouldn’t count some of the freshmen linebackers out of the race for starting jobs yet. He went on to say that they would know more after the first week of camp.

The last linebacker position to go over is the Rover. While it seems to be a battle between junior Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and sophomore Paul Moala, Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach Clark Lea is also very high on freshmen Jack Kiser. I wouldn’t expect to see Kiser make a push for the starting job though, as he was out for the Spring following shoulder surgery.

As I mentioned previously, this should be one of — if not the most — interesting stories to follow through Fall camp. The variety of options available makes things very exciting and they should stay exciting for the next few years, as almost all of these players have multiple years of eligibility remaining.