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Notre Dame Football All-Decade Team: Linebacker

By Nathan Erbach

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Heisman finalists linebacker Manti Te'o of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish poses with the Heisman Memorial Trophy Award after a press conference prior to the 78th Heisman Trophy Presentation at the Marriott Marquis on December 8, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Heisman finalists linebacker Manti Te'o of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish poses with the Heisman Memorial Trophy Award after a press conference prior to the 78th Heisman Trophy Presentation at the Marriott Marquis on December 8, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame
CHESTNUT HILL, MA – SEPTEMBER 16: Drue Tranquill /

Drue Tranquill (2014-2018)

Much like Coney, Tranquill was an impact player from the get go, but unfortunately he would have two seasons cut short due to ACL injuries. However, when he was on the field, his impact was noticeable early on. He started 3 games and played in 8 others — all at safety — during his freshman season before tearing his ACL in November. In those 11 games he would register 33 tackles, one TFL, half a sack, one interception, one fumble recovery, one blocked bunt, one pass defended and one quarterback hurry. Back for the start of his sophomore season, Drue would appear in the first 3 games before again going down with another torn ACL — missing the rest of the season. He was able to make 2 TFLs in those three games, but this would prove to be a redshirt season.

From there on out, Tranquill was very durable and essentially had a clean slate of health for the remainder of his career — or at least he would play through some injuries that might derail others. In 2016, he started all 12 games at safety — his last year at the position — and finished second on the team in tackles with 79. He also added two TFLs, two pass break ups , one quarterback hurry and one interception.

In his first year as a full-time linebacker, Tranquill roamed the field at the popular and often-mentioned Rover position in the Elko/Lea defense — a perfect transition to linebacker as this is essentially a way to get another elite cover guy on the field. Tranquill excelled in this role, accumulating 85 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, four passes defended, one interception and one forced fumble while also being the very vocal leader of the defense. In his final season, he would move to a more traditional linebacker spot in order to prepare himself for the NFL and he proved to be quite good at BUCK linebacker as well. Playing through a nasty ankle sprain and a fractured hand for a lot of the season, he was still able to play in 13 contests while compiling big numbers.

Tranquill is beloved and admired by many Notre Dame fans for his leadership and grit, while also being a terrific athlete. He was ultimately drafted by the Chargers in the 4th round of this past draft and enjoyed a nice rookie season. Even with his medicals being an issue during the draft process, many teams thought it would hard to pass up Tranquill due to his athletic and mental traits. He appeared in 15 games and started 3 games for the Chargers this year compiling, 75 tackles.

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