Notre Dame Football All-Decade Team: Cornerback

Julian Love (2016-2018)

While Love wasn’t the most coveted high school recruit, he proved any doubters wrong throughout his time at Notre Dame, starting every game of his college career. Not only did he start every game, but he will also go down as one of the best corners in Notre Dame history — with the stats to back it up. Love is the all-time leader in PBUs in an Irish uniform — including 20 in 2017 and 16 in 2018. His only knock during his time in South Bend is probably only 5 interceptions, but as you can see, it’s not like he gave up a ton of catches.

Throughout his career, he also totaled over 170 tackles, three fumbles recoveries, 1 forced fumble and 3 defensive touchdowns (1 fumble and 2 picks). Love was a First Team Freshman All-American in 2016 and a Second Team All-American in 2017.

Love was drafted in 2019 by the New York Giants in the 4th round and like Blanton and Jackson, was quickly moved to safety. He would start 5 games for the Giants this year, and was acknowledged by Pro Football Focus as one of the best rookies in the league. Love notched one interception, 3 PBUs, 1 forced fumble, 35 total tackles and 5 tackles for loss. I think it’s safe to say Love has a bright NFL future ahead.

Looking back, I might regret leaving Troy Pride Jr. off this list, as I am one of his bigger supporters. With that said, these four guys produced a ton during their time in college while also contributing in big ways very early on. Julian Love and Keivarae Russell get the nod for the All-Decade team.