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Notre Dame Football: Top-25 players of the Brian Kelly era

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - NOVEMBER 07: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish leads his team out of the tunnel before the game against the Clemson Tigers at Notre Dame Stadium on November 7, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Matt Cashore-Pool/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - NOVEMBER 07: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish leads his team out of the tunnel before the game against the Clemson Tigers at Notre Dame Stadium on November 7, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Matt Cashore-Pool/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame football LB Jaylon Smith. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame Football: Top-25 players of the Brian Kelly era

2. Jaylon Smith, LB, 2013-15

  • 284 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 INT, 10 pass breakups, 3 fumbles recovered, 3 forced fumbles

Jaylon Smith is the best athlete to play at Notre Dame during the Brian Kelly era. He was a dominant linebacker for three seasons, where he put up monster numbers as the leader of the team’s defense.

He is third all-time for tackles made by a freshman (58), was named the 2014 defensive player of the year, was an All-American on multiple All-America teams, and was a Butkus Award winner while at Notre Dame.

Smith was a special talent at Notre Dame, who was fantastic to watch and could cover up a lot of mistakes made by a defense. He was a sure-fire top 10 draft pick until the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, in which he tore his ACL and LCL. There were concerns about his injury, which knocked him out of the first round and made him a second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys.

Since joining the Cowboys, Smith has gotten healthy and become one of the better linebackers in the NFL, going to the 2019 Pro Bowl.

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