Notre Dame Football: Jack Kiser could be in for a break out season
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame Football team is replacing a lot of talent this season, and a player like Jack Kiser could step up and dominate as a starter in 2021.
When it comes to the 2020 Notre Dame Football team, one name that stood out above the rest was rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Seen by many as a possible top-10 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, JOK was all over the field for the Irish, becoming an All-American, and taking home the Butkus Award.
While JOK fell to the second round due to a heart issue that was cleared up, he is still an elite talent and should be in the running for the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2021. Replacing him in 2021 is going to be tough for the Irish, but the man who could be stepping into his shoes, Jack Kiser, has the talent to be an excellent player for Notre Dame this Fall.
Kiser is moving to the Rover spot this year, and it will be a bit of a learning experience, but he is drawing rave reviews from the coaching staff. He is certainly athletic enough to get the job done, and while he may not be an All-American, he is the kind of player you can really build a defense around.
Notre Dame Football has a solid veteran defense
Across the board, this is an Irish defense that is going to lean on the veterans this season, especially after losing not only JOK, but talent in the secondary in Shaun Crawford and Nick McCloud, and dominant edge rushers like Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji. New defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has his work cut out for him, but there is a ton of talent coming back, so he has a lot of good players to work with.
Linebacker is his specialty, and this is a group that has a ton of veteran players at the position group. Players like Kiser, Drew White, and Shayne Simon are all upperclassmen, and for a team going through a lot of change, Freeman should get a lot of production out of the linebacker group this Fall.
The beginning of the season will tell a lot about this team, as they open up on the road against Florida State, and then have some cupcake games against Toledo and Purdue at home. For the Irish, they will be relying on this veteran defense to win games for them in 2021 as the offense gels, and a player like Kiser could end up being one of the bigger break out stars of the season.