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Notre Dame football: 3 defensive players who must step up in 2021

By Brad Weiss

Sep 14, 2019; South Bend, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are reflected in a helmet as they sing the Notre Dame Alma Mater following the win over the New Mexico Lobos at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 14, 2019; South Bend, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are reflected in a helmet as they sing the Notre Dame Alma Mater following the win over the New Mexico Lobos at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame Football
Nov 14, 2020; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jack Kiser (24) tackles Boston College Eagles running back Travis Levy (23) during the first half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports /

Notre Dame football: 3 defensive players who must step up in 2021

Jack Kiser

The Notre Dame football team has been blessed with having Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah patroling their defense the past few seasons, working his way up to being an All-American. However, JOK is gone, after being a second-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in the 2021 NFL Draft, leaving the Rover position open for Jack Kiser to grab.

Losing JOK is going to be tough for this defense, as he brought so much leadership on and off the field. Luckily for Freeman, Kiser has those same qualities, and from what we saw from him last season, racking up 20 tackles to go along with one interception, he has the ability to be very productive for this Notre Dame offense.

For the Irish to succeed in 2021, they have to be good at all three levels of the defense, and while Kiser will be pushed for this starting role this Fall, the odds are he comes out of camp with the job. From there, it will be up to him to step up and produce at a high level, hopefully mitigating the loss of such talent in JOK.

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