We’ve started our positional breakdowns here at Fighting Irish Wire with the quarterbacks and running backs done and the rest of the offense to come this week. Soon after we’ll get to the defensive side of the ball and the secondary to be more specific.
When we discuss that might we be talking about the strength of this entire Notre Dame defense? And if so, when was the last time you looked at a Notre Dame defense and said the defensive backs were what you trusted the most?
There are certainly arguments to be made for other position groups as well but Notre Dame’s secondary received some grand praise from College Football News as they were called the nation’s second-best unit by the outlet recently.
Here is what Pete Fiutak of College Football News said about the Notre Dame defensive backs (and check out the link to see who Fiutak ranks right above and right below Notre Dame):
There’s a shot the secondary turns into the team’s biggest strength. Corners Clarence Lewis and Cam Hart can hit, the depth is – for the most part – there for all spots, the safeties are experienced, and on top of all of that, Northwestern transfer Brandon Joseph might be the best safety in college football.
I’ve thought for a while simply by watching the improvement in the secondary and specifically at cornerback that [autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag] doesn’t get enough credit for his work since replacing Todd Lyght following the 2019 season.
Is this unit the second best in the nation? I hesitate to go quite that far but if it turns out to be you may very well be looking at one of the two or three best defenses in all of college football in 2022.
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