If you watched Notre Dame for even a short time between 2016 and 2018 chances are you saw Julian Love or Drue Tranquill make a big play.
Whether it was a pass break up, interception or returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown, the young man just had an ability to make plays on the regular.
Now Pro Football Focus is throwing praise their way as they’ve released the “Most underrated on all 32 NFL teams” list ahead of the 2020 season. In it they list Julian Love, the second year defensive back as the New York Giants representative and Tranquill as the Chargers rep.
Of Love they say:
The Giants’ secondary has some definite question marks with DeAndre Baker facing possible legal trouble and an unproven group at cornerback behind free agent acquisition James Bradberry. But Julian Love is someone they should feel pretty good about after a promising start to his NFL career as a rookie last season. Love is a guy who graded extremely well at the college ranks as an outside cornerback for the Fighting Irish, earning coverage grades of 83.7 and 90.9 during his final two seasons with Notre Dame. Love followed that up by coming away from the 2019 season with an encouraging 70.5 overall grade despite being a 21-year-old rookie playing a new position. Whether he remains at safety or moves back to cornerback to potentially fill in for Baker outside, Love is a player to watch as he enters his second season.
Love defended three passes last season while also recording one interception and forcing a fumble.
On Drue Tranquill…