Notre Dame Football: 3 players who’ll make an impact in 2018 spring game

Drawing the comparisons from the Notre Dame secondary entering 2018, between what they did two years ago in 2016, could really amaze fans of this program. The Irish couldn’t stop much of anything from opposing passing attacks during their dreary four-win 2016 season.

Now, the Irish look to have one of the better secondaries in the nation in 2018 as they return so much experience among the defensive backs. One of those returning starters is rising junior strong safety Jalen Elliott, who had somewhat of a breakout season in 2017.

However, there’s still a lot of progress left for Elliott to make before he’s truly considered a standout safety among some of the better programs in college football. He’ll be paired alongside another potent defensive back in rising senior free safety Nick Coleman, who will be leaned on as a leader in this secondary.

Elliott has underrated speed and coverage skills. He’s likely to set career highs in pretty much every major defensive stat category this year. All this momentum could start to build around a huge spring game, in which he could take advantage of a somewhat turnover happy Book and inaccurate Wimbush.