Notre Dame Football: Projected 2-deep depth chart for 2019 season
By Jacob Wilson
Defensive backs
Starting cornerbacks: Troy Pride Jr.
Backups: Just about everyone
Joining the linebacker unit as a position of much uncertainty is the defensive backs situation, particularly at cornerback. What we do know is that senior Troy Pride Jr. will be starting at boundary corner, the same position he played alongside Julian Love in 2018. Behind him – well, that’s where things get interesting.
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Realistically, either Donte Vaughn, TaRiq Bracy, Houston Griffith, Shaun Crawford or even safety Jalen Elliott could find themselves playing corner, whether that be as a field corner or nickelback. Griffith’s playing style is more tailored to boundary corner, which may mean that he backs up Pride while Vaughn and Bracy compete for field corner.
Crawford is an extremely valuable asset to this team and is versatile enough to play traditional corner, nickel back, or even safety if need be. Elliott could even make the move down to nickel back should the situation warrant it, which essentially makes the position somewhat of a merry-go-round depending on which athlete’s skills and strengths are appropriate for the situation.
Starting safeties: Alohi Gilman (FS), Jalen Elliott (SS)
Backups: Kyle Hamilton, Shaun Crawford
Outside of changes as a result of covering for the cornerback position, the safety position for the Irish is pretty straightforward. Senior Alohi Gilman, who joins Kraemer and Okwara on the AP All-American second team, will start at free safety. Gilman was exceptional last season, logging 96 total tackles while deflecting five passes to go along with his two interceptions and forced fumble.
Elliott also played very well after a quiet 2017 campaign, combining for 67 tackles while adding four interceptions and a forced fumble. While he and Crawford might bounce around a bit, it will be extremely difficult for the Irish to keep freshman phenom Kyle Hamilton off the field. He has exceeded expectations in camp and looks to make an immediate impact on the field in 2019.