STOP IT RIGHT MEOW!
I think it's safe to say that since the arrival of Brian Kelly and Bob Diaco, the Notre Dame defense has done a 180 degree turnaround in its level of play. There were, of course, some bumps in the road along the way, but the 2012 defense was outstanding and truly one of the best defenses in the country last year.
While this Diaco Defense that Notre Dame runs could technically be called a 3-4, there are enough variations in how they lineup, that we can just call it a Multiple Front Defense. One doesn't have to know much about defensive formations to know that Notre Dame ran a lot of defensive plays from an even front last year.
And that brings me to the three players shown above. In the terminology for Notre Dame's linebackers, includes the names given for the outside linebackers. The "DOG" is more of a drop back and read player and moves into coverage, while the "CAT" is more of the attacker and is used along the line of scrimmage more and in blitzes. That was a very crude, and elementary description of the two positions, but that'll do for this conversation.
Prince Shembo, Ishaq Williams, & Romeo Okwara are all CAT's. While all 3 are around 260 pounds, Shembo is a couple inches shorter than the other two. Make no mistake about though, Prince Shembo is the starter- and a god damn good one at that. I found it interesting that while so much attention by the fans and some media were focused solely on Te'o & Tuitt, the X & O commenters that I believe to have really great insight into the game, would rave about Prince Shembo.
That's what's so exciting about this section of the defense. Ishaq Williams came on very nicely in the last half of the season and Romeo Okwara WHO HASN'T EVEN TURNED 18 YET (June 17th) has unmeasurable upside.
So, one of the most exciting and game changing positions on our defense is pretty damn deep and all 3 have the ability to drop a hand on the ground in an even front.
There is almost no point to this post other than I'm fucking fired up at the potential that these three bring to the table in 2013- which is a mere 84 days away.
DO YOU SEE ME EATING MICE?!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mXPeLctgvQI
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