Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/864798
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2017 41 at this position. He has tremendous size, plus he is a top-notch athlete and an incredibly physical football player. He was outstanding as a sopho- more in 2015, with Pro Football Fo- cus grading his season out slightly higher than that of former left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who was a consensus first-team All-American that season. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 13th-best guard in the country that season, and Nelson was even better as a junior last fall. With 23 career starts now under his belt, he has taken on more of a leadership role within the program. Having your best player also emerg- ing as a team leader is a positive for any program. 2. LB NYLES MORGAN Morgan was Notre Dame's most consistent defensive player last sea- son, pacing the unit with 94 tackles and four sacks. He was not flashy and like everyone else on the defense he was far from flawless in consistent execution, but his first full season as a starter was a period of growth. The arrival of first-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko has substan- tially raised the bar for Morgan. Last year at Wake Forest, Elko's Mike linebacker — Marquel Lee — fin- ished with 105 total stops, 20 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. Expecting Morgan to match that level of production is unfair, but it shows how important the Mike posi- tion is to Elko's defense. The Mike has to not only be the vocal leader of the defense — which Elko has said Morgan has been — he must also be a playmaker. The senior has dropped 10 pounds since last season and he's playing with better quickness and more power than we've seen from him in the past. The added burst has al- lowed Morgan to effectively attack downhill in Elko's aggressive sys- tem, while the better conditioning is allowing him to keep his production up over a longer period of time. 3. LT MIKE MCGLINCHEY Along with Nelson, the fifth-year senior McGlinchey forms arguably the best one-two punch in the coun- try along the offensive line. Both were tabbed as preseason All-Ameri- cans by Sports Illustrated, with Nelson on the first team and McGlinchey on the second team. Notre Dame was the only team with multiple linemen on the list. McGlinchey was one of the na- tion's best right tackles in 2015, grad- ing out as the eighth-best player at his position according to Pro Football Focus. After moving to left tackle for the 2016 season, his game took a step back. He never looked comfortable playing left handed and he seemed to lack focus at times, which resulted in him getting flagged nine times for a false start. The strength program of Matt Balis has resulted in McGlinchey showing up to fall camp with a much thicker frame, a better level of conditioning and improved lower body strength. Those improvements, and a greater level of comfort playing on the left side, has McGlinchey poised to be- come the premier offensive tackle many expected him to be last season. 4. RB JOSH ADAMS Only Allen Pinkett (1982-85), Autry Denson (1995-98) and Darius Walker (2004-06) had more rushing yards in their first two seasons at Notre Dame than the 1,768 Adams has piled up. None came close to his average of 6.4 yards per carry. Adams has been a big-play ma- Junior running back Josh Adams racked up 1,768 yards while averaging 6.4 per rush during his first two seasons, and has provided the Irish with big plays out of the backfield (five runs of at least 62 yards). PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA