13 For ’13 At ND: Jarron Jones

6 years after Notre Dame's last BCS beatdown to an SEC team and we're still talking about the same thing - depth along the defensive line. As you hinted at, Lou, if Notre Dame doesn't land Eddie Vanderdoes, who are the horses who can be effective defensive linemen for Notre Dame as it stands?

While 12-0 was a lot of fun, there is still a long way to go to get to 13-0. In order to truly reload, Notre Dame has to be able to replace Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix with another Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix, if not better versions. Guys like Schwenke, Springmann and Hounshell seem like role players at best. On film, Isaac Rochell looks like a guy who will need time in the weight room and an adjustment period to the game at the very least. I don't know anything about Matuska or Okwara, so maybe they're wildcards.

But like you said, even with Vanderdoes, the margin for error is thin after Nix and Tuitt, especially if Day and Jones are the only contenders for heir apparent.

I flew back from Florida on the same plane with Jarron. He looked like he could tackle our shuttle bus. Impressive.

John,

This was especially evident during the 2004-07 recruiting cycles. Victor Abiamari and Trevor Laws were signed in 2003 and became productive players and eventual second-round picks, but they really struggled recruiting along the defensive line the next four years. Charlie Weis' 28-man "killer class" in 2006 had a couple of outside linebacker types who they thought could be ends (John Ryan and Kallen Wade) and a tight end who they thought they could convert to a defensive lineman (Paddy Mullen).

They basically struggled again in 2007, although they were able to grow OLB Kerry Neal into an end. However, the depth and all-aroiund talent wasn't anywhere near to the top teams in the SEC. There was a breakthrough in 2008 with Ethan Johnson, Kapron Lewis-Moore and Sean Cwynar all arriving as pretty highly rated prospects. 2010 was the jackpot with Tuitt and Aaron Lynch, but the latter's departure is where you have to factor in potential attrition.

It's a tough position to recruit at ND, but I do believe you need to land about four per year just from a margin of error perspective.

Lou,

What about Ben Councell? At 6'5" and 240 lbs. (according to the B&G Illustrated) he is equivalent in size to the incoming freshmen, Matuska and Rochell. Is there any discussion of possibly moving him to Defensive End?

As you stated, 1st string is obviously going to be Tuitt, Nix and Day.

Current 2nd string options will include, presumably, Hounshell (assuming he's healthy), Springmann (or "Swingmann), Schewnke and Jones.

If Ben Councell and Ishaq Williams can be developed as defensive linemen (and maybe even Romeo Okwara), then we should have a relatively solid 3-deep on the D-Line, yes?

That would mean Matuska , Rochell and Vanderdoes (here's hoping) may be able to sit a year. If so, we're starting to look o.k. for the long haul.

3 star guys won't cut it right away they have work to do. We need linebackers too. Our linebackers got destroyed in the bcs game. Teo himself biffed a couple of tackles. We need linebackers as well as d linemen. Guys that are big have speed and can tackle.

flanker,

The problem is two-fold. One is it's like big men in basketball. There are precious few that are big time, and everyone wants them. I remember when Bob Davie used to point to Ryan Hunprhey (who was a top high school football player too) and Harold Swanagan on the basketball team as prototypes for what he wanted on the defensive line. Second, yeah grades often are an issue along the defensive line, which limits an already fairly small pool even more. That's why when ND was able to land Tuitt and Lynch in 2011 it was absolute rapture in the football office. Those guys don't come along much, and then to be able to admit them and then wanting to actually come here (well for a bit anyway for Lynch) was hitting the lottery.

With all due respect, I don't think Notre Dame wants to use Connecticut as the model for its football program. The development part obviously, yes, but to compete for BCS titles, you have to get more blue-chip prospects (and develop them too, physically and mentally) — mixed in with diamonds-in-the-rough who can become solid to very good complementary players.

The best example I can give is the 1977 national champs. Tackles like Ken Dike and Mike Calhoun were not coveted by the pros, but they were productive college players because they had Ross Browner and Willie Fry flanking them at end, and Bob Golic cleaning up in the middle. You need the "Grabowskis," as Mike Ditka put it, to do the dirty work and do whatever is necessary to help the team — but you also need the big-time talents like a Browner or Tuitt, and more than one of them.

Excellent observations.