Assessing Notre Dame Football Will LB Situation After Marist Liufau Injury
Brian Kelly issued a tough comparison on Monday.
The 12th-year Notre Dame head coach said the lower-leg injury junior linebacker Marist Liufau suffered in practice last week was similar to what former Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver and current Miami Dolphin Jaylen Waddle endured last year on the opening kickoff against Tennessee.
Waddle broke his ankle on the play. Kelly confirmed Liufau broke his ankle as well. He had successful surgery on Monday.
“It was a break and a dislocation,” Kelly said, “so it was a fairly significant injury.”
While Waddle came back and played in the College Football Playoff a few months later, Kelly said Liufau is out for the season. The Fighting Irish have lost their projected starter at will linebacker without having played a single snap this season.
So what now? It’s JD Bertrand time.
The sophomore had an impressive fall camp. He shot up the depth chart and took reps with the second team at multiple linebacker positions. Notre Dame’s team-issued depth chart from Monday showed Bertrand ahead of junior Shayne Simon, who rotated in and out with Liufau for most of last season.
No “or” between the two’s names. Bertrand at the top as the starter. That's that.
“His production,” Kelly said when asked why Bertrand earned the nod as the new first-team will linebacker. “Outstanding production. Tough, smart, assignment correct, athletic — he has all the tools to play at a high level at that position. We lose a very versatile player in Marist, there’s no doubt about it, but JD Bertrand is an outstanding football player as well.”
Kelly mentioned versatility in relation to Liufau. Perhaps the same could apply to Bertrand. In an interview on Aug. 17, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman accidentally revealed why.
“I told JD after today’s practice when he went to offense, you know what I mean — I probably shouldn’t have said that,” Freeman said. “(Offensive coordinator) Tommy (Rees) was messing around trying to maybe use JD on goal line, we have a little goal line situation.”
OK. That might seem like it’s out of nowhere. It might seem like a lot to process. Long story short: Bertrand is viewed highly enough by coaches on both sides of the ball to possibly be inserted on offense when Notre Dame reaches in-goal situations.
Yes, that's right. Read it again. Notre Dame’s starting will linebacker in an offensive goal-line package. How’s that for versatility? The 6-1, 230-pound linebacker from Alpharetta, Georgia, is simply that dynamic.
Bertrand still has much to prove, though. He only recorded seven tackles last season. His year over year responsibilities have increased dramatically. He was stuck behind the likes of Drew White and Bo Bauer at mike linebacker and Liufau and Simon at will linebacker on the depth chart last season. Now his name is at the top. That’s a far different feeling from one year to the next.
Simon is still going to get his chances. He had an up and down season last year, but he has more experience than Bertrand. Freeman is likely going to lean on that in certain situations. The job feels like Bertrand's to lose through a large lens, however. Notre Dame could have easily inserted the almighty "or" between Bertrand and Simon's names. It got left off. That doesn't tell the whole story, but it says enough.
Bertrand has been entrusted to be a starter, not just a staunch special teams standout. Sunday night in Tallahassee is his first chance to prove he's up for the task.
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