BGI Awards, Part 2: Notre Dame’s top surprises, most underrated players
Every year brings unforeseen contributors, if not unpredicted stars.
Notre Dame had both this season, as well as several players who put forth standout years but flew beneath the radar compared to star teammates such as Kyren Williams, Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey.
Part 2 of the BlueandGold.com awards highlights the Irish's top surprise players and most underrated performers from 2021. Here are the staff picks for the top three in each category.
Previous BGI awards: Part 1 (MVP, most improved)
TOP SURPRISES
1. Joe Alt, tackle
A surprise is something unexpected, and perhaps the most unexpected thing was not that a true freshman ended up being Notre Dame’s best option to start at left tackle but rather who that true freshman was.
Joe Alt, not Blake Fisher. The latter was lost to a knee injury in the season opener. The former wasn’t fully discovered as an everyday starter until more than a month later, but once Alt was regularly inserted into the starting lineup everything seemed to click offensively.
Notre Dame allowed 20 sacks through the first four games but just 13 over the last eight. Alt had a lot to do with the improved numbers. He looked like a natural at the position, and that’s hard to do in year one as a college player. Who knows if Fisher would have even had the season Alt did?
2. Linebacker JD Bertrand
Like Alt, Bertrand was not supposed to start this season. His opportunity came as a result of injuries to Will linebackers Marist Liufau and passing up senior Shayne Simon in training camp. Bertrand roared out of the gates with at least 11 tackles in each of the first three games of the season.
He reached double digits only one other time in the final nine games, but he did enough to earn a start in all 12 games. If there were a player who could have a case for MVP recognition, it’d be Bertrand. He played 668 defensive snaps. Jayson Ademilola ranked second in that category among Notre Dame’s front seven with 353 snaps. Nearly 700 snaps in 12 games is a lot to ask of a linebacker.
Bertrand, despite being a potential third-stringer at the beginning of August, was up for the challenge.
3. Running back Chris Tyree
Not all surprises are welcomed ones. How many folks would have guessed Tyree would have fewer rushing yards than the player who was listed as Notre Dame’s third-string quarterback for the entirety of the season?
Tyree’s season was marred by a turf toe injury sustained Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech. He was never the same after that. But he wasn’t the player many expected him to be before then, either. As with Williams and Coan, that was in large part because of the offensive line’s woes at the time. But 35 carries for 112 yards in six games before the injury were certainly not the numbers Tyree and his supporters had hoped for.
The speedy sophomore finished the regular season with 50 carries for 204 yards and one touchdown. He caught 18 passes for 143 yards and another score. True freshman Logan Diggs pulled even with him for the No. 2 role behind Williams by the end of the year.
MOST UNDERRATED
1. Center Jarrett Patterson
When Notre Dame’s offensive line couldn’t get much worse in the first month of the season, senior center Jarrett Patterson didn’t have much to do with it. He was the same guy all year.
And yet, he was lumped in with everyone else when the media and fans took turns roasting the unit. And even when things got much better in mid-October and beyond, nobody really pointed to Patterson for his steadiness and stability.
Patterson was Notre Dame’s highest-graded offensive lineman per Pro Football Focus. He had a nice season. He’s being rewarded for it here.
2. Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola
The statistics Ademilola accumulated as an interior offensive lineman were quite staggering. He was second behind Foskey for the most tackles for loss (8.0) on the team. He had 44 total stops, which were the fifth most on the team. He also had four sacks, which ranked solo third. He led the team with 39 quarterback pressures.
Foskey and safety Kyle Hamilton were really all anybody wanted to talk about this season when it came to the Notre Dame defense. That duo, and of course Freeman in his first year with the team. But Ademilola just plodded along quietly as one of the most dominant defensive figures in the locker room.
3. Wide receiver Avery Davis
Davis suffered a season-ending injury against Navy Nov. 6 but still finished fourth on the team in receptions (27) and third in receiving yards (386).
He was well on his way to a 500-yard season, especially considering the defenses Notre Dame went up against in the final three games. A team captain and one of the most revered players by teammates on the roster, Davis didn’t always necessarily get his due from people outside the team. He definitely deserved to.
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