Drew White Named ‘Most Unheralded Star’ On 2020 Notre Dame Team
In a continuing series of summer lists for its ESPN+ subscribers, the outlet’s recent category included the “Most Unheralded Star” from each of its projected top 25 teams in 2020.
Receiving the distinction for Notre Dame (No. 16 in ESPN's post-spring Football Power Index rankings) is senior Mike (middle) linebacker Drew White.
Wrote author Tom VanHaaren, “He surprised a lot of people in 2019, given he played sparingly in the previous seasons, but he should get more attention than he does.”
Despite tying for the team lead in tackles last season (80, eight for lost yardage) while starting all 13 games, White finds himself in the shadows of numerous other Fighting Irish defenders:
• Classmate/rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who tied White for the team lead in stops, has been projected by ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay as a 2021 first-round pick (17th best draft-eligible player).
• Safety Kyle Hamilton distinguished himself as a Freshman All-American last year on several outlets and was named by ESPN as the team’s “most exciting playmaker.”
• The deep line includes fifth-year senior Daelin Hayes at vyper end. Despite taking a medical redshirt last season, Hayes is a preseason second-team All-American by Sporting News.
White is used to playing in the shadows. The three-star prospect from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., superpower St. Thomas Aquinas High did not play as a 2017 freshman and almost all his action as a 2018 sophomore came versus Navy’s triple-option attack when captain Drue Tranquill was injured.
Then in the spring of 2019 with competition wide open for playing time, White fell by the wayside during spring break when after only two practices he suffered a severe shoulder injury during a snow skiing accident that sidelined him.
Yet in August he seized the starting role at Mike linebacker and was a vital cog in a unit that placed 12th in scoring defense and fifth in the Fremeau Efficiency Index.
“That guy’s a winner,” Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea said of the 6-0, 227-pound White. “He’s fought through adversity and hasn’t wavered, hasn’t backed down and has been counted out probably 100 times.”
“I will not be going skiing again until after I’m done playing football,” White vowed last season.
The selection was spot on. Others who also could have been named, in our opinion:
Robert Hainsey — The senior right tackle begins his fourth year as a starter. He doesn’t possess extraordinary size like some of his Irish predecessors, but his technical skills take a back seat to no one.
TaRiq Bracy — Quietly in a senior-laden secondary last year he paced the team in passes broken up (seven) and provided consistent performance while taking 467 snaps, 46 more than Hamilton.
Ade Ogundeji — The fifth-year senior has long been in the shadow of fellow defensive ends Hayes and recent NFL selections Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem.
Still, he put together a quality campaign in 2019 with 34 tackles — second most among the linemen — seven of them for lost yardage and 4.5 sacks, and is primed for an impactful fifth season.
Tommy Tremble — Playing behind second-round pick Cole Kmet at tight end, Tremble still started seven games as a sophomore in double-tight-end sets, caught 16 passes for 183 yards and four scores, and produced a laudable 82.8 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.
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