Drue Tranquill has changed his body.
At last some of the time this spring, the Notre Dame senior safety has also changed positions.
Splitting time between safety and the new hybrid safety/linebacker position — called a “rover” — Tranquill is putting his 230-pound frame to work. The 6-foot-2 captain added five pounds of muscle in the offseason, dropping his body fat to an all-time low while getting quicker on the field.
The rover spot might just fit Tranquill’s strengths best, moving close to the line of scrimmage and doing less deep coverage.
“It depends on what you’re asking me to do at safety,” Tranquill said. “If you’re asking me to play off the hash or drop into half field, I mean at 230 pounds it’s probably not my best asset. If you’re asking me to drop down and play curl flat, play outside hook, a Kam Chancellor type deal, I can do that just fine.
“Rover allows me to do some of those things I would do dropping down in the safety position and also allows me to play the run as well.”
New defensive coordinator Mike Elko brings his scheme from Wake Forest, where rovers Thomas Brown and Demetrius Kemp combined to make 96 tackles, record five sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in 2016.
It’s a productive position in Elko’s defenses, one that Tranquill could see himself filling alongside junior linebacker Asmar Bilal.
“It’s a great position, you’re asked to do a lot in that position,” said Tranquill, who finished with 79 tackles in 2016. “It’s also an opportunity to make a lot of plays.”
Still, the Irish coaches are balancing how much Tranquill works at safety as well this spring.
“We really have to figure out what the coordination is going to be at the safety position,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “How much does Drue play down at rover? How much does he play back [at safety]?”
Notre Dame is young at the safety position, with sophomores Devin Studstill and Jalen Elliott at the top of the depth chart at free and strong safety, respectively. Their backups include juniors Nick Coleman (who moved from cornerback) and Nicco Fertitta, as well as sophomore D.J. Morgan and early enrollee freshman Isaiah Robertson.
With the exception of Tranquill and Bilal, Elko has not done much cross training of players this spring.
“I definitely see where Coach Elko is saying he doesn’t like guys cross training,” Tranquill said. “He likes to simplify things, and that’s great for our young guys, great for them to kind of hone in on their job. It allows them to play free, play fast and you see guys like Isaiah coming in and making picks.”
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