Last year, we saw what a talented freshman linebacker in over his head looked like. His name was Nyles Morgan, and the blue-chip recruit personified the second-half defensive collapse that flushed the Irish season down the drain.
Of course, that’s the bad part. The good? Morgan also flashed the skills that made him a tackling machine. So while Irish fans grumbled about missed assignments and struggles grasping the system, the 30,000-foot-view named Morgan a Freshman All-American, and he ended up one of the team’s leading tacklers, even though he played just a fraction of the season.
One calendar year after starting his career in South Bend, the future looks very bright for Morgan. Let’s take a look at what we can expect in his sophomore campaign.
NYLES MORGAN
6'1", 237 lbs.
Sophomore, No. 5, LB
RECRUITING PROFILE
Elite. Morgan was an Army All-American and the Irish won a long recruiting battle, a come-from-behind victory considering both his area recruiter (Chuck Martin) and defensive coordinator and position coach (Bob Diaco) left at the home stretch.
But Brian Kelly and Brian VanGorder picked up the slack, and the Irish won a tough victory for one of Chicago’s premier players, beating out Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, Michigan, Ole Miss, USC and many others.
PLAYING CAREER
Freshman Season (2014): Freshman All-American. Finished T-8th for tackles by a freshman with 47. Made 11 stops against USC and chipped in a half-sack against LSU. Played in 12 games, starting four after Joe Schmidt was lost for the season.
WHAT WE SAID LAST YEAR
Nailed it, though the complexities of VanGorder’s system, and the realistic nature of any summer-enrollee freshman fully grasping the defense at the level Joe Schmidt did, made the bad parts ugly.Morgan couldn’t ask for a better situation to walk into. With a new defensive system in place and a hole in the depth chart, the freshman will see the field from day one and will likely contribute from the middle of the defense come the season-opener against Rice. Getting early snaps can only help him, as Morgan will undoubtedly look like a freshman at times, seeing and doing things for the first time at this level.
It’s hard to remember now, but even Te’o ran around lost as a freshman, with then defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta begrudgingly throwing Te’o to the wolves as the 2009 season rolled on. VanGorder’s system stresses aggression and attacking, something that’ll likely make Morgan’s job easier. But only if he’s able to mentally handle the transition, a challenge that Irish fans should be optimistic about, especially after re-reading Kelly’s Signing Day comments.
Ultimately, Morgan’s going to play. How much and how well remains to be seen. But on the hoof, there’s probably not a more impressive linebacker on the roster than Morgan, who certainly doesn’t look like your average freshman.
For Notre Dame’s defense to succeed, he can’t play like one, either.
FUTURE POTENTIAL
How many ways can you say sky high? To me, the biggest question is whether or not Morgan stays behind Schmidt this fall, or if Notre Dame’s returning team MVP shifts to Will linebacker to allow Morgan to get on the field.
Morgan will be the future rock of this defense. And putting him next to Schmidt could give him a boost in the same way putting Jaylon Smith next to Schmidt did at the beginning of the season. The only difference? Morgan wouldn’t be playing out of position.
Again, the Te’o comparison is probably a good one. As a sophomore, he’s going to make some mistakes. And in a depth chart that has veteran options (Jarrett Grace and Schmidt) and a returning All-American at Will, it’s going to take some manufacturing to make sure the Irish get the most from Morgan.
But before it’s all said and done, Morgan’s going to be a very, very good one.
CRYSTAL BALL
I’m pegging Morgan for a Top Four tackler on the roster, taking into consideration that finding snaps is going to be the hardest part for him. But Morgan is too athletic to keep off the field, and VanGorder and Kelly are too smart to keep a 240-pound heat-seeking missile off the field, especially when Jaylon Smith could help the Irish off the edge as a pass rusher just as much as a middle of the field linebacker.
No, he won’t be perfect. And if Morgan decides to freelance this season, he’ll do so mostly from the sideline while Grace, Greer Martini or several other linebackers get a chance to play. But all reports have Morgan a student of the game, and after a tough year learning on the fly, expect Morgan to take a huge step forward.
THE 2015 IRISH A-to-Z
Josh Adams, RB
Josh Barajas, OLB
Nicky Baratti, S
Alex Bars, OL
Asmar Bilal, OLB
Hunter Bivin, OL
Grant Blankenship, DE
Jonathan Bonner, DE
Miles Boykin, WR
Justin Brent, WR
Greg Bryant, RB
Devin Butler, CB
Jimmy Byrne, OL
Daniel Cage, DL
Amir Carlisle, RB
Nick Coleman, DB
Te’von Coney, LB
Shaun Crawford, DB
Scott Daly, LS
Sheldon Day, DL
Michael Deeb, LB
Micah Dew-Treadway, DL
Steve Elmer, RG
Matthias Farley, DB
Nicco Fertitta, DB
Tarean Folston, RB
Will Fuller, WR
Jarrett Grace, LB
Jalen Guyton, WR
Mark Harrell, OL
Jay Hayes, DL
Mike Heuerman, TE
Kolin Hill, DE
Tristen Hoge, C
Corey Holmes, WR
Chase Hounshell, TE
Torii Hunter, Jr. WR
Alizé Jones, TE
Jarron Jones, DL
DeShone Kizer, QB
Tyler Luatua, TE
Cole Luke, CB
Nick Martin, C
Greer Martini, LB
Jacob Matuska, DL
Mike McGlinchey, OT
Colin McGovern, OL
Peter Mokwuah, DL
John Montelus, OL