I gotta keep these coming as the season rapidly approaches. Two more chambers are opened for the 36 players of impact. This is the toughest position on the defensive side of the ball.
Cornerback
6’0″ 183 lbs.
Junior
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Wu-Name: Action-Packed Mentalist
Darrin Walls is quickly becoming a fan favorite. Why? We haven’t seen a corner with these type of skills in South Bend for quite some time. He came to Notre Dame as a very highly touted prospect and he has done nothing to change my mind to the contrary. He supplanted a 5th year senior at the starting spot last year and played very well for the Irish as they improved their pass defense by leaps and bounds.
Darrin plays the ball very well and had 9 pass break ups last year and one very big interception against Penn State as he returned it 73 yards for a touchdown and gave Irish fans some glimmer of hope in that game, until the bottom fell out. Look for even more improvement this year from Darrin and a spike in his interception numbers with the type of pressure defense Tenuta/Brown are installing. It would not be a surprise to see Darrin’s name hovering around a lot of All-American lists as the season unwinds.
Cornerback
5’11” 195 lbs.
5th Year Senior
Oxnard, California
Wu-Name: Inscrutable Drama-Queen
Irish fans have seen a lot of Lambert over the years. Some moments have been great, and others were down right awful. Who can forget the interception returned for a touchdown capping the amazing comeback in a monsoon versus Michigan State in 2006 and then the miraculous interception moments later in that same game to seal the deal. Of course you can also look back to the game prior against Michigan and the Manningham debacle as well. Through it all, Lambert has maintained his starting role on the Irish defense as a true cover corner.
Lambert has a chance this year to really become a great player and put himself in good draft position as this is his 5th and final year after starting the last two years. Along with his partner Walls, Terrail should greatly benefit from the pressure packages that the Irish defense will show this year. His run stopping ability makes him even more dangerous, as his physical play makes him a better player overall. He will be in on a lot of big plays… let’s just hope they are on the right side of the spectrum. Potentially dominating? Maybe. I’ll go for consistently good.
