Here come the 5th years.
- Geoff Price #17 Punter
- Dwight Stephenson #57 Defensive End
- Trevor Laws #98 Defensive Tackle
- John Carlson #89 Tight End
- Ambrose Wooden #22 Cornerback
- John Sullivan #78 Center
- Joe Brockington #52 Linebacker
- Travis Thomas #26 Running Back/ Linebacker CAPTAIN
- Tom Zbikowski #9 Safety CAPTAIN
This is an excellent group of veteran players. Here are a few tidbits about these Grad Students.
- 8 of the 9 players were starters during the 2006 season.(Stephenson did not, but he may end up being this years Corey Mays).
- 4 of these players are going to end their ND Career as 4 year starters.(Zibby, Wooden, Sullivan, and Laws).
- 2 of the 3 Captains of the 2006 team are returning. (Zibby and Thomas).
- All are quality guys and all should make considerable contributions to ND on and off the field.
There are a lot of Domers out there that are getting a little zealous for the younger guys and have spurned the fact that these players are returning. If you think ND would be better off without them, go talk to a shrink. Why do we want them back?
- As stated before, there are a lot of starters here. They are good enough to play and I believe defensive guys are in a better position than last year with Brown as the Defensive Coordinator.
- Depth, depth, depth. You can never have enough.
- The young guys are talented, but they could use another year of learning while still getting ample playing time just as Weis has done since he has been at ND.
- Leadership. The more upperclassmen in football the better.
- It helps all of these guys draft status (which is why they are all returning) which in turn is good for the program and the university as a whole.
I am excited about these guys and I know they can help us win. It will be an exciting spring game… but I’ll get to that later.
