How Notre Dame plans to utilize sophomore LB Jaiden Ausberry
When Notre Dame moved sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry to nickel back this spring, it was mostly out of necessity. The Irish like him at linebacker, and that’s where he’s been repping throughout fall camp.
With one exception.
Ausberry will play the Aztec position, a role typically reserved for safeties, in Notre Dame’s Spear package. He’ll split time there with sophomore safety Adon Shuler, primarily on obvious passing downs. Freshman linebacker Teddy Rezac, who played safety in high school, has drilled at Aztec as well.
“It’s kind of like a do-it-all position,” Ausberry said. “It’s pretty fun. I’ve been dropping in the post, covering receivers, blitzing from the box.”
The Aztec often lines up near the line of scrimmage, but it can shift to the back end of the secondary in third-and-long situations. It’s a reflection of Notre Dame’s fondness for Shuler as a box safety, and for Ausberry as a hybrid linebacker/defensive back.
That’s in large part why the Irish made Ausberry a slot corner, both for individual drills and full-team activity, throughout a large portion of spring practice.
“They just told me that they wanted to align me there a little bit because they had seen that I’m really good covering receivers and running backs,” Ausberry said. “That was something they came to me with. I thought it was a pretty good idea, considering my versatility.”
The other part of that decision: Four of Notre Dame’s five freshman defensive backs enrolled in June. Karson Hobbs, who moved to nickel back upon enrolling, was one of those four. The Irish took that opportunity to experiment with Ausberry and his unique skillset at the position, but blue and gold faithful likely won’t see him guard slot receivers one-on-one this season.
Since fall camp began, Ausberry has been back at his natural spot — but he’s added the sub-package role, too.
“Once we got the young guys in, they could do it well enough, so we moved Jaiden back to linebacker with us, which he was excelling at,” Notre Dame linebackers coach Max Bullough said. “There was no reason to move him other than need at nickel. So, he came right back and was right in the rotation with us.”
At linebacker, Ausberry’s elite speed and instincts will be on full display. Despite the presence of three ‘backers who were considered ahead of him before the offseason began (graduate student Jack Kiser, junior Jaylen Sneed, sophomore Drayk Bowen) and one obvious future star in freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Ausberry has earned significant playing time.
The Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab graduate came in as a four-star recruit, but the Irish chose to preserve his redshirt after he played four games on special teams and in mop-up duty early last season.
He’s still a little light for an inside linebacker at 6-foot-2, 216 pounds. However, Ausberry has made the necessary leap this offseason to stand out in an extremely crowded linebacker room. He’s turned his flashes into consistent playmaking.
“He’s a hell of a linebacker,” Bullough said. “He’s come a long way at linebacker, so we moved him back in with us.”
“Ausberry has probably taken the biggest step out of anybody in my eyes,” Kiser said. “He’s really brought his A game this fall camp. I’m really excited for him.”
Ausberry’s role is a reflection of the work defensive coordinator Al Golden has done to maximize the unique skillsets on his side of the ball. As opposed to pigeon-holing players like Ausberry into a traditional 4-2-5 role, he’s come up with creative ways to use them in sub packages and rotate them into every-down situations.
It’s a reflection, Ausberry said, of Golden’s NFL background.
“Everything we’re doing right now is stuff you’re seeing in the NFL,” Ausberry said. “He really does a good job of putting in everybody at different positions, whether that’s D-linemen, linebackers, safeties, corners. We all rotate, we all play everything. It’s a real versatile defense for everybody, where we can play at different levels and positions.”
Whether it’s at Will linebacker, Aztec or elsewhere among the second and third levels, look for Ausberry to make an impact for Notre Dame this season.
The post How Notre Dame plans to utilize sophomore LB Jaiden Ausberry appeared first on On3.
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