Last spring, Michael Deeb looked like a front runner to emerge in the middle of Notre Dame’s defense. This spring? He was buried behind a group of talented players and experimenting with a position change.
That’s life in Notre Dame’s defense, a reloaded group that relied on young players to fill the holes in 2014 after the starters went down. Deeb looks the part of a prototype middle linebacker, the type of hulking player you want among the first off the bus. But entering his third season in South Bend, he’s yet to find a role on the Irish defense.