The most important... Junior

With 16 players listed as juniors on the Notre Dame roster only 5th year seniors have less players representing their class.  This class has what most would call untapped potential, many of them cutting their teeth on the scout teams and or playing behind upperclassmen.  Several juniors should have the opportunity to step up and show what they can offer the Irish this year including safeties Elijah Shumate and Nicky Baratti, and wide receiver James Onwualu. 

Juniors Sheldon Day and KeiVarae Russell are proven commodities for the Irish defense but it is still incredibly important  for them to continue to improve and play major leadership roles for Brian VanGorder.

With all of that being said Jarron Jones play maybe the most important on the defensive side of the ball this season at the very least it is the most important on the defensive line.  There is little doubt that Notre Dame has a lot of young talent coming in with a ton of potential; Grant Blankenship, Jonathan Bonner, Daniel Cage, Jay Hayes, Ryan Kilander, Peter Mokwuah, Andrew Trumbetti, and Jhonny Williams  but the Irish cannot rely on true freshmen to carry the load.

After redshirting his freshman year it looked as if Jones may spend is sophomore season on the bench behind established stars like Nix and Tuitt.  However Jarron stepped up and made the most of his opportunity when the defensive line was hit with injuries in 2013.  Jones will have to stay healthy and use his 6' 6" 315lb+ frame to hold the middle of the line.  With this being his third year in South Bend Jones has the opportunity to live up to all the potential and more everyone thought he had.