Few freshmen in recent memory have earned as much advanced buzz as defensive tackle Jerry Tillery. The early-enrollee wowed during spring football, benefitting greatly from downtime taken by the starting duo of Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones. Even as Notre Dame’s staff has worked to restock the front four depth chart, Tillery quickly moved to the front of the line, an anomaly for a first year player, especially one that should’ve been in high school during his first 15 practices.
But Tillery’s not your average freshman. At nearly six-foot-seven and already over 300-well-sculpted pounds, he’s got the body of an upperclassman and the skill set of a guy playing football on Sundays.