Take your shirt off
The Notre Dame football roster is full of great players — known and unknown. No matter the place on the depth chart or the recruiting ranking a player had attached to him before his arrival at Notre Dame — there are probably some things I really like about him. So over the course of the next few months, let’s take a positive approach to running down the roster.
Almost daily (just being honest) I’ll list three things I like about a single player on the roster, and as an additional bonus, I’ll post some extra pics over on the OFD Instagram account (be sure to follow RIGHT HERE).
Next up…
#11 JaDon Blair — Safety
JaDon Blair made a lot of noise before he even arrived at Notre Dame. The 6’5” 205 pound freshman from Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was ranked as one of the top safeties in the country and chose the Irish over a long list of schools like the Michigan Wolverines, Penn State Nittany Lions, Florida State Seminoles and more.
Here are 3 things I like about JaDon Blair:
1. He’s tall — like very tall.
Blair looks like a small forward out on the football field. His length is intimidating, and if a quarterback wants to go ahead and try him — that window is going to be a wee bit tougher to get through. Besides the coverage, the word is that was very physical in spring practice. With his length, I’m imagining Poseidon’s trident just dropping dudes.
One thing was strikingly clear upon walking into the Irish Athletics Center for the first day of Notre Dame spring practice — the Fighting Irish have a pair of true freshmen in JaDon Blair and Madden Faraimo who can help an already stout defense right away.pic.twitter.com/qqLiaNei0d
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) March 25, 2025
2. He made things weird with Michigan.
Blair was one of the original recruits who Michigan recruiting propaganda queen, EJ Holland, labeled as “weird” because they chose Notre Dame. Another fun thing is that three days after Blair committed to Notre Dame, 4-Star Safety Ivan Taylor decommitted from the Irish and eventually flipped to Michigan… and then he flipped to Alabama.
JaDon Blair got these Michigan fans UPSET ☘️ pic.twitter.com/3mxgzKg6VD
— yak ☘️ (@92killaa) June 30, 2024
3. He makes Petey Pablo proud.
Blair is one of 9 recruits from North Carolina to commit to the Irish during the past four cycles (2023-2026). The state has an abundance of talent and the more Notre Dame gets — the more they can get.