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And so begins another round of “This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football” here on OFD. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about them all. One Foot Down’s player profile series will take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2019 season.
John Dirksen
Dirksen is an offensive lineman from Maria Stein, Ohio where he played football for Marion Local,and led his team to a state championship in his junior and senior years. He was a 3-Star prospect — but the level of competition he played in high school was a decent contributor to that.
John Dirksen stands at 6’5 and weighs 307 pounds. This makes him one big boy and interesting prospect, as well as one of those “off the bus” guys that helps set the physical tone of a football game.
He did not play in the 2018 season and preserved a year of eligibility. Dirksen will enter this year with 4 years of eligibility remaining, which is right on track for many of the offensive lineman across the country
Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, or Chicago
All I needed was a quick google search for this one.
“Love Me Tomorrow” - Chicago
John Dirksen is unlikely to play in 2019 (barring injury) and is still a prospect player. Adding strength and learning the gameplan in the offensive line room are keys for this year.
Hey Dog Hey!
Easy. John Dirksen reminds me exactly of a Bernese Mountain Dog.
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Look at the stunning resemblance.
YouTube Hot Fire
2019 Outlook
There is much to see here. John Dirksen will not play any meaningful snaps in 2019. The best case scenario is he gets on the field during blowouts and gets his feet wet a little bit. We knew Dirksen was more of a project player coming in. The plan was never for him to crack the starting lineup in his second year of college football.
John Dirksen is a good guy to have in the program and develop. Use the weight room and skilled coaches to their advantage then see what you have after 3-4 years.
(Not everyone can be Quenton Nelson, even though Dirksen took his number.)