So close. So close to the ULTIMATE hump day. The day where we are halfway through our countdown and on the downhill portion of the march to the 2023 season. Three days away. Starting with…
#53, Marco Notarainni, RS Sophomore, WLB
Stats
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 235lbs
High school:
How’d he get to The Blue™?
Marco got to the Blue via the Silk Road! Okay, not really. In actuality, he got here as a three-star recruit after a 3 year career at Torrey Pines, where he racked up 148 tackles, six sacks, 2 interceptions, and even 562 rushing yards and 10 TDs, just for good measure. He held offers from a number of Mountain West schools, Oregon State, and even Columbia. So, one of them wicked smaht kids, apparently.
Nickname
“Polo”
Look-alike
Dead ringer for Hercules. Fight me.
Career Highlights
Marco actually got into the first two games of the season before a season ending injury at New Mexico on Sept 9th, but did not have any stats. His high school highlights can be viewed here, however.
2023 Prospectus
On paper, he’s third on the weakside linebacker depth chart…which kind of doesn’t mean much. Here’s why: While I don’t expect Polo to supplant Simpson or Schramm at WLB, he was talented enough to be called onto the field before his injury when there was arguably more depth on the roster at linebacker. So, assuming he’s back to full health, I anticipate that he will at least be a key rotational piece this year. Also, not for nothing, but injuries are a thing and he’s got three inches on both of those other guys. So, assuming he’s not put in out of necessity due to an unfortunate circumstance related to one of the others going down, there may be some personnel groupings where he’s actually the ideal.
Is he on Twitter?
Yes
Completely made up fact
That image above from his Twitter? Not photoshopped. While his lookalike was the half-son of Zeus, Notarainni’s dad is actually Lord Raiden, in disguise.
Linebackers come in all shapes and sizes, from LVE to Zeke. The one thing LVE, Zeke, and everyone in between have in common is tenacity and hostility when pursuing the ball and tackling the guy with the ball. Everything in between is collateral damage.