I don't believe that we have had a freshman play as well as Aaron on the dline in my entire life. I will be 30 on Feb 16.
Someone prove that statement wrong, and I will give you 1,000 vbucks.
Here are some notables in your 30 years, there probably are others. Grant Irons started out as a ILB but moved to DE.
I believe Kory Minor who played 240 minutes as a true freshman earned me a vgrand.
Going back more than 30 years and Kevin Hardy, Ross Browner, and Willie Fry come to mind.
Trevor Laws 2003 DNP as Freshman (Injured)
Victor Abiamiri 2003 (FRESHMAN): Reserve lineman who played in his first season and was named a Rivals.com honorable mention Freshman All-American ... played in all 12 games, earning five starting assignments ... became just the fourth Notre Dame freshman to start on the defensive line since 1991 ... one of six freshmen to play for the Irish in 2003 ... made 22 tackles (16 solos), four tackles for loss (17 yards) and a quarterback sack (nine yards) ... saw limited action against Washington State ... recorded his first career tackle against Michigan, for a loss of one yard ... second on the team versus Michigan State with career-high seven tackles in his first career start ... had first career sack against Pittsburgh, for a loss of nine yards ... added two tackles against Boston College ... made second career start at left end versus Florida State ... also started versus Navy, playing at right end in place of injured Kyle Budinscak ... played a career-high 26:46 versus Navy, recording four tackles against the Midshipmen ... posted two tackles versus BYU as he started at right end for the second consecutive game ... also started at right end against Stanford ... recorded four tackles against Syracuse, including one for a loss of four yards ... played 189:46 for the season.
Anthony Weaver AS A FRESHMAN: Named to '98 All-Freshman first team by Football News ... starter at left defensive end for Irish throughout '98 ... played in all 12 games, starting in 11 ... finished second on team in tackles for loss ... played more minutes than any other freshman ... started at defensive end vs. Michigan as only rookie in starting lineup ... forced a fumble that led to an Irish touchdown ... returned as starter vs. Stanford and made four tackles overall, one for loss and broke up a pass ... had a sack and another tackle for loss vs. Army, plus a sack vs. Baylor . . . had five tackles and a stop for loss vs. Navy ... had two tackles for loss vs. USC ... made three tackles in start in '99 Gator Bowl vs. Georgia Tech.
1998
G-GS Solo Asst. Tot. TL-Yd Sack Int. FF FR PBU
11-10 19 9 28 6-11 2-4 0-0 1 0 1
Justin Tuck DNP as a Freshman
Kory Minor 1995 240 minutes
G-GS Solo Asst. Tot. TL-Yd Sack Int. FF FR PBU
11-10 27 20 47 2-6 6-30 0-0 3 0 0
Melvin Dansby 1993
G-GS Solo Asst. Tot. TL-Yd Sack Int. FF FR PBU
7-0 6 3 9 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bryant Young 1990
G-GS Solo Asst. Tot. TL-Yd Sack Int. FF FR PBU
11-10 19 9 28 6-11 2-4 0-0 1 0 1