I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Now back to the football!
Welcome back to another edition of Five Wide Fullbacks post-opening round of the playoffs. In this article we’ll discuss a big pick up in the transfer portal, the injury to Rylie Mills, a possible return to the lineup for the Georgia game, the offensive line for next year, and the best and worst dog breeds.
1) The Rylie Mills injury is a devastating blow to an already short-manned Notre Dame defense. Is this the final straw or is there still hope the Irish can persevere, defeat Georgia, and move on to the national semifinals?
I feel awful for Mills who has the indignity of missing the playoffs and will now have to battle to get ready for the NFL Draft. His Irish career ends with 61 games played, 59 solo tackles, 131 total tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 17 sacks. Also a 5th-year captain. I was thinking about updating the 18S Hall of Fame Pyramid this off-season, should Mills make it with his college resume?
Anyway, we’re running out of bodies. Houstan and Vernon seem to be non-factors at the back end of the depth chart. If they were thinking about using Cole Mullins as an undersized option he hasn’t played all season–and at that point they’d probably be better off giving some snaps to RJ Oben on the inside.
Hinish, Rubio, Mukam, and Sevillano remain with hopefully a healthier Howard Cross. That looks really bleak on paper but this is the least intimidating Georgia offense and offensive line in a long time. Maybe we get a herculean game from Cross, too? You can’t count on that of course. I’m still going back and forth on how this will affect my game preview prediction.
2) Rocco Spindler is questionable for the Sugar Bowl while Charles Jagusah may be available to see the field after suffering a shoulder/chest injury during fall camp. Will we see the offensive line shuffled around against Georgia?
We basically have 2 camps right now regarding the Jagusah news. One camp suggests he tore a pectoral muscle 4 months ago and there’s no way he’s going to see the field, for the first time in his career, in a playoff game against Georgia. It ain’t happening!
The other camp suggests maybe he didn’t have a complete pectoral tear (or it was something else entirely) and he could possibly play on Wednesday, at least in a limited role. With Jagusah being made “available” it makes you wonder if this is actually possible.
However, I’d be shocked to see him on the field in any role. I don’t think we’ll see Spindler either, even though he remains listed as the starter at right guard ahead of the Sugar Bowl. I’m going to assume we’ll see the same lineup of Knapp–Schrauth–Coogan–Pendleton–Wagner that we saw in the second half against Indiana.
3) Staying with the big guys up front, Notre Dame will have to sort through one of its deepest offensive lines in history in terms of players and experience next year. What is the best combination to open spring practice and do you think it will look different than your prediction on the field when camp opens?
I just estimated that Notre Dame will have a combined 56 years of eligibility (I may be off by a year or two) among their returning and incoming offensive linemen on the 2025 roster. This position is comically deep, and truth be told, a potential headache for roster management. Here are my predictions:
Spindler and Coogan not returning are the “easiest” roster moves to make as they are rising 5th-year players who have never nailed down a starting position over their careers. I have a feeling at least one will stay (Coogan seems to be a very ND type of guy) but without both leaving I’d have to resort to some wild transfers to get the roster smaller.
Let’s say one person each from the 2023 and 2024 classes will also leave. For the purposes of this question I’ll pick Chris Terek and Peter Jones. Also, we’d likely see a grad transfer from Ty Chan who is finishing year 3 without seeing the field. That would leave the following players for 2025:
LT – Knapp, Jagusah, Prescod, Black
LG – Schrauth, Absher
C – Craig, Otting, Herron
RG – Pendleton, Augustine
RT – Wagner, Lambert, Strebig
I broke it up like this because I believe it makes things as simple as possible with the positions everyone has played to date. Looking at it this way I think we’ll see a battle at left tackle between Knapp and Jagusah and they will probably begin rotating the ‘loser’ in a battle with Pendleton at right guard. My gut says we’ll open the 2025 season with Jagusah–Schrauth–Craig–Knapp-Wagner at Miami. Moving one of Knapp or Jagusah also moves Will Black up a lot quicker which is probably mandatory if he’s truly an elite of the elite type of recruit.
4) Malachi Fields officially announced his transfer from Virginia to Notre Dame. What is a good player comp for him and where do you think he’ll fit in within the 2025 receivers?
This commitment happened right before Christmas so I haven’t read anyone else’s reviews yet. In terms of size, style of play, and weirdly in their looks, Fields reminds me of Keon Coleman–the former Michigan State and Florida State receiver finishing up his rookie season with the Bills. Coleman might be a little better athlete but their production is pretty similar.
Coleman finished 2022-23 with 108 receptions, 1,456 yards, and 18 touchdowns.
Fields finished 2023-24 with 113 receptions, 1,619 yards, and 10 touchdowns.
We also picked up a commitment from Wisconsin transfer Will Pauling, too. He’s listed at 5-10 and 190 pounds and could offer some positional flexibility at field or slot. With a decent couple last seasons with the Badgers he’s a nice depth piece for 2025.
5) Notre Dame will be facing a famous dog mascot next Wednesday. Rank your favorite and least favorite dog breeds.
I’m not a fan of really small dogs like Chihuahua’s or Yorkshire Terrier’s. Then it’s even sillier when small dogs have really long fur like a Biewer Terrier. Big floppy ears on a small dog, that’s a no for me. From the little guys, the Boston Terrier or Russell Terrier are solid choices.
Siberian Husky, Bluetick Coonhound, Border Collie, and Irish Wolfhound are my favorite breeds, especially outside of the most popular choices like the Golden Retriever or Labradors.
My least favorite overall, sorry Georgia, it’s the bulldog. What an ugly dog. Respiratory issues, hip issues, skin infections, eye goop, slobber everywhere, and health issues all over the place. A young and active bulldog can be fun in small doses–my high school athletic director had one that would roam the facilities in pretty good spirts always playing with a deflated soccer ball. I can’t imagine trying to care for one long-term or the vet bills. It’s wild that the French Bulldog remains the number one breed in the United States, too.
Just got a Golden Retriever this summer and it’s hilarious how different he is from our previous two dogs, which were Shiba Inus. Petey, the GR, wants to play with us, play with toys, cuddle with us, be near us, bark at other dogs, play with other dogs and generally do dog things. Our two Shibas were basically big cats who pooped outside rather than a litter box. It’s been a bit of an adjustment, and to be honest, kind of annoying sometimes how attached to the family (read: me, 90% of the time) he is. He likes to stop mid-stairway to make sure we’re still all heading in the same direction and also loves to be directly under foot when someone is walking or sitting. It’s really convenient for everyone.
We’re a German Shepherd family. We still have two (we’ve had up to 4 at different times), they’re just a great mix of independence, affection, and loyalty. My wife’s service dog is a standard poodle. Ours is great, but poodles in general are real hit or miss for me. We also have an old man mutt with some whippet and border collie in him, he’s a blast (mutts are great!) We are definitely not small dog folks, but our other 2 dogs are foster fails that are chihuahua mixes. They’re definitely not typical of the breeds but they’re chill sweet dogs and we love them. Would definitely not recommend the breed though, most of them are annoying.
Gabe Rubio ?
Anyone’s guess on the Oline I think . I’ve even wondered if Wagner could move to center. His weight would be less an issue and it would free up the tackle spots for younger guys with more upside. ND has a plethora of possibilities.
An Irish terrier back on the sidelines would be awesome. Bring back Clashmore Mike !
Gah, forgot Rubio!
Man, I just don’t think there’s any way they mess with Wagner. To me, he’s the most locked-in dude of anyone along the line at RT. Weight has *not* been an issue this season, much to the surprise of know-nothing Irish fans everywhere.
It’s not ideal but, he has been good. I was just doing a bit of thinking outside the box. Not likely to happen, for sure,
Agree, Wagner is playing like he’s on track to get drafted. If you’re getting that level of production out of a tackle, you keep him at tackle IMO.
Both Knapp and Jagusah seem like they could play guard well, so as Eric says the natural lineup has one of them at LT and the other at RG. Knapp definitely needs to start somewhere next year considering how he has done this year.
I’ve always been a reptile and fish guy. Had a shitload at ND. But times change. Now I have 10yo and 8yo boys and a wife who is 101% (not a math error) a cat person. And we recently moved rural. So chickens, maybe. But, still.
My favorite, hands down, is border collie. I have 3 immediate family members who are vets that all tell me that this is a bad choice, because they don’t see me as someone who has the energy to keep up with a border collie. Which just makes me want a border collie even more. You and me, border collie, let’s do this. LFG.
It’s going to be super annoying when the announcers spend all pregame and the first quarter talking about UGA being down Beck and maybe, maybe saying “and ND is dealing with some injuries too” when Mills and Benjamin Morrison are better players than Beck.
Couldn’t agree more. Beck is replacement level this year.
I’m probably in the minority but I’d rather Beck start. Obviously there’s a reason this new guy hasn’t beaten him out, but I think our secondary would have feasted against Beck.
Now they add a running threat with very little tape, but mostly they are more likely to stick with the run even if it doesn’t work early, which I think is the best way to beat us, especially given the DL situation.
This is probably just me way over thinking and having been burned too often as an ND fan. Playing against the backup QB is always better, right?
I think Beck is better than he’s looked this year. He can throw a 40 yard deep ball better than everyone in the country other than maybe Milroe. He’s definitely thrown some bad back-breaking interceptions this year, but also his WRs have dropped a bunch of beautifully thrown deep balls. I think he’s still a top-15ish QB nationally – he’s 11 in QBR, five spots ahead of Leonard – so odds are his backup isn’t that good.
I suspect Beck will still be drafted by some NFL team eventually. It’s just that I know Morrison and Mills will.
CMFMF said that they have something like 82 plays on tape of Gunner. So to me that’s good and bad. Yes, he’s 2nd fiddle. But they’ve clearly played him in garbage time so he’s more ready than we think. But at least we have a little tape and 11 days to prep.