Notre Dame’s first game is just under two weeks away and fall camp just concluded. Since our last practice report on August 17th some stuff has happened to the roster. Namely, 6 players were arrested this past Friday night, one senior has been kicked off the team, another player indefinitely suspended, and the punishment for the remaining 4 athletes is still unknown at this time.
Of course, those legal troubles are going to have a significant impact on the depth chart heading into the season but there were some players making moves on the field during camp to talk about, as well.
Here’s a screenshot of our new live depth chart which can be accessed at any time on Google Drive:
So, the underachieving career of Max Redfield is over as he’s kicked off the team before his senior season even begins. He also missed the Fiesta Bowl due to suspension which means the trip out to Stanford was his last game in an Irish uniform.
What does Notre Dame do at free safety now? Pray Studstill is a freshman All-American! Other than that your guess is as good as mine. Tim O’Malley at Scout suggests Tranquill moves to free safety and Sebastian gets the nod on the strong side so as not to start a true freshman at Texas. Against really bad quarterbacks we could probably get away with that and I understand not throwing Studstill into the fire. Honestly, options are limited and there are no bad ideas here! But in reality, it’s probably best to do just that–throw Studstill into the fire right now.
A couple of years down the road we’re probably going to be overjoyed that the Irish hauled in Studstill and Elliott in the same class. These guys are the future. It’s just terrible that the future has to start in earnest right now. They could move someone like Vaughn to safety but it’s probably too late for him to come in and learn the position better than his classmates in time for the first couple games.
If Martini is really the #1 choice at weak-side linebacker the Irish may not lose a starter in the event that Coney serves time for a suspension. If Coney is indeed out for some time it’ll be interesting to see how many reps they give to Bilal who was getting a ton of 1st-team snaps during camp.
Jay Hayes all but grabbed a starting spot during camp then messed his ankle up about a week ago. He’s supposed to be back soon and healthy enough for Texas but you never know with high ankle sprains.
If Ashton White faces a suspension from any games let’s hope Nick Watkins gets healthy soon. Depth is such a precious thing and the team could head to Texas with Donte Vaughn as the 4th corner. As we’ve mentioned before the defense really struggles to play a lot of defensive backs, but still, that’s a little scary.
With no more open practices until Texas we’ll have to wait and see if Kelly tells the media what the final plan will be for the offensive line. In recent days it’s been a battle between McGovern and Hoge for the starting right guard spot with Bivin seemingly resigned to second-team tackle duty and Kraemer being just a little too much of a freshman to stun everyone and be among the top five.
The potential loss of Stepherson could be a sneaky big one–the freshman has been here since the spring and might have been the 3rd or 4th most trusted receiver. True, freshmen typically don’t get that much responsibility and playing time under Brian Kelly but this is a different set of circumstances with few proven players. If Stepherson has to sit out perhaps we’ll see Holmes move outside (he’s been splitting time there) while press favorite preferred walk-on Chris Finke might realistically see some snaps against Texas.
Smythe and Weishar have been co-starters at tight end during camp but if we’re looking at it from the ability to catch passes–and with a young receiving corps this is really important–than Weishar is really the 1A option now.
I have this feeling Tony Jones is going to get a few carries against Texas. If Dexter Williams is suspended then Jones shoots up to third-string with a guy coming off major knee surgery and another player who missed significant snaps during camp ahead of him. I can completely see a situation where Jones is needed for a handful of snaps. Speaking of Dexter he may not be a starter but any suspension for him would be a big deal in my opinion. I’m a little worried about a Josh Adams sophomore slump and I’m not entirely convinced that Folston is going to be a hyper-explosive and productive player straight out of the gate. At minimum, Dexter offers a tantalizing third option with a skill-set to make plays in the backfield and on special teams.
Up until Kelly’s announcement that both quarterbacks would play against Texas and then a bunch of question marks after that I still believed it was 70/30 in favor of Kizer winning the job. Well, now we don’t even know if there’s a possibility to win the job anymore. At least, for the first 2 games or so. Since the announcement I am ready for the scenario where Zaire gets the first snaps versus the Horns and plays most of the snaps overall.
On the bright side, I feel pretty good about the offensive line.
Also, in unimportant corrections, I’m seeing DJ Morgan listed as #32, which is probably good so that we won’t have two safeties both wearing #31.
We are in the middle of morphing them into one super safety.
Cover blown.
The way things have been going we might need the depth at safety more than we need one nine foot tall safety wearing a trench coat
(First attempt at embedding a picture on 18S)
I love Google Docs, use it all the time…but is it me or is it telling/ominous that the depth chart needs to be seen in real time to keep up with changes?
That and I was too cheap to buy Office and will wait for that sweet, sweet free Office when I get my hands on it.
Openoffice.org
I think Willams was going to be the kick returner, no?
One of the podcasts mentioned he would be a good fit. I haven’t really seen much discussion on the topic anywhere else.
Sanders is the unquestioned punt returner, while it’s Sanders and a bunch of other guys getting a look at kick returner. I think kick returner is more of an open casting call right now; I’ve seen everyone from Sanders to Chris Finke noted as potential options.