Notre Dame took to the Culver Academies field Saturday afternoon to kickoff the start of fall camp. Let’s break down what happened during the full two-hour open practice.

QUARTERBACK

There weren’t any fireworks to report for quarterback where DeShone Kizer took most 1st-team reps. If the competition progresses like it did in the spring we should expect Malik Zaire to get most of the top reps in the next practice. Overall, lots of rust to report from both quarterbacks while 3rd stringer Brandon Wimbush impressed the most with his accuracy. That kid is going to need so much patience.

The reports from Saturday gave Zaire the upper-hand in a lot of individual and no-defense work but Kizer picked things up and looked stronger in the 7-on-7 portions of practice.

RUNNING BACK

Apparently there was some of the scorching northern Indiana muggy heat on Saturday which bothered a couple players. Co-starter Josh Adams experienced some cramping while backup Dexter Williams had to leave practice early with some stomach issues and to receive an IV.

There were plenty of positive reports on Tarean Folston who should be completely 100% now and no doubt stepped up into the spotlight with Adams/Williams experiencing some issues. Also, there was plenty of love for freshman Tony Jones who displayed good athleticism and catching ability while filling in for Dexter. He was singled out by Brian Kelly after the practice for his fluidity.

WIDE RECEIVER

C.J. Sanders looks to be full-go coming off his hip surgery. For practice number one he moved into the starting position in the slot while being flanked by Torii Hunter (X) and Equanimeous St. Brown (W).

In the spring we were a little surprised to see the smaller true freshman Kevin Stepherson (6-0, 181) play so much on the outside but on Saturday he moved into the slot switching places with Corey Holmes who moved to the X position. They were joined on the second team by Miles Boykin.

Yesterday, we found out that incoming freshman running back Deon McIntosh only weighs 180 pounds and was listed as both a tailback and wideout. On Saturday, the Floridian lined up with the third-team receivers at the X position. Working in the slot was walk-on Chris Finke with a pair of freshmen in Javon McKinley and Chase Claypool sharing reps at the W position.

You may recall that Finke was one of the big stories from the spring and the fact that the staff isn’t putting McIntosh in the slot right away and moving McKinley over to X is a sign they believe the walk-on could have a real impact in 2016.

TIGHT END

With the academically suspended Alize Jones roaming the sidelines shouting his support the Irish tight ends moved on and had themselves a solid day. Each of Smythe, Weishar, and Luatua made impressive catches.

 

As expected, Durham Smythe remained the first-team tight end while Weishar worked with the backups. 

OFFENSIVE LINE

A day after Brian Kelly threw true freshman Tommy Kraemer’s name into the right guard competition the Irish began the first practice with Hunter Bivin working among the starters. To be expected, as Bivin worked there for the second half of spring. However, Bivin was carted off the field late in the practice with his situation still a mystery.

However, it hasn’t taken long for the two highly touted freshmen to make their move as Liam Eichenberg (LT) and Tommy Kraemer (RG) were working with the second team, pushing older Mark Harrell and Jimmy Byrne down to the 3rd team. Therefore the lines were as follows, from left to right:

McGlinchey—Nelson—Mustipher—Bivin—Bars
Eichenberg—Ruhland—Hoge—Kraemer—McGovern
Bush—Boudreaux—Harrell—Byrne—Montelus

After Bivin left practice Kramer and Hoge split reps with the starters at right guard. 

As noted in yesterday’s press conference information redshirt junior John Montelus has moved backed to offensive line after spending the spring at defensive tackle. It’s kind of interesting to see him playing tackle, yet either way, it appears his career is coming to a disappointing finish.

DEFENSIVE LINE

At the nose guard position Daniel Cage worked with the 1st-team which isn’t surprising but the fact that he worked there exclusively is while Jarron Jones remained with the backups. The Jay Hayes experiment at weak-side end continues to please the coaches as he is still with the 1st-team. Just as a reminder Hayes is 6-3 and 285 pounds–just 5 pounds lighter than Isaac Rochell and the same specs as tackle Elijah Taylor.

Rochell—Cage—Tillery—J. Hayes
Bonner—Jones—Taylor—Trumbetti
Kareem—Mokwuah—Tiassum—D. Hayes

Overall, this group can’t show its stuff until the pads come on so we’ll have a while before we are able to discern any real progress. 

LINEBACKER

Yesterday, head coach Brian Kelly said they would cross-train junior Greer Martini at both middle and weak-side linebackers. He must have meant in addition to his position from 2015 because Martini remained on the strong-side for Saturday’s first practice. 

Onwualu (SLB)—Morgan (MLB)—Bilal (WLB)
Martini—Barajas—Coney
Spruell—Jo. Jones—Ja. Jones

As I theorized, sophomore Te’von Coney did not walk right into the starting WILL position a year after backing up Jaylon Smith. In yesterday’s press conference Kelly mentioned that they are looking to solidify the depth at middle linebacker and a couple reports from Saturday mentioned Barajas continues to struggle. 

 

Of course, as much love as I have for Bilal I’m sure Coney is going to fight hard at the weak-side. It’s tough to imagine Morgan or Onwualu coming off the field at all in standard sets while rotating linebackers has been minimal under Kelly with the lone exception of Calabrese and Fox. We’re looking at a situation where there are 5 linebackers vying for starter minutes so who gets left out? In all likelihood someone’s role is going to be minimized.

CORNER

No depth chart surprises at corner on Saturday as both Watkins and Butler were MIA with injuries. That allowed some young depth to enter the mix. As expected, Cole Luke and Shaun Crawford were the first-team corners with Crawford moving inside during nickel sets as Nick Coleman came in on the outside.

Coleman pulled double-duty as the second-team corner opposite Ashton White. In nickel sets true freshman Julian Love got the call to work inside. Filling out the third-team Love rotated with fellow freshmen Donte Vaughn and Troy Pride.

On the whole, the corners were praised for their effort and production during the practice while winning most of the battles against the receivers. Obviously, there is going to be an adjustment period for the quarterbacks to break in so many new receivers from a year ago and I’d expect the defense to take advantage of this for most of camp.

Without pads, Vaughn (6-2, 200) received a bunch of praise for his physique and athleticism. There was a mix-up in yesterday’s press conference about him playing safety, and despite the day one hype, color me extremely skeptical that Vaughn ultimately remains at corner. For comparison, he’s one inch taller and 5 pounds lighter than Max Redfield. He will have to be ridiculously athletic to remain a corner in VanGorder’s system.

SAFETY

The Irish look to solidify the back end of the defense this fall and opened up camp with Redfield at free safety and Drue Tranquill at strong safety. The second-team saw freshman Devin Studstill at free safety and 6th-year senior Avery Sebastian on the strong-side.

Working with the third-team was Nicco Fertitta at free and Spencer Perry on the strong side. There was a curious lack of commentary on the safeties as a whole. Until another day…