We’re not even that close to spring practice and I’m ready to talk about the fall 2018 depth chart. You can’t stop this train from rolling down the tracks. There may be personnel losses that occur right after this is published which could drastically change the landscape of spring practice and the future of the program. Speaking of which, we should mention for the record all 7 of the early enrolled freshmen who are already on campus, taking classes, and training with the team:

RB Jahmir Smith
WR Micah Jones
TE George Takacs
LB Bo Bauer
LB Jack Lamb
LB Ovie Oghoufo
CB Houston Griffith

You can consider this a mini-spring practice depth chart primer but I’ll also be focusing heavily on the actual football season. Players are listed pretty much based on their experience and snap counts from 2017, and thereafter typically by class. Buckle up because this is a throwback #Murtaugh post that’s going to take a while to digest.

QUARTERBACK

Once more into the controversy, dear friends. We’ve been here so many times it feels like Groundhog Day. We just experienced an off-season where Wimbush was the unquestioned starter and yet here we are once again with a ton of questions and uncertainty.

I mentioned this is one of our comment sections a few weeks back that most quarterbacks in the Irish system seem to play fine in practice which means we’re unlikely to see much separation for anyone in any direction, especially in the spring. I think about that and I see a giant mass of boring practice reports coming up. “Wimbush looked good, so did Book!”

I do think it’s a tough situation for Wimbush because nothing he can do in practice is going to really matter until the lights turn on in games. Unless he turns into a 6’2″ version of Cam Newton or something. He’ll probably have the benefit of being the guy to get 60% of the reps to start spring and therefore a leg up in the competition but everyone has to know, after watching last off-season, that things could fall apart after a couple series in the Michigan game.

Ian Book should be filled with much swag which will benefit the team. If Vegas is offering odds for Book as an underdog to take fewer snaps than Wimbush who is betting against #BookClub?

The impact of blue-chip QB Jurkovec in 2018 seems to be trending mild – while he continues to dunk all over western Pennsylvania basketball courts. Coming out and grabbing the starting position right away was always super unrealistic, as many know even Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm were both enrolled early at Alabama and Georgia respectively before fighting for a National Championship earlier this month.

Jurkovec was at one point a 5-star, and following a rather poor Army Game and practices, has slid to a far less glittery high 4-star but still Top 100 prospect. There’s still hope that he’ll be a special player based on his demolition of WPIAL football it’s just unwise to expect anything from him in 2018. Yup, anything. Here’s why:

1) Wimbush and Book will be eating up far too many snaps to start fall camp. He’d have to be a magical wizard in the summer for the staff to be like, “Yeah, this kid needs 30% of the reps when we go to Culver.”

2) Someone has to run scout team. They could have one of the preferred walk-ons do it but then this means there will be 4 quarterbacks with varsity and we’re right back to where we started–how does Jurkovec get enough reps without a long-term injury above him on the depth chart?

I really don’t want to count Avery Davis out, although fairly or not his 5’11” frame isn’t going to have many people feeling all fuzzy inside. Still, he’s likely a better athlete than Book and can’t be worse than Wimbush’s accuracy in games. During bowl prep he received the “surging” tag from Kelly who mentioned he’s really difficult to defend as an athlete. So is Wimbush, but still.

You can’t stick Davis back on scout team as he’d be an automatic transfer. I don’t think we’ll see anything at quarterback that will be too dramatic. Wimbush and Book split most of the reps, Davis and Jurkovec get some scraps, before the latter goes down to scout team. And honestly, Jurkovec can probably develop more on scout team than messing around on varsity.

RUNNING BACK

There could’ve been 6 running backs on the roster for 2018, now we’re down to 3 which is scary. I read a comment on the internet recently that stated the offensive line depth was the biggest issue for Notre Dame to which I say let me know when there’s a conceivable scenario of a walk-on getting non-garbage reps on the line.

The Irish are trying to add a second commit to this class and if they do having 4 guys is probably fine as Jahmir Smith is already on campus. There’s been a lot of talk recently of who could convert to running back and the options are fairly limited:

Armstrong – A little thick and maybe not quick twitch enough but he makes some sense.

McKinley – Really too big but could be the next Justin Brent in more ways than one.

Bracy – An athlete who is likely to redshirt at corner and could still save a year at running back too.

Coleman – Once a wonderful tailback in high school but a huge ask for a senior starter to make that switch.

We have every indication that Jones is the preferred option over Williams, and it’s probably not very close. I’ll be interested to see if the spring brings us a situation with Jones consistently running with the 1’s first followed by Dexter or if they go through more of an alternate system.

I’m ready to be pleasantly surprised by Smith. He’s a high academic kid who was super productive in high school and since he’s here for spring we’ll get a good look at him right away. I’m sure it’s not lost on him how seriously they need him to be able to carry the ball 50-60 times as a true freshman.

WIDE RECEIVER

I’m telling you there’s going to be a rude awakening this spring at wideout where there will be 8 bodies, assuming no one moves to running back. And that’s the odd thing, the depth here isn’t great either which is why the Irish are hot on the tail of Louisiana 4-star slot receiver Lawrence Keys for a 4-man wideout class.

I’m down on this group and won’t lie about it. They have a combined 73 receptions to their name with 8 touchdowns over their careers. It’s not an overly star-studded unit according to the recruiting rankings and the highest rated guy (McKinley) might actually be at the bottom of the totem pole right now.

Among the 8 the only one I’ll buy stock in is Claypool and even he’s coming off an injury and let’s hope he’s 100% for the spring. Everyone else can be said to have potential but in that vein so does virtually everyone on the damn roster.

We traditionally try to group the receivers based on their physical profile, namely your X wideout are the medium sized guys with a good mix of speed and toughness, your W wideout is the larger guys with less speed, and the Z wideout your small and shifty possession playmaker. The huge exception to this is the aforementioned Claypool who spent a lot of time in the slot in year one of Chip Long’s offense and definitely doesn’t fit the mold of a typical slot receiver–then again that traditional role has never thrived at Notre Dame under Kelly anyway.

It’ll be interesting to see if Boykin can carry his Citrus Bowl momentum into the spring. I’m not sure he’s good enough to warrant 600 snaps in the fall but he’s so much more experienced than anyone playing the “big” receiver role that it’ll be hard for anyone to pass him right away.

Pushing Claypool out to W, allowing the underrated Finke to actually flourish at Z, and developing Young at X feels like it could be the most dangerous opening day lineup for the offense.

Assuming the addition of Mr. Keys from Louisiana that’ll be 6 receivers who have never caught a pass for Notre Dame–if Canteen is still with us in the fall that’ll be 7 wideouts with 1 or fewer catches in blue and gold. Opportunity abounds!

Keys is pretty small and the history of those guys under Kelly isn’t great, although special teams reps could be available right away. Lenzy feels like he’ll be coveted for his speed but maybe struggle to waltz right into the rotation. Micah Jones is basically Miles Boykin plus or minus in either direction. The real tantalizer is how quickly Kevin Austin can be ready because he could potentially play a lot and at several positions.

TIGHT END

How many of these guys can we get on the field at the same time? How about double-tight sets with Weishar/Kmet, Mack split out, and Wright at fullback?

This is without a doubt the most fun group on offense going into the off-season. We can’t afford to give up on Alize Mack, if only because there’s 50-catch ability in there and if things finally come together for him it might be easy for him to reach that type of production.

Weishar is a curious one because it felt like he got a lot of playing time last year when he really didn’t. Usually, the tight ends at Notre Dame progress quickly and get to play a lot in their latter years and that hasn’t been the case with Weishar. Will he complete his final season relatively in the same role? If so, there should be a lot of playing time for Kmet who the coaches seem to adore and who, all things considered, was one of the big surprises relative to his playing time last year.

We can safely assume Mack is gone after 2018 with a degree in hand, it’s doubtful he’ll play a graduate season and I say that knowing he could catch 10 passes and be suspended again. With a pair of tight ends off the roster in 2019 does that make it more likely for one of the freshmen to see the field this fall–and where does Wright fit in exactly? So many of us had Wright playing quite a bit as a freshman and his snap count neighbors were the likes of Byrne, Tiassum, and Ogundeji. He actually played fullback and H-back most often which is fun at times but not really a viable long-term career path for someone with his pedigree.

Last year, the more highly rated tight end enrolled early but the other less-heralded one played twice as many snaps. This year, the same situation holds for the 2018 freshmen except Tackacs has the more Kmet-like length as he’s on campus already while Tremble is more stocky like Wright and arrives during the summer.

OFFENSIVE LINE

The line seems like it could go through a bunch of different combinations during the spring, fall camp, and maybe even into the season. However, our experience under Harry Heistand was to solidify the line as quickly as possible. It’ll be interesting to see how much this changes under new line coach Jeff Quinn. Another possible avenue for change is how much flexibility there will be between tackle and guard.

With Heistand gone it was important that Irish Illustrated recently spoke with offensive coordinator Chip Long in which he shed some light on the 2018 offensive line situation. To wit, the most important announcements were that Hainsey was moving to left tackle and Kraemer would be staying put at right tackle. This would obviously only leave one opening, replacing Quenton Nelson at left guard. Good luck!

So we know the Top 4 players of course: Mustipher, Bars, Kraemer, and Hainsey. What’s important is how the next group is viewed and as of now it looks to be comprised of Eichenberg, Banks, Lugg, and Ruhland. Yes, Ruhland is in the mix! He’s the only non-blue chip pretty much in the two-deep and may have the benefit of being an interior player only in terms of focus. You may recall, Ruhland made a nice push to become the backup at center this past year and now he’ll have a good shot at starting at guard. He’s a redshirt junior and it would seem advantageous to get him experience to replace Mustipher in 2019. Otherwise, the line may be starting completely over with a rookie in the middle.

Long flat out said Eichenberg, Lugg, and Banks all project to tackle–how much does that mean they can’t play guard? We also have to factor in that Kraemer may not be a lock at right tackle and that changes the equation. The question there is does Kraemer actually take reps at left guard during the spring and summer? Or, will it be a case of waiting to see how things go at left guard with other candidates–and if it’s poorly–we’ll see the staff move Kraemer to shore up the left side and shift a competition to right tackle? It would seem like you can’t wait too long to make that move, plus Long did say they have invested a lot in Kraemer at tackle.

Eichenberg is the x-factor guy for me because he’s the oldest and most highly rated coming out of high school from the candidates. A lot of people thought he was being groomed to take over for McGlinchey at left tackle but I was absolutely sure that wasn’t happening based on the fact that he reportedly didn’t have a great lead up to the 2017 season and there was no way they’d stick him at left tackle with virtually no experience and Hainsey/Kraemer having way more experience. In November 2016, Brian Kelly told the media that Eichenberg was a stud on scout team as a true freshman and one year later this past November mentioned that he liked his development and could see him starting in 2018. We also have to remember that Eichenberg was in a pretty big right tackle competition with Kraemer last spring, too.

Here are my O-line odds as of now:

Hainsey—Eichenberg— Mustipher—Bars—Kraemer (50%)
Hainsey—Kraemer—Mustipher- –Bars—Eichenberg (20%)
Hainsey—Ruhland—Mustipher- –Bars—Kraemer (15%)
Hainsey—Kraemer—Mustipher- –Bars—Lugg (9%)
Hainsey—Kraemer—Mustipher- –Bars—Banks (6%)

This past November, Kelly also mentioned that Lugg was developing nicely and could start. The line is bound to take a step back in 2018 but this is why I’m not too worried about depth concerns. Nothing is official right now but Jimmy Byrne isn’t expected back for a 5th season which leaves only 12 linemen. Yet, we look at the likes of Lugg and Banks and they may have to bide their time. They’re adamant for now that Banks is a tackle but I’m betting he’s squarely in the mix to replace Alex Bars at right guard in 2019. I also think it’ll be important for one of the true freshmen to stay with varsity, maybe it’s Dirksen because he sounds like a center and someone is going to be needed to train there sooner rather than later.

DEFENSIVE END

The good news is that the top 4 are back and there’s a lot to like from that group. The bad news is that not much has changed from 2017 to 2018 and that’s potential a looming problem for the future.

I still feel like we’re playing with house money with Jay Hayes who went from modestly hyped recruit, to nearly falling out of favor, to becoming a solid starter. If the end of last year is any indication he’ll be pushed greatly by Kareem in what should be an underrated positional battle. There’s always the option to move Hayes to the interior (he’ll surely play some snaps there) but that doesn’t look like a full-time move with Jonathan Bonner returning and poor depth on the strong-side.

The time for increased expectations with Daelin Hayes is quickly approaching. Through 2 seasons he’s played 699 snaps–or a full season worth of snaps for any star lineman–and the defense needs more from him. It does feel like Hayes is a rising senior so in that vein it’s nice to have 2 more years with him continuing to develop. And to be fair, almost 78% of his career snaps came this past year–he played very minimally as a true freshman.

Julian Okwara, now safely far ahead of his brother Romeo’s development at this same stage of their careers, should be one of the dark horse candidates to really blow up in 2018. Although it does hurt that he’s a junior already, the same holds for Kareem. These two feel like rising sophomores and that ain’t the case.

The bottom of the depth chart may see 1 of the 3 being involved but I’ll be surprised if it’s more than that. The loss of Trumbetti will open up over 400 snaps for the taking and I’d bet the vast majority will be dispersed to the two-deep. Ogundeji is a big kid who saw the field a tiny amount last year so let’s say he has the leg up on the competition. I wasn’t a big fan of Wardlow coming out of high school and I’m just not sure how realistic it is for an under-sized guy who wasn’t a Top 1,000 player in high school to break through in any meaningful way. Justin Ademilola is tentatively listed on the weak-side but is also listed north of 240 pounds and looks like he’ll easily be pushing 270  by summer time.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Some of the fat has been trimmed as Elijah Taylor and Brandon Tiassum have left the program (end Jonathan MacCollister also transferred) in January so we’re looking at a svelter depth chart on the interior. Even though I’m sure no one was wiping away a tear when Bonner briefly announced his departure it’s probably a net positive to have him back for one more go-around.

It’s difficult not to get a little excited for this group with Tillery’s emergence knocking on the door to All-American type of play and all contributors coming back to surround him. To take the more pessimistic side the two-deep is hardly overwhelming if you’re comparing it to a playoff contender. I’m not saying they can’t get there but even if everyone gets 10% to 15% better this top 4 isn’t too scary. Solid all around but not too scary.

Bonner and Hinish feel like very similar players to me in the sense that they’re quality guys with lower ceilings at the opposite end of the eligibility spectrum. MTA was quite impressive as a true freshman and does hold some ownership as one of the guys who could make a big jump and change this to more of a playoff-type interior.

The back 4 shouldn’t wait around for 2019 to roll around because depth needs to be developed immediately. By most accounts, Jayson Ademilola is going to shoot up the depth chart and hopefully have an even better season than MTA did last year. That would go a long way to securing a brighter future for this unit.

Has it finally set in that not only did the No. 10 overall defensive tackle for the 2017 class take a redshirt but 2 of his less heralded teammates played decent snaps? What a curious situation that the 2 most highly rated tackles since Sheldon Day are on the roster with freshmen eligibility and neither are going to stroll into the two-deep. Hey, the depth isn’t too shabby!

Some people are really high on Franklin as a 3-star although my enthusiasm is a little tempered, it’d be asking a lot for him to play in 2018 absent some injuries. Somehow this won’t be Dew-Treadway’s last year of eligibility even though it feels like he has to be 24 years old by now. You have to think he’ll have a tough time being in the top 5 rotation which likely means this is his last year at Notre Dame.

LINEBACKER

We have so much to talk about. The easiest place to start is the whereabouts of Tranquill. Does new defensive coordinator Clark Lea prefer him to stay at Rover? Moving a very productive senior leader is kind of a risky move in some ways. The thinking about moving Tranquill is threefold:

1) He’s smart/talented enough to learn his 3rd new position

2) The pickings are quite slim for experienced middle linebackers

3) There are some burgeoning candidates at Rover

Obviously, the second one is the most pressing. However, it might be a worthwhile idea to try some younger guys out first to see how they cope and then move Tranquill afterward if the results aren’t there a week or two into the spring.

In Tranquill’s place, we have the following options in my opinion: Bilal, Owusu-Koramoah, Simon, Genmark-Heath.

My boy Bilal actually played fewer snaps last year (mostly thanks to a “move” to Elko’s Rover position and sitting behind Tranquill) and is weirdly both a little overrated (top 200 recruit entering his 4th season on campus) and perhaps ready to break through. He’s only played 388 career snaps but that’s like a million more than any other non-Tranquill Rover candidates and his 46 career tackles is a decent number, although some of those are from special teams.

We don’t know much about JOK other than the staff was apparently pretty high on him last year and the decision to redshirt him was difficult. That decision made sense when Tranquill was bound to eat up 80% of the Rover snaps. A weird thing about JOK is that he looked ready to play physically as a true freshman and has great length but is listed at under 6’2″ and just 204 pounds. That’s a little shorter and 25-pounds lighter version of Tranquill.

If a heavier version is in the cards Genmark-Heath could drop down from safety at his freshman 220 pounds, although he’s listed under 6’1″ and doesn’t offer preferred length. Still, he had a strong bowl game and things are going to get jumbled at safety so perhaps there’s some opportunity at Rover. We have to throw Simon’s name in the race because he’s likely the future at this position and is unlikely to redshirt. I’d expect him to get involved for 50 to 80 snaps this year somehow.

It’d be a surprise if Coney didn’t move to Mike full-time where he has played plenty of snaps over the past couple seasons. One thing that jumps out is how many bodies are at this position and how little experience fills out the depth chart. For one, it’s quite likely there will be a loss of a scholarship somewhere in the middle.

The battle between the Jones’ for backup minutes could be fun. There we have Jonathan as ideally too small and Jamir ideally too big (if he grows a little more towards his brother’s size) but one of them could become a backup at Buck when it’s all said and done.

I really don’t expect any other linebackers to be in the mix with the exception of Jack Lamb who might be good enough to the No. 3 option at the 2 inside linebacker positions by mid-season. I should also mention that it’s possible that Bilal moves to Buck while Tranquill stays put, but that would seem to put so much pressure on as of yet unproven bodies in the middle. Also, a sneaky big issue for the defense is that Tranquill and Coney aren’t super strong in pass coverage, and as a result, we may see the Rover position as we know it from 2017 taking more of a back seat to nickel coverage with a corner (Crawford) or safety (Coleman, Allen?) providing help against receivers. In general, the Rover position could be more more pass-defense heavy in 2018 whereas it was attack the line of scrimmage heavy with Tranquill.

CORNER

We’re pretty good here (everyone is back from one of the better post-Holtz seasons for this position) so my mind is turning to the future beyond 2018. Most importantly, Love needs to come back for his senior season. The team was able to get through 2017 with very little depth and a goal moving forward is making sure none of the current freshmen are forced to start because of a lack of bodies.

I think we know what we have with Love and Watkins. I’m more keen on seeing how much better Pride can get as he blossomed late last year and if we’re going to see Crawford back to his playmaking ways as he tailed off both in production and playing time in 2017. Can we see Crawford carry a heavier load coming off his first healthy season?

And what’s going on with Vaughn? He was either low-key injured for a long time or something didn’t fit well in Elko’s system. If it’s the latter does he get a chance? He was really good in limited action as a freshman! Although, I think it’s so tough to play corner full-time at almost 6’3″ and over 200 pounds.

We have Houston Griffith on campus already and it’s tempting to think he’ll be seeing the field. Tempting yes, but perhaps pretty difficult even as an early entry. I’d think he could unseat significant snaps from someone if he was a super-duper 5-star yet the continuity at corner–with Love virtually never coming off the field–makes that a tough hill to climb.

SAFETY

What is the football equivalent of a fight to the death? Lea is going to have his hands full with a new position coach getting acclimated in the coming weeks. One of the things I’ve read most is that the Irish are going to be moving on from its starters and bringing in better talent. My question is, are we so sure?

Every November and through December bowl prep we’ll get a few comments from Kelly lavishing praise on players who aren’t seeing the field or taking a redshirt. This past year the main recipient was Alohi Gilman sitting out after his transfer from Navy. Kelly didn’t hold back, saying Gilman would’ve started if he were eligible in 2017.

ALL OTHER SAFETIES PUT ON BLAST.

I immediately want to be contrarian because Kelly historically doesn’t pay super close attention to the defense, surely not at the scout team level, and it’s such a boisterous claim that I wonder if it was more a whip in the direction of the other safeties than a true assessment of Gilman’s skills. Additionally, Gilman was featured somewhat heavily early on in fall camp and he received some mixed reviews, to be kind.

We’ll have to see how Lea and Terry Joseph align the safeties because for the first time in forever there’s a surplus of talent at free safety. For the sake of argument let’s assume Gilman does become the starter at free safety. First, that cuts into Nick Coleman who played the third most snaps of anyone on defense in 2017. Yes, third most! That’s one heck of a yo-yo for Coleman after his move from corner. Should we expect a 60/40 or even 70/30 rotation in favor of Gilman?

The big question(s) then follow what do we do with Robertson and Allen in this layout? The former looked very promising in the spring as an EE but was ultimately limited to a paltry 40 snaps during the season. If you ask around many think Allen is on track to be the most promising safety at Notre Dame in many years (there’s an All-Pro with the Vikings who owns the current title) but talented as he may be a repeated theme here is that it’s really hard to walk into the two-deep or starting role after just 20 practices. Another detail worth considering, both Robertson and Allen have the athleticism for free safety but will be plenty big to play strong safety should that be necessary.

As currently constituted, the strong safeties have far more questions. Elliott played 3rd most of all defensive backs last year and by any measure struggled more than anyone on the defense given that level of responsibility. The career of Studstill has seemingly gone backwards since he first enrolled and it’s significant to remember this is going to be his 3rd spring practice in the program.

I wish I had some answers that made sense for the strong side. Honestly, it’s probably another year of Elliott or someone else is going to be moving here. By year end is it crazy to think we’ll have a safety pairing of Gilman and Allen? Or, despite their lack of size would anyone take the odds of Gilman and Coleman starting together?

SPECIAL TEAMS

There were high expectations for Newsome early in his career and 2017 appeared as a small step backwards. Such is the life of a punter when you only get 63 attempts to prove your worth over a season. However, any talk that he wouldn’t come back for his final year (or maybe left early for the NFL?) seemed quite ridiculous.

A bit of the same could be said for Justin Yoon who had a fantastic freshman year but still remains curiously underappreciated. I blame the narrower hash marks in the NFL where the best kickers are hitting well over 90% of their field goals with Carolina’s Graham Gano going 29 for 30 this past season. Yoon has hit 41 of 52 career attempts and is comfortably the school leader at 78.8% over John Carney. He’ll need a career-high 17 makes in 2018 (15 this past year was his high) for the school record in overall good kicks. Yoon may not have a NFL leg in terms of strength but he’s in the conversation as the best kicker in Irish history.

I should note Shannon quietly had a good season long-snapping. You don’t remember any mistakes which is job well done. Doerer also stepped in nicely on kickoffs after taking things over from Yoon, another positive sign from a young player.

With the transfer of C.J. Sanders the kick return job is officially open. Here are my 5 best options in descending order:

Young – Technically the backup last year, which gives him a huge leg up on everyone else.

Finke – The 2016 backup who lacks long-range speed but has other good traits.

Lenzy – Perhaps the fastest player on the roster when he arrives.

Austin – A playmaker too good who might need the ball in his hands.

Bracy – Over 7,000 all-purpose yards in high school with plenty of return experience

These are roughly the same people who would be competing for the punt return job, as well. Until something changes we know punt return is pretty low on the totem pole in terms of emphasis so I could expect Finke to retain his job in 2018.

Roster Attrition 2017-18

S Spencer Perry (4/6/17) – Transfer to South Alabama
LB Josh Barajas (5/31/17) – Transfer to Illinois State
OG Tristen Hoge (6/5/17) – Transfer to BYU
OG Parker Boudreaux (6/7/17) – Transfer to UCF
CB Ashton White (7/19/17) – Grad transfer
WR C.J. Sanders (1/2/18) – Grad transfer
DT Pete Mokwuah (1/2/18) – Grad transfer
WR Equanimeous St. Brown (1/4/18) – Early entry NFL
RB Josh Adams (1/5/18) – Early entry NFL
DE Jonathan MacCollister (1/5/18) – Transfer to UCF
OG Quenton Nelson (1/8/18) – Early entry NFL
DT Elijah Taylor (1/15/18) – Transfer
WR Kevin Stepherson (1/16/18) – Removed from team
RB C.J. Holmes (1/16/18) – Removed from team
RB Deon McIntosh (1/16/18) – Removed from team
DT Brandon Tiassum (1/16/18) – Removed from team