Fall camp is just around the corner for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame as they prepare for the 2019 season and transition from the development of spring to the immediacy of creating the best football team possible for September. In a matter of weeks, Notre Dame will open their season with a true road game for just the 2nd time in the Brian Kelly era as the new-look Louisville Cardinals await 4 hours drive due south in Kentucky.

18 Stripes is here for the internet’s most thorough fall camp preview.

Requiescat in Pace

First, let’s pour one out for the Meyo Field at the Loftus Center which gave 31 years of service to the football team and will step aside as Notre Dame’s brand new indoor facility has opened just to the south of the Gug built over one of the outdoor field of the LaBar practice complex. The team will begin fall camp at Culver Academies as in the past before returning to campus and the new digs for the final stages of season preparation.

Injury Updates

During the spring several players were dealing with non-serious injuries that affected their participation including tight end Cole Kmet (ankle), safety Alohi Gilman (thigh), receiver Javon McKinley (groin), running back Jahmir Smith (hamstring), and wide receiver Braden Lenzy (hamstring). Everyone participated in the spring game and should be fully healthy now.

Seven others are coming off injuries that kept them out the entirety of spring: Corner Donte Vaughn (shoulder), corner Shaun Crawford (knee), defensive tackle Jamion Franklin (thigh), defensive tackle Hunter Spears (knee), linebacker Jack Kiser (shoulder), linebacker Drew White (shoulder), and offensive lineman Trevor Ruhland (knee). There have been nothing but positive updates for all of these players so we can expect most of them to be ready for contact from day one. Maybe not all seven, but most of them with zero restrictions.

The biggest concern in South Bend is that of starting left guard Aaron Banks who had foot surgery during the week of June 17th and is supposed to be ready–so says the reports from the local media–for the start of fall practice. At most, that is 46 days of recovery which seems awfully dangerous for a 325-pound offensive lineman. Banks being slowed down and/or missing the start of fall camp feels like a very real possibility and we’ll see what he’s doing on the field next Monday.

Scholarships

The Irish head into fall camp with 86 scholarships, one over the NCAA limit. At this point as the regular school year is about to begin is fairly uncommon for someone to transfer although with the “new” way the NCAA is doing business who knows what could happen. Looking over the roster the only immediate concern would be 5th-year senior Trevor Ruhland who has been mentioned by Brian Kelly as someone who might not be able to keep up physically anymore. A medical scholarship to get down to 85 would make the most sense.

Head Start

The Irish welcomed 10 early enrolled freshmen to campus back in January including 4 offensive linemen (Quinn Carroll, Andrew Kristofic, Zeke Correll, and John Olmstead), running back Kyren Williams, punter Jay Bramblett, defensive tackles Jacob Lacey and Hunter Spears, plus linebackers JD Bertrand and Jack Kiser. As mentioned, Spears and Kiser dealt with injuries during the summer and are unlikely to push for playing time during the fall, although there are plenty of reports that Kiser is incredibly well thought of by Lea and the staff despite being the 6th lowest rated recruit of his class.

A handful others are worth mentioning in more detail:

Carroll – Came along slowly during the spring as players were shuffling around a bit in the backup roles then appeared to solidify the 2nd-string right tackle position by the time of the Blue-Gold Game.

Correll – At one point, the hyped freshman was squarely in the race to start at center then suddenly it was Jarrett Patterson’s job alone. Now, Correll could fall back to scout team but if Ruhland is done there’s an opportunity to be the backup center for practice.

Williams – Our young thicc boy has a lot of wiggle and a low center of gravity that is going to make him a fan favorite when trying to be tackled. He’s in the mix at running back, to what degree remains to be seen.

Bramblett – Four years ago Tyler Newsome punted as a true freshman and handled kickoff duties, even making 3 solo tackles! Bramblett’s job should be far easier, let’s hope!

Lacey – Welcome to the two-deep. That was the spring for Lacey who has a long career ahead of him that is going to be beginning in full force this August. His spring experience should prove invaluable for this fall.

Practice Debut

Several more true freshmen are making their practice debuts with the Irish. Some of the more interesting players or ones who could be impact first-year athletes in my mind:

Kyle Hamilton, Safety

The no-brainer of the bunch and maybe the most anticipated fall camp debut for a defender since Jaylon Smith? I went back through the 2014-18 classes and I think it’s still Hamilton and it’s not close. He could be the third safety right away, he could rise to the starting nickel immediately, and the sky seems like the limit in a way that isn’t usually the case for players making their first set of practices in August.

Isaiah Foskey, Defensive End

The two-way player in high school (successful tight end) was believed to be looking at a great learning curve at the college level but is reportedly up to 250 pounds and impressing physically and athletically during the summer. He’ll have an up-hill battle for playing time at a deep position no matter what. Yet, his stock could rise quickly as the future at the weak-side where he could stay long-term if his quickness is good enough.

Howard Cross, Defensive Tackle

Others were higher on Cross than me as we wrapped up the 2019 recruiting class. I saw someone who will be caught in that “not quick enough for 3-tech, not big enough for nose guard” struggle that affects so many young players. Still, there’s an opportunity for some decent playing time if he’s able to practice well and show he’s physically ready.

Kendall Abdur-Rahman, Wide Receiver

Unless he absolutely blows people away in the first week or so it’s difficult to envision KAR being better than the 6th receiver in which case he’d be pretty much off the radar once the season begins. At the same time, he was billed as a versatile athlete who could help right away on special teams and might prove to be an interesting player to watch for the future. He was also mine and fellow 18S writer Jaden’s favorite offensive player from the 2019 class.

Osita Ekwonu, Linebacker

Ekwonu is 230 lbs; been on campus for about a month.

Our 18 Stripes recruiting grades were really high on Ekwonu and you could say he was quietly underrated among the 2019 freshmen until recently when he’s been seen during summer training looking like he eats iron weight plates for breakfast. Physically, Ekwonu looks like the future at one of the inside linebacker positions–can that future begin in earnest this August though?

Brendon Clark, Quarterback

Clark left Wake Forest’s class a little over 13 months ago and committed to the Irish on July 4th a little over a year ago when Brandon Wimbush was an entrenched starter, Ian Book had game experience, and Phil Jurkovec was the next star in the pecking order. Following a spring where Jurkovec struggled and Wimbush transferred the path ahead has to look a lot more enticing for Clark. He’s also reportedly tipping the scales at 6’2″ and 225 pounds which is rather beefy for a true freshman quarterback.

K.J. Wallace, Corner

There are 5 other corners ahead of Wallace going into fall camp who are vying to play next to Troy Pride and that doesn’t even count classmate Isaiah Rutherford. Nevertheless, no one has seemingly come close to locking down a starting job yet and Wallace could surprise early, especially after being the rare player to show up a little taller and heavier than their listed recruited specs. At the very least, he’s another solid option down the road should there be injuries especially if Crawford can’t play nickel.

Assistant Coach Focus

Todd Lyght, Cornerbacks

Lyght is entering his 4th season and it’s tempting to say he’s welcoming his biggest challenge at Notre Dame as grumbling about his recruiting grows and he lost his All-American corner early to the NFL. Although, his first season in 2016 with VanGorder in charge was no cake walk while coaching senior Cole Luke, freshman Julian Love, and freshman Donte Vaughn.

There’s worse things than starting with senior Troy Pride to anchor the unit, plus Lyght will have about as steady of safety play in tandem with his corners as he’ll find at Notre Dame. It’s just finding one more quality corner could be a difficult task during fall camp.

Clark Lea, Linebackers

Lea struck gold when both Coney and Tranquill came back for 2018. Now, he feels the pain of both their absences. They are leaving behind a combined 1,716 snaps between them last year while the rest of the non-Bilal linebackers accounted for only 246 combined snaps.

Yes, Clark Lea has his hands full this year figuring out what is and what is not going to work at linebacker.

Jeff Quinn, Offensive Line

Heavy is the head that wears the (offensive line coach) crown. Last year the line did some good things, struggled in some areas, and overall played below expectations even with the losses of Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey. However, they are coming off a pretty good performance in the playoffs and should benefit tremendously from a more cohesive unit heading into 2019.

Quinn has recruited really well in his brief time in this position but will have to produce better results. It was fair to give him a bit of a pass after the loss of two legendary linemen and the injury to Alex Bars. The leash is a lot shorter this fall.

Lance Taylor, Running Back

I’d imagine Taylor is excited to be at Notre Dame but not overly thrilled with the depth chart he walks into during his first season. Jafar Armstrong grew up quickly last year and has a lot of potential while Tony Jones offers solid veteran leadership. Beyond that, it’s just a lot of clay to mold with several young backs.

Will he be willing to make a big move and vault one of the young backs into a premier spot on the depth chart? If this unit struggles during the season how much blame will fall on Taylor versus the guy who left the cupboard really bare? This position feels like it could swing hard in either direction for 2019.

Top 3 Position Groups

Defensive End

Any time the rest of the country is talking about your edge rushers as the best unit in the country good things are ready to happen when the season kicks off.

Safety

If Kyle Hamilton becomes a serious impact freshman there’s no doubt about this position on the list. Although depth isn’t ideal, virtually no other program has a good 4th option at safety so things are fine.

Quarterback

Assuming we see some improvement from Jurkovec and Book takes another step forward this position group should be in good hands.

Bottom 3 Position Groups

Corner

Corner beyond Troy Pride is a weakness for now but this also largely depends on whether Pride plays primarily in the boundary where Julian Love played last year and Pride spent most of spring. Right now, fall camp should open with Tariq Bracy, Shaun Crawford, and Avery Davis working to the field side and that does not feel like a particular strength for the defense.

If Pride goes back to field corner (he probably should) we should expect to see Houston Griffith and Donte Vaughn get the most serious looks for the boundary.

Buck Linebacker

Unless there is even more shuffling during fall camp it’s either Jack Lamb or Jordan Genmark Heath for 2019. The former hasn’t played yet and the latter only saw 106 snaps last season. It’s a scary lack of experience.

Mike Linebacker

I’ll have more on Asmar Bilal below. If he doesn’t work out as a starter this position is incredibly worrisome if it isn’t already for our readers. Next man up is Shayne Simon with 17 career snaps. Some think it could be Drew White who has 46 career snaps, is under-sized, and coming off shoulder surgery.

Personal Pressure

Phil Jurkovec, Quarterback

Despite receiving a multitude more snaps this past spring in comparison to DeShone Kizer in the spring of 2015 the positive outlook for Jurkovec is that he has the opportunity to make an August camp jump just like the former Irish starting quarterback did following the Golson transfer.

As long as Book remains healthy some might not care to revisit Jurkovec’s progress until spring 2020 which is a long time from now. He should improve and continue to get quality reps during fall camp though, but if there remains concerns about his accuracy and consistency that’s not a good sign coming off his up and down spring.

Jafar Armstrong, Running Back

I don’t know how good Armstrong can be and still if he remains healthy he has the opportunity to shoulder a ton of the running back load. If you take his productivity from last year and move it up from his 256 snaps to something like 550 snaps (about 50% of the running back snaps) Armstrong could be in the 800-yard rushing and 400-yard receiving range for the season which only Rocket Ismail has achieved at Notre Dame. What if his productivity actually gets a lot better and he plays even more snaps than half from the group?

Armstrong is poised for a heavy workload at running back.

I really think 1,200 yards from scrimmage is easily in play for Armstrong and if you’re not all that high on the rest of the running backs this type of production could be a godsend for the 2019 offense.

Asmar Bilal, Linebacker

It’s possible no one on the entire roster is in a less ideal position than Bilal who has enough experience to be a good starter but has been rendered not good enough by many fans who wish to see him step aside for younger talent. That’s a tricky spot because he should be anchoring the linebacker corps, making us feel better about the lack of experience with the unit, and because of this patience with him will be thin.

Fall camp would be the perfect time to end the discussion and come out as an emerging playmaker. I think that level of play is possible with Bilal but he’ll have Simon nipping at his heels and a lot of pressure to be better than the 10th or 11th best defensive starter which is where he resided last year.

Second Fall Camp

Here are 3 players entering an important second camp with the Irish.

Micah Jones, Wide Receiver

We still don’t know much about Jones beyond him being buried on the depth chart. And that’s for someone who has gone through a pair of spring practices already. He’ll need to make a move soon, especially with a similar body-type in Cam Hart coming in to camp. Jones was playing in the slot during spring which usually isn’t a good sign for someone his size, either.

Braden Lenzy, Wide Receiver 

Lenzy was the hot receiver name to watch during spring–and while he played well–it was classmate Lawrence Keys who made a big jump and moved up the depth chart. As the program prepares to open the season without Kevin Austin this should be an important camp for Lenzy to move into a preferred backup role on the outside. He was also banged up for parts of spring and needs a nice healthy fall camp to kick start his career.

Derrik Allen, Safety

No one would begrudge Allen if he’s beaten out by Kyle Hamilton. This is more about how he competes with D.J. Brown (who was moved to safety from corner in the spring) and also against incoming freshman Litchfield Ajavon. The door to some playing time looked like it was opening when Paul Moala was moved to Rover and if Allen is back to 3rd-team again as a sophomore that’s a bit deflating.

Get to Know

Three guys (that made my personal Top 25 Notre Dame players list that will be absorbed into our 18 Stripes composite rankings for the internet’s pleasure soon) who I think will become household names during this camp:

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Linebacker

His athleticism gets me really excited, and apparently Clark Lea too.

Tommy Tremble, Tight End

Many are expecting Cole Kmet to turn into a superstar. I expect Tremble to cut into that production.

Jahmir Smith, Running Back

Someone at tailback has to help Armstrong and I’m expecting a nice little jump for Smith and a lot of tough questions for the staff in comparison to Tony Jones.

To-Do List

If you’re the Irish staff what are your goals for camp?

#1

Find starters at corner, nickel, and both inside linebacker positions. The team as a whole has to be waiting to see who emerges at these positions to know if the defense can be strong enough for another playoff run. If there is trouble in this quest I wonder if doubt starts to creep in before the season begins. The defense is quite strong everywhere else (being a bit generous at defensive tackle here) and needs these other positions to be above average for the season.

#2

Gain a whole lot more confidence running the ball, and figure out where your bread is buttered. Chip Long was recently quoted as saying “We have to be able to run the ball when we want to, not just kind of dink and dunk here and there…We’re always going to throw for million yards, but if you want to win a championship, you’ve got to run the damn ball.” It’s good to know they realize last year’s running was average at best and it needs a lot of work. Unfortunately, the strengths of this team look enormously tilted towards the passing game unless a running back emerges in a big way. The run ratio fell to 56.1% last season from 61.4% in 2017 and was actually just 52.7% in Ian Book’s starts. This team is probably going to throw the ball a ton.

#3

In concert with the second point, make a decision about how diverse and tricky you want to be on offense. Chip Long has dialed up some nifty plays over his first two years and brought some nice changes to the offense. Is he planning on a dominant short-passing game backed up by a pretty basic ground game? Will Book be asked to run the ball 10 to 12 times per game to make up for a perceived weakness at the running back position? Or will Finke, Keys, Tremble, or others get involved in unique ways that make the Irish offense a lot more difficult to defend?

#4

Develop Jurkovec enough that he won’t lose you a game that is very winnable. If Book has to miss time can the Pittsburgh native come in and steer the offense to a win against teams like Virginia Tech, Duke, or Boston College?

Notre Dame doesn’t plan on tweaking Jurkovec’s throwing motion. 

Brian Kelly traditionally has done a decent job of grinding out some ugly wins when the quarterback situation isn’t ideal (like half his tenure, screamed his critics!) and Jurkovec might have to help the team out with one of those games in 2019. It’s also not nothing that people are expecting Ian Book to leave after 2019 and having a lot of confidence in Jurkovec with 3 years of eligibility remaining would be awfully comforting.

#5

Just don’t feel terrible about the kicking and punting game. The punt return game should stay a bit dangerous with Finke, as we’ll discuss below kick returns aren’t that important anymore, and Brian Polian will have a ton of young talent to improve kick coverage. It’s assured the offense will be a lot more aggressive to off-set any special teams issues so minimizing any inefficiencies (if Doerer literally can’t hit from 40+ yards) has to be a major goal.

Quick Hitters

  • My guess on the 2019 captains: Jalen Elliott, Alohi Gilman, Khalid Kareem, Ian Book, Chase Claypool, and Liam Eichenberg. Book would be the first quarterback to be captain since Jimmy Clausen in 2009.
  • Don’t forget quality kicker Harrison Leonard is a walk-on who could challenge Jonathan Doerer for both jobs.
  • Do we even care about kick returns anymore? From 2009 through 2017 the Irish averaged 42.7 kick returns per season–that number fell to 13(!!) returns last season with the new NCAA rule on fair catching inside the 25-yard line. The focus clearly should be on defensive kick returns as Notre Dame gave up 2 touchdowns last year.
  • The second offensive line should be interesting to watch, particularly if camp opens without a healthy Aaron Banks and Josh Lugg (supposedly the top backup at each position) is starting at left guard. We also could see a healthy Trevor Ruhland back who offers guard/center flexibility but wasn’t practicing during the spring. Early enrollees like Andrew Kristofic, Zeke Correll, and Quinn Carroll could find themselves in less advantageous positions during camp than what happened in the spring.
  • As mentioned previously, sophomore receiver Kevin Austin is expected to miss the first 4 games with a mysterious suspension that saw him not travel to the Syracuse or USC games, yet play 6 snaps against Clemson. In this internet age of greater access the way Notre Dame handles suspensions gets more weird.
  • I’m curious to see how creative things get on the defensive line when the edge rushers are such a defensive strength and to date there isn’t a real strong pass rushing presence at tackle. I’m partial to an Okwara–Hinish–Kareem–Ogundeji front on third down.
  • I wonder how much pressure is on senior Daelin Hayes? Remember, last August we saw Okwara open camp with the 1st-team at weak-side end but many thought it was just a rotational thing to rest returning starters then Hayes got banged up and missed practices anyway. Hayes and Okwara played basically the same snaps last year (32 more for Okwara) but Hayes finished with 7.5 fewer tackles for loss, 6 fewer sacks, and 15 fewer hurries. I know Hayes does a lot of dirty work but also last year the Irish got Hayes’ disruption stats from Ogundeji in half the snaps.
  • Did you know a 70-reception season from Chase Claypool would see him finish with the 7th most catches in school history? He could be the first 1,000-yard receiver since Will Fuller in 2015 and 10 touchdowns would break him into the top 10 all-time, as well.
  • Back in February, I wrote THIS article having some fun with Notre Dame’s athletic website and its player pictures. In recent weeks, the university has switched to WMT Digital and overhauled their entire athletic webpages. WMT is a small company based in Miami that recently signed deals with Ohio State, Clemson, and many other schools including Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Florida State, Washington, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, and Rutgers.
  • 2019 will be the 150th anniversary for college football and FBS teams will be wearing patches on their right jersey chest to commemorate the occasion. This is cool for Notre Dame who hasn’t changed their uniforms in six years. Now, you can sew a 150 anniversary patch on your No. 12 jersey and have a time stamped Ian Book 2019 jersey forever. For what its worth, I think the patch is at least 25% too large.
  • This is a non-Shamrock Series season which means there’s an alternate uniform* out there that necessarily won’t be unveiled during fall camp and we don’t know which game yet. I believe there are only 5 options worth considering:

at Georgia – Notre Dame typical stays traditional in the Kelly era for the biggest road game(s) of the season.

vs. USC – Not much reasoning besides the rivalry. Although the school is promoting this as the 2019 “Irish Wear Green” game which if last year is copied is only for the crowd and not necessarily for the players.

at Michigan – Triggered by the 2011 game, never again? In my opinion, we’ll never see a Kelly team change their uniforms for a big road game against a traditional rival.

vs. Navy – These programs wore matching white “RESPECT” cleats and gloves for the 2015 game (my goodness this rivalry sometimes) and the Irish wore “Rockne Heritage” uniforms for the 2017 game. Another offering seems unlikely just two seasons later.

vs. Boston College – Folks at our old home think we could see a “Frank Leahy Heritage” uniform which makes a lot of sense. These programs did go with alternates back in the 2015 Fenway Park game but this will be Senior Day for Notre Dame (who wore green last Senior Day, a new tradition perhaps?), it’s the 25th game in the series, and it will be the 80th anniversary of Leahy first becoming a head coach at Boston College. As both are Under Armour schools, a pair of throwbacks from the 1939 season would work. That would mean a green jersey with white shoulder yokes is a possibility for Notre Dame.

*Irish Sports Daily hinted there could be TWO alternate uniforms for 2019, although not necessarily both at home.