One of the main story lines heading into this season was the depth that Notre Dame has built throughout the program. Finally, a season that could potentially survive a bunch of injuries! Well, it’s never that simple now is it?

As of today, the Irish sit at 80 scholarships for 4-year players. That’s not a bad spot to be in since virtually all programs head into a season without the full 85 before handing out aid to walk-ons. Still, Alize Jones is suspended, Redfield has been kicked off the team, Blankenship has transferred, and we don’t know how long the likes of Watkins, Brent, and Dew-Treadway will be out with injuries. Plus, whether it’s legal or injury who knows if Devin Butler ever takes the field again for Notre Dame.

A lot of teams can survive injuries if they are in the right spots on the roster and to the right players. To put it another way, you don’t want the wrong players getting hurt where there isn’t a lot of proven depth. With the season just over a week away here are 5 players from Notre Dame that simply cannot be lost to injury otherwise their absence could have a huge impact in a really bad way.

Quenton Nelson

Wait, doesn’t Notre Dame have excellent offensive line depth? Compared to most teams they sure do. And believe me I chuckle at the folks who are worried that there isn’t an experienced second unit of linemen because that’s so common, right? Still, Nelson is a combination of ascending star and unique skill-set for the offensive front.

Even worse, the Irish are breaking in new starters at center (by the way, my pick for the position no one is talking about which could develop into a big story line during the season) and right guard. If Nelson goes down that’s a lot of new bodies on the interior.

McGlinchey would be a big loss in his own right and I won’t argue that. Still, Bars, Bivin, and Kraemer can develop and give the team decent left tackle play. Without Nelson, there aren’t as many quality options on the interior and you’d be losing the team’s most physical lineman.

C.J. Sanders

This little spark plug wasn’t getting much publicity coming out of spring where he missed time after hip surgery. No one knew how healthy he’d be for fall camp or if he’d jump right into a starter’s spot with Corey Holmes, Chris Finke, and Kevin Stepherson doing good things in the spring.

Now, Sanders might eclipse 100 touches on the season and end up with over 1,300 total yards if he’s a regular on special teams. Obviously, his ability as a return man can’t be overstated and even if they dial his responsibilities back there he has the ability to be an x-factor at wideout.

If Sanders were to get hurt things would be okay in the slot, maybe acceptably serviceable. We could also adjust and play more tight ends, Finke might actually be a legit player, and Hunter can be moved around often too. However, I think Sanders is going to really blossom as a receiver and be a dangerous weapon on jet sweeps. Without him, the offense could take a much different shape and become far more predictable.

Devin Studstill

This one is so obvious that I don’t even want to waste time writing about it. I’m not sure if it’s the wise move for Brian Kelly to voice a ton of concern about the free safety situation in the media. There isn’t really anything to gain from it except for us to agree and emote about the situation. Nonetheless, since Kelly didn’t appear worried (fake or not) I’m expecting 5 more injuries at safety now.

Consider this article a strong reverse-jinx.

Jerry Tillery

I’m buying stock in the 2016 Notre Dame defensive line all the way. I’m still concerned about the depth at 3-tech and it’s been that way since Sheldon Day moved on to the NFL. Tillery is more of a nose guard/penetrating tackle hybrid and isn’t going to be as explosive as Day last year. That’s fine, because Tillery has a really good burst for his size and can be really good in a different way.

The Irish are looking at 3 options on the weak-side, Jones and Cage backing each other up at the nose, plus Jay Hayes could slide back over to the strong-side in the event that Rochell misses any time. If Tillery were to go down there would have to be some larger re-shuffling plans like playing two nose guards together or sliding Rochell inside. Actually, the latter move has always sounded like a good idea.

Shaun Crawford

Oh, nickel my nickel. I understand if there isn’t much optimism because the team isn’t getting better at a bunch of positions beyond experienced players improving with more snaps. That’s usually not that sexy. However, the defense should be getting major upgrades at middle linebacker and nickel corner and that is definitely super sexy.

In fact, I might go so far as to say that the Irish could be getting an upgrade at outside corner as Crawford plays both positions. Last year, Russell had some bouts of inconsistency and finished with 60 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 4 pass breakups. I might take the over for Crawford to exceed all of those stats as a redshirt freshman. I’m enormously excited to see him unleashed on opponents.

I like Cole Luke but I’m not sure losing him is a complete death knell. Losing Crawford could potentially change the entire complexion of the defense, which heading into last year, is exactly what the coaching staff has told us happened. I’d like to think that they’ve learned their lesson and prepared a little better for the loss of someone like Crawford but that doesn’t appear to be the case. He’s a tough one to replace.