Reviewing the Redshirts is an off-season series meant to resurrect discussion around the current Irish freshmen who did not play in 2016.
There were 11 players who retained a year of eligibility this past year and today we look at an elite talent ready to begin a successful career at Notre Dame.
OL, Tommy Kraemer
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Height: 6-5 1/2
Weight: 313
247Sports Composite Ranking:
4-star, No. 3 OT, No. 1 OH, No. 27 USA, 0.981 score
Need at Position: Mild
Expected Spot on 2017 Depth Chart: Starter
Tommy Kraemer committed so early to Notre Dame that he almost flew under the radar. Almost. The product of Elder High School in Cincinnati was the top recruit in the class when he gave his verbal and finished comfortably with that honor on National Signing Day 2016.
He’s also the highest rated recruit for the Irish from the 2014-17 cycles and the highest since Jaylon Smith and Max Redfield in the 2013 class. Current commit Phil Jurkovec is just above Kraemer’s Composite score but two spots lower in their respective national player rankings. Last February, each of our writers gave Kraemer at least a 95 grade as a recruit.
In other words, Kraemer is in can’t-miss territory especially since he’s an offensive lineman at Notre Dame.
In the lead up to fall camp last year we talked so often about Kraemer’s ability to come in and possibly play as a freshman even though he wasn’t an early enrollee. During the first practice at Culver we saw Bivin go down with an injury and then Tristen Hoge competing with Kraemer for first-team reps at right guard. For the second media viewing the true freshman Kraemer was still receiving first-team reps at the right guard competition.
Ultimately, Kraemer would drop down to the backup right tackle spot following a late charge in camp by Colin McGovern as the redshirt junior won the right guard job. Still, Kraemer spent all season in the two-deep without burning his eligibility and never went down to scout team.
BK says OL Tommy Kraemer moving between T and G. Says he is light years ahead of any freshman OL he has had at ND.
— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) August 13, 2016
When spring practice opened recently Kraemer was the starting right tackle and I wouldn’t bet on him relinquishing that spot. We may see a rotation there in the upcoming open media viewings but when the season approaches I’ll be surprised if it’s someone else besides Kraemer as the new starter on the line.
We are a society of short attention spans and when Brian Kelly mentioned that fellow freshman Liam Eichenberg being a stud in a press conference back in October that suddenly vaulted him as the new starter for 2017 in the eyes of many. However, you have to remember that Eichenberg spent the bulk of last season on scout team while Kraemer spent fall camp and whole season practicing with varsity. I mentioned in Eichenberg’s own RtR that he could close the gap this off-season but for most player’s that’s a sizable gap to close in an off-season.
Add it all together…Kelly said Kraemer was light years ahead of any lineman he’s had at Notre Dame, he was immediately in a positional battle as a true freshman, and after a redshirt working with the first team at right tackle. It sounds like we’re about to see 3 to 4 years of starting from the Irish’s next top lineman.
I will gladly take four years of this kid’s play for ND.
All in favor say aye…
Don’t tell me what to do Eric… Aye.
I can’t remember this scoring system. So if need at position is “mild,” that’s only one level down from “mild +?” And that’s the highest?
Mildly correct.
Assuming he is the starter, what should we expect from the O-Line this year? Last year was a bit of a bummer (at least according to the eye test) as far as O-Line play went. The year before, the O-Line was incredible in run blocking and pretty solid in pass blocking.
So with a line full of basically high 4 star players, what is your expectation for them this year?
I think most agree with your eye test. I have a hard time setting an expectation myself, but I think there’s reasons for optimism.
For one, last year was a transition year with a supposed stud at LT, but he was new to the spot. It wasn’t like having Stanley or Martin returning at LT. McGlinchey returning at the spot should help. Not to mention, he was the expected leader of the group but he was in transition himself.
If the rumors of weight loss during season were true, something was off with S&C regarding the lines. If they lost strength and stamina along the OL, it would explain some of the play down the stretch. Hopefully that helps.
McGlinchey aside, Kraemer and Eichenberg probably have the most pure talent on the roster and adding them into the mix at starter or in the two deep should improve the overall ability of the line. It’s just a lot to expect it from true freshmen, so they weren’t ready yet. There’s a reason Heistand rarely burns freshman redshirts – even among the most talented. A year of acclimation, S&C and learning from Heistand should have them ready to contribute at some level and add to the overall talent level of the group.
Likewise, you’re adding some maturation to the likes of Nelson, Mustipher and Bars and it might be time to get more out of Hoge and Boudreaux. Overall, the competition and depth should be better. Especially on the interior.
Finally, just overall returning experience and stability are better than last year. After 2015 the line lost Stanley, Martin and Elmer. After 2016, they lose Bivin. So they’re adding matured talented players to a group with fewer needs than last year’s group.
They can’t help but be better, right?
Also, odd side comment – Kraemer’s HC from high school lives in my neighborhood and I see him out walking all the time. It’s really weird opening an article on 18S and seeing a face that I see in person so frequently.
Tell us the important info…what does his lawn look like?
He coaches for Elder, so it’s purple. They are a weird, weird, purple group of people.
Would you say you grimace when you see it?
I’ll throw some numbers out there…
Run blocking 18% better and pass blocking 24% better.
Using the proprietary 18S algorithm. But this does raise the point of do we expect run or pass blocking to show more improvement comparatively. I would tend to agree about pass blocking improving more since the staff evidently believes Barrs is better at guard.