Notre Dame had 8 players on offense from the 2021 recruiting class take a redshirt during the team’s run to the Fiesta Bowl. One player was starting from day one prior to an injury, another was in the mix until yet another injury, while there was hope a third player would at least see some important snaps when it wasn’t meant to be in the end.

The freshmen not to redshirt included quarterback Tyler Buchner, running back Logan Diggs, running back Audric Estime, receiver Lorenzo Styles, receiver Deion Colzie, tight end Mitchell Evans, and offensive tackle Joe Alt.

Let’s review the guys who didn’t lose a year of eligibility from 2021.

Position – Player 
Composite Grade
18 Stripes Grade

Tier 3 – 2022 Likely Isn’t the Year

QB Ron Powlus III
0.8126
72

C Pat Coogan
0.8701
79

OT Caleb Johnson
0.8958
87

Should we feel bad for Powlus? Most of the media don’t even count him when discussing the quarterback room which on the one hand is a slap in the face and on the other hand yeah I totally get that approach. He was a late addition to the 2021 class and immediately no one believed he had a real shot at playing for the Irish. In fact, I believe our grade of 72 is the lowest we’ve ever handed out. But, I suppose there are worse things in life than attending Notre Dame on scholarship where your dad works!

You could make the case that Coogan could be placed below in our 2nd tier of players. For that to happen it would likely mean a transfer from backup center Zeke Correll. Once Jarrett Patterson decided to return it likely meant Coogan would have to wait another season to make an impact.

Caleb Johnson just watched his two classmates lock down starting tackle positions for the next 3-4 seasons. We didn’t hear much of anything about Johnson’s progress last year and if I’m honest a transfer would seem to make sense, particularly if he’s strictly only someone limited to playing tackle.

Tier 2 – The Door is Open

WR Jayden Thomas
0.8991
86

TE Cane Berrong
0.9137
85

There were whispers during bowl practice that Thomas was starting to impress the staff. Instead of giving him a quick look in the Fiesta Bowl he remained on the sidelines as the offense ran the other receivers into the ground. Maybe it was too much to ask for Thomas to make an impact at the last moment (presumably with very few reps during the regular season) but the thin depth chart automatically means he’ll get his shot in 2022.

Berrong tore his ACL in mid-October and if he hadn’t with the other injuries to the tight ends he might have picked up a decent amount of playing time for a freshman and perhaps never would’ve taken a redshirt. As it stands, his classmate Mitchell Evans developed faster and is now ahead of Berrong on a deep depth chart. Still, it’s tight end so a lot of them will play and get involved.

Tier 1 – It’s Go Time, Baby

OG Rocco Spindler
0.9714
90

OT Blake Fisher
0.9738
97

PK Josh Bryan
0.8189
89

With hindsight it was a little audacious to expect Rocco Spindler to come in and win a starting guard job in 2021. However, you can’t fault the effort in immediately being in the mix on the two-deep and making it interesting before bowing out and settling into someone who only got some mop-up duty. We’ll see what happens with the health with Josh Lugg who many think will slide inside to guard for his final season. That might be a positional battle Notre Dame hopes Spindler will grab outright.

The future is so bright for Blake Fisher that you’ll blind yourself if you stare at it for more than 5 seconds. The only big question for him this off-season is whether he starts at left tackle (where he won the job out of camp) or if he stays at right tackle where he played in the bowl game.

Most of us were really high on Josh Bryan coming in as a freshman even though with Doerer coming back for a final season we didn’t expect Bryan to participate much in 2021. He ended up finishing the season with only a single garbage time PAT, and that’s it. It was curious to see Doerer fighting through injuries and still Bryan wasn’t utilized for kickoffs at the very least. Now, the program is welcoming in Blake Grupe (64 of 86 field goals made in 4 years at Arkansas State) as a grad transfer in what seems like, from the outside, a vote of no confidence in Bryan. Or, maybe they really want 2 good kickers!?