It is time.
As of this writing we are 209 days away from Notre Dame’s season opener at Florida State. Today, I will take a stroll through Notre Dame’s roster and cover a plethora of topics about the Irish depth chart as we head into Brian Kelly’s 12th season and first with new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman.
Let’s get right to it.
NEW STARTERS
(Departed players in parentheses)
Quarterback (Ian Book)
X Receiver (Ben Skowronek)
W Receiver (Javon McKinley)
Left Tackle (Liam Eichenberg)
Left Guard (Aaron Banks)
Right Guard (Tommy Kraemer)
Weak Side Defensive End (Daelin Hayes)
Strong Side Defensive End (Ade Ogundeji)
Outside Linebacker (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah)
Boundary Corner (Nick McCloud)
Strong Safety (Shaun Crawford)
PARTIALLY NEW STARTERS
Tight End (Michael Mayer was basically co-starter with Tommy Tremble)
Center (Zeke Correll likely takes over for Jarrett Patterson)
Right Tackle (Josh Lugg has quality experience to replace Robert Hainsey)
RETURNING STARTERS
(Returning players in parentheses)
Running Back (Kyren Williams)
Z Receiver (Avery Davis)
Nose Guard (Kurt Hinish)
Defensive Tackle (Myron Tagavailoa-Amosa)
Middle Linebacker (Drew White)
Weak Side Linebacker (Shayne Simon)
Boundary Corner (Clarence Lewis)
Free Safety (Kyle Hamilton)
INJURIES
Today’s depth chart is a projection for the beginning of the season so we are laying things out with injuries in mind. Some guys may struggle to get back in time while others may be fully recovered sooner rather than later. The latest updates:
WR Kevin Austin – The great hope for the receiving corps was coming off a foot injury this past season and played in only a couple games before breaking his 5th metatarsal in late October. Two months later, Kelly said Austin would have surgery after the season so it’s assumed that happened some time in January. You have to think he’s either severely limited or completely out for spring.
QB Brendon Clark – He was expected to have his knee cleaned up in January with the expectation he’d be limited for spring practices.
OL Jarrett Patterson – Notre Dame’s most experienced lineman broke his foot against Boston College on November 14th and it’s possible he’s back for spring practices, although it’s likely he’s brought along extremely carefully.
LB Paul Moala – The 2020 backup at Rover tore his Achilles tendon back on October 10th against Florida State and I’m not sure if 5.5 to 6 months is long enough for him to be ready to practice again.
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To view the 18 Stripes depth chart CLICK HERE. We have 2 tabs at the bottom for Freeman’s defensive scheme from Cincinnati and another for the Lea scheme more familiar to Notre Dame. Both will be included as jpeg’s in today’s article for reference.
TRANSFER MARKET
There are a handful of areas Notre Dame could enrich themselves with a transfer.
On National Signing Day last week, Marcus Freeman mentioned that in terms of terminology they are keeping Rover (outside linebacker), Vyper (weak side defensive end) but changing Buck to Will linebacker. It’s quite possible Freeman keeps the scheme largely the same as Elko/Lea but I will use the Freeman scheme (with altered terms) as well as discuss a more traditional 4-3 that Notre Dame has used in recent years.
Here’s who Notre Dame should be targeting in the grad transfer market by need:
1) Cornerback
Numbers-wise this may be the most balanced the Notre Dame depth chart has looked since we’ve tracked these things. You can’t really look anywhere and see holes. Except, when it comes to talent. Notre Dame 100% needs a starting-caliber cornerback to come in this year and help out. You could even argue 2 corners would be preferable in the transfer market.
2) Safety
The return of Houston Griffith from the transfer portal lessens this needs, but not by much. The need also depends upon how the staff feels about some of the younger players (maybe K.J. Wallace is ready to play a lot?) and how many safeties get thrown in the mix in a possible base defense with 5 defensive backs on the field together.
3) Offensive Guard
You wouldn’t expect Notre Dame to go this route given their recruiting history but if there ever was a year to bring in a veteran guard for one season this could be the one. Still, probably the least likely position to see a transfer on our list, though.
4) Weak Side Defensive End
If Freeman wants to run a 4-man front 50% to 70% of the time it’s definitely worth taking a look at some bodies with experience who can play on Notre Dame’s edge and provide pass-rushing ability. If he plans on running a 3-man front far more than half the time it’s probably not worth it seeking a transfer at this position.
5) Wide Receiver
I joke that Brian Kelly always carries 11 receivers, and lo and behold, the team is at 11 wideouts right now. I’d prefer to roll with the players on hand right now but you could make the case the team would benefit from a larger, veteran receiver but it’d have to be someone absolutely worthy of starting otherwise why even bother.
Position-by-Position Thoughts
Quarterbacks
Jack Coan coming in and taking the starting job with Pyne and Buchner fighting for backup reps seems to be the most common projection out there. Either way, it’ll be fun to have a quarterback competition once again.
I continue to feel bad for Clark. If he can’t compete in the spring it would portend bad things for his future as he’d likely be so far behind everyone in August camp and he’d have to challenge the rising Buchner (who conceivably may get some reps in 2021) next off-season which could prove difficult. To me, without any inside info whatsoever Clark seems like a good bet to move on after 2021 if he’s close to graduating.
Running Backs
This is by far the best and most stable position on the roster, especially as Notre Dame ended up hanging on to Logan Diggs after he was being wooed by LSU down the stretch. Everyone here at 18 Stripes (and many other places too) is higher on Diggs (0.877) and fellow incoming freshman Audric Estime (0.910) than their rankings suggest which really makes a case that this is the best the running back room has looked in the Brian Kelly era. Quite the turn around from how we felt as short ago as last August!
A few topics of interest for me
1) Diggs reportedly signed his National Letter of Intent back in December but was seeking ways to get out of it to join LSU. Again, reportedly. The depth is fantastic right now but the history of recruiting suggests Diggs may be ready to leave campus more so than your average freshman once the first sign of struggle creeps up.
2) Will C’Bo Flemister get restless? He seems to be the epitome of a good soldier but I wonder if he’ll think about more playing time elsewhere. Flemister has largely been a short-yardage/garbage time back with a surprising 10 touchdowns over the last 2 years. Does he want more spotlight? In 2020, a full 42.4% of his 299 yards came against USF and he’s staring at 3rd string carries with youngsters pushing up from behind him.
3) It appears Kendall Abdur-Rahman is a bit stuck. As one of my favorite players in the 2019 class he’s suddenly a rising redshirt sophomore with *technically* 4 years of eligibility remaining due to the Covid season. For one, he’d need to make a big jump to warrant carries in 2021 and I’m not sure it’s plausible for him to switch to defensive back with all the bodies to sort through over there, either. It’s possible he’s targeting a move to the slot where Avery Davis and Lawrence Keys could both be gone after 2021. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some players banged up and we’ll see KAR working as a hybrid slot player in practice.
Wide Receivers
Find me another position group on this team with a mixture of frustration and a hope for a bright future. There are a lot of players to replace on the offensive line, a new quarterback to break in, and plenty of questions about the secondary. Yet, I imagine the receivers are going to be in the spotlight more than any other group, justifiably so.
This should be a burgeoning set of receivers with a lot to like in theory. I know we tend to think the best of young players and recruits who have never touched the field yet but there really isn’t a guy among the 11 right now where I’d say “Yeah, this guy is definitely not going to play or be in the mix.”
Obviously, the health of Lenzy and Austin are so, so important. Lenzy absolutely has to recapture his 2019 form (454 yards from scrimmage with 4 TD) and build off that. It’s amazing that Austin only has 6 catches and 108 yards without a touchdown in his career but by all accounts he’s phenomenal in practice and that typically will translate to games if he can stay healthy. Hitting on one of these 2 is an absolute must for 2021, I don’t think the team can overcome both struggling to stay on the field again.
Even still, 2021 figures to he a strong youth movement either way. Just throwing it out there that Avery Davis is on my radar as someone who could be a post-spring grad transfer. No info, just a hunch. I’m really high on Lorenzo Styles (2nd team X receiver let’s go) and he’d be someone who could see time in the slot too if playing time opened up.
Tight Ends
Whatever the school record for targets in a season for a tight end I am sure Michael Mayer is going to obliterate it in 2021. By the way, he’s now “only” 98 receptions and 1,390 yards from holding the career marks for a tight end at Notre Dame. Is it crazy to think he’ll put up 65 catches and 800 yards this fall?
George Takacs went from completely off the radar to a pleasant surprise in 2020. You’d think it’s part of Notre Dame’s DNA to see someone step up into a much larger role soon but I do have my doubts that the roster below Mayer has any true starting-level talents.
Sneak peek at a couple of my 2021 grades but these are the recruiting marks for the 4 players below Mayer on the depth chart: Bauman (87), Takacs (86), Berrong (84), and Evans (82). It’s potentially a very solid group and at the same time a very big drop off after Notre Dame’s freshman All-American.
Offensive Line
The beat media seems sure that Jarrett Patterson is playing left tackle in 2021. I’ve mentioned before I don’t really like the move. For one, he may not be healthy for spring so the offense is going to be putting someone like Tosh Baker on the fast track to starting anyway. Baker may have the highest ceiling among all the linemen and I’m much more interested in seeing him at tackle than, to put it bluntly, someone who is probably the next Robert Hainsey. If it works out that Patterson misses spring then why not just roll with the new starter?
Besides, guard seems like a much larger issue anyway. Notre Dame tends to recruit tackles who become guards and that process can take a while to work itself out. It seems like the staff still really likes Baker and Kristofic as tackles but we don’t have much info that there’s a nice pipeline developing at guard. That’s why I’d rather have Correll at center and Patterson at left guard and lock that down for the fall. Let the veteran Gibbons fight for the other guard job and see what happens.
My guess is that Quinn Carroll makes a jump and wins a starting guard spot after August. That’s my flyer selection right now. But, realistically, there could be as many as 5(!) players vying for this guard spot if we assume a lineup of Patterson (LT), Correll (C), Gibbons (RG), and Lugg (RT).
I’ll touch some more on the freshmen below, as well. Somehow it feels like Blake Fisher is being slept on a little bit which is rare for the top rated player in the class. As much as this could be a grad transfer opportunity at guard it’s also a year where a true freshman could move into the lineup, as well.
Defensive Line
I know, with a 3-man front going 6 and 7-deep seems insane. I reckon many people look at this and believe there’s no way Freeman relies more on a 3-man front with all these bodies at the expense of the linebackers. However, let’s break it down a little further:
Aupiu, Schweitzer, and Onye I think are absolute locks to be scout team members. I’m not really sure what we have in Na-Na and Spears, either. The former is coming off injury and the latter spent time at offensive guard before coming back to defense. Neither have made a tackle in their career. Ehrensberger flashed a couple times against bad competition last year but is probably still a year away from being in the rotation.
That still leaves 11 players. It’s possible Rubio cracks the rotation or maybe it’ll be Keanaaina? I think the odds are greater that neither play much of a factor versus just one being in the mix. So, we’re really looking at a projection of 9 D-linemen in the rotation.
It’s a really solid group with some potential and a lot of inside/outside flexibility. Whether they can generate a big pass rush and develop Foskey & Botelho is the big question this off-season as is building quality depth at both end spots. For example, in a 4-man front I would move Foskey to the strong-side (257 lbs. in 2020 which should be plenty big enough) but this severely depletes the weak-side rushers where Botelho would need to be drinking from a hose all off-season and Justin Ademilola (35 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack in his career) has to be relied upon to be a starter-level player too.
Freeman’s scheme and the tweaks he’ll make at Notre Dame aren’t likely to affect this group a ton. If they switch between 3 and 4-man fronts, ultimately a lot of guys will play in either set up, and you wouldn’t be asking personnel to do things they aren’t capable of doing.
Linebackers
Here’s where things get fun.
If Freeman sticks to his Sniper role (calling it Rover?) it should be a defensive back body-type and Kyle Hamilton would be the perfect fit. However, until we see a transfer or two coming in at the defensive backfield I doubt Freeman is going to use Hamilton like this and unsteady the safeties at the back end. So, I’ve placed Liufau in this role as he’s the best non-Hamilton option. Some issues to discuss:
1) Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah embodied all things linebacker and nickel corner in one beautiful Butkus Award winner and I’m not sure Notre Dame can continue playing 3 linebackers on the field with any regularity in 2021, especially when Freeman’s defense at Cincinnati severely focused on speed outside of the box. In other words, replicating the 2019-20 defense is practically impossible without JOK. For me, this is the biggest schematic issue for Freeman no matter which route he chooses to take.
2) Freeman has to find a way to get agile speed on the field. There really aren’t that many power offenses out there anymore (heck even Stanford threw the ball 52.8% of the time in 2020) but he does have a nice collection of quality linebackers to use anyway.
If we’re looking at a Clark Lea-esque defense with Marcus Freeman tweaks I’m not sure there’s anyone on the team at present who would be a good enough Rover to warrant 700 snaps. Prior to his injury, Moala was next man in behind JOK so if he’s healthy perhaps he’s the guy? All of Liufau/Moala/Pryor are very aggressive down-hill tacklers–skills much better fit for Freeman’s Sniper role–but we haven’t seen much of them working in coverage as a Rover.
I’m fascinated to see how Freeman approaches things.
Cornerbacks/Safeties
I’m going to lump these spots together. We already mentioned the need for transfers and the funny thing is that there are already a lot of bodies in the defensive backfield. A ton, in fact. Scholarship limits aren’t an issue for 2021 but practice reps will be, for sure. As much as I’ve talked about 11 receivers on the roster, it always seems like the Irish are only playing 3 corners for an entire season and even that feels like pulling teeth. For example, Tariq Bracy has basically been the No. 3 corner for 3 straight years and has rarely been on the field when it truly matters.
If you add a corner via transfer that’s now 9 bodies which means a lot of butts on the bench. Still, they really need a starting-level corner to come in anyway.
I’m predicting true freshman Ryan Barnes moves from corner to safety with Khari Gee to Rover if Freeman uses his same scheme as he did at Cincinnati. Fellow freshman Philip Riley could move to safety, too. It just makes way too much sense to me for Freeman to move more speed to the safety/Rover/Sniper spots if they are likely to focus on brining in a quality corner who would step into a starting position. Then, maybe you can get a lot more free in the way you use Kyle Hamilton.
Houston Griffith coming back makes things better, far from great, but at least better. A defensive backfield of Hamilton, Brown, Griffith, Lewis, and Bracy is at least something to build on this off-season.
Special Teams
Notre Dame isn’t losing any of its special teams starters which is always useful. Let’s take a look at each of these players ahead of spring:
Punter Jay Bramblett – With 2 years under his belt and no one on the roster seriously challenging him this is wrapped up right now.
Kicker Jonathan Doerer – The good news is that Doerer’s career 75% success with field goals is comfortably 2nd in school history behind Justin Yoon. The bad news is that he goes into the off-season on a terrible cold streak missing one field goal in each of his last 6 games. The odds are very low that incoming freshman Josh Bryan will win the job out of August camp but Doerer may want to hit his first few field goals when the season begins.
Kick Returner Chris Tyree – This was an exciting decision as a true freshman and Tyree followed it up with a fairly average performance. Kick returns continue to become less important with each passing year and I’d assume the staff will try to keep Tyree here for at least another year.
Punt Returner Matt Salerno – Lawrence Keys lost this job last year and the team turned to walk-on Salerno who was like a plus-FC Goodman. I have to think a big story this off-season is getting more explosive athletes the ball and this could trickle down to punt return, too.
Impact Freshmen
This is a huge freshmen class and I’m going to offer some insight into what I’m thinking with many of them.
No Factor – QB Powlus, OL Coogan, OL Johnson, OL Alt, TE Evans, CB Tucker, DE Aupiu, DE Schweitzer, DE Onye, and LB Kia.
All of these guys should be buried on the depth chart in 2021. None of the above were top 300 recruits and a lot would have to happen for someone to make a big move. There’s maybe an outside shot for Caleb Johnson who is the highest rated of the group as a low 4-star and he will be here for spring. You could throw Chance Tucker in there–because why not anyone at corner–but he’ll be starting far behind by not being an early enrollee.
Possibly Doing Something – RB Diggs, RB Estime, OL Fisher, OL Spindler, TE Berrong, WR Colzie, WR Thomas, DT Rubio, CB Johnson, S Walters, and K Bryan.
It’s highly unlikely we see a starter out of this group. Many of them could be quality depth that sees the field a lot in blowouts or helps out on special teams. I’d only single out Blake Fisher as the one guy talented enough to push for major playing time. I don’t think he starts against Florida State but I could see him starting at guard after 6 or 7 games as a way to get his talented physicality on the field.
In the Mix – QB Buchner, WR Styles, LB Kollie, CB Riley, CB/S Barnes, and S Gee.
Everyone knows about Buchner by now. Of course, Styles cannot be overlooked as he’ll definitely get a shot as a punt returner as has the speed to be in the rotation at receiver. Unfortunately for the defense, the 2 players with the most game-wrecking ability (Kollie & Gee) won’t be here for spring. Both are super fascinating because they’ll have to make an impression quickly in the summer and no one is really sure exactly where they’ll line up as freshmen. Today’s depth chart doesn’t have either in a spot where they are making an impact but it’d be foolish to count out Kollie, especially.
Comfort Level
Ranking each position from most comfortable to least comfortable heading into 2021…
#1 RB – The biggest question may be how to rest Kyren Williams more and save his body.
#2 SDE/DT – Nearly 3-deep across the board with talent and experience which is nice.
#3 LB – The loss of JOK hurts deeply but lots of clay to mold.
#4 TE – Because Michael Mayer is too good.
#5 WDE – Foskey needs to be a warrior this year.
#6 QB – Coan offers veteran stability and maybe Buchner gets his feet wet?
#7 OL – A tradition vote here but also potentially the worst line since 2014.
#8 WR – A ceiling capable of moving them up several spots in these rankings.
#9 S – Let’s hope Kyle Hamilton’s last year isn’t wasted with bad positional teammates.
#10 CB – Transfers welcome.
With regard to 3 down or 4 down, I thought Freeman said that (like any good coach) he’s more into finding the best means to use the talent on hand. I get some of the deficiencies at SDE, but one would think that would mean more 4 down than 3 down than he’s done in the past.
Yup, he also mentioned getting his best 11 on the field, etc. etc. At this point it’s all just coachspeak to me.
The 3-man vs. 4-man fronts have more to do with the linebackers and safeties. He can switch between both fronts as he did at Cincinnati without much issue among his D-linemen. Among the starters it’d just be taking off Botelho or adding him back on.
But, we can’t really play a 3-man front at all and expect to use the Rover (as we know it) and traditional safeties or nickel/dimes without asking these players to learn multiple positions.
So where’s the crux of the decision for Freeman do you think if it’s not on the DL – because we have sufficient talent/numbers despite the normal questions one might have at this time of the year?
We can play more 4 down if we have enough talent at ______ [insert position here].
We would play more 3 down if we have enough talent at __________.
It’s tough to say. I guess for me it’s more about is Freeman actually installing his defense or are we moving forward with the 4-3 Rover system with minor tweaks?
I’m assuming he’s bringing his system. The tough decisions will be more about keeping linebackers on the field versus more DB’s. The talent on hand would seem to suggest he’ll keep someone like Liufau on the field instead of a safety. But, we’ll see.
Agree with you on Patterson, I kinda wish they would keep him towards the middle at guard. Just seems like the coaches are like “Patterson’s our best lineman, we’ll put him in the most important spot” type mentality. And obviously the first part of that statement is probably true.
Lugg did so well at RT at the end of 2019 (didn’t allow a sack), I would like to see him get a crack at LT. He’s bounced around a lot and might be more a fit for right side at this point, but just for experience of starting college games as a tackle he’s got something no one else has.
Lugg-?-Correll-Patterson-?
I’d open it up for a competition between Kristofic and Baker for RT. Then I guess Gibbons/Carroll for LG.
Just my preference, but I’d like that more than the current general consensus that most seem to see it shaping of like: Patterson-Carroll-Correll-Gibbons-Lugg.
I don’t hate this idea. I feel bad for Lugg just because he struggled this past year but injuries appear to really have bothered him. I’d rather him at LT than Patterson.
Sampson in particular has really been pushing this LT business with Patterson. Not sure if that’s based on actual intel from the staff or just him spitballing. But I don’t care for it, would rather just see us move forward with the group that Quinn envisions as the framework for his OL 3.0 instead of simply trying to get by in the short term. To me, that means Baker and Kristofec getting reps at tackle, maybe Lugg if he’s healthy and up to the challenge. Same on the interior with Gibbons, who showed nothing in his (admittedly limited) work last season. Give me Carroll, or Fisher, or Spindler, or whoever. Let’s get the damn talent on the field already and break these guys in rather than taking half-measures in rebuilding the line.
I think the talk of Patterson at LT is due to the coaches thinking that’s his best position. I think that’s why Sampson et al continue to mention it. They’ll put the best 5 out there and there’s no way any of us know better.
This is really super good work, a nice way to alleviate the winter dearth of ND football news. Merci!
The Kyle Hamilton issue intrigues. Your quote:
“…move more speed to the safety/Rover/Sniper spots if they are likely to focus on brining in a quality corner who would step into a starting position. Then, maybe you can get a lot more free in the way you use Kyle Hamilton.”
Is there any way a grad transfer for the secondary could free him up for the position move?
There are over 10+ guys in the transfer portal at DB who Notre Dame might take a look at, I’m sure. But also, there will be more options after spring when players graduate and decide to move on like Nick McCloud last year who committed on May 11th.
Thanks. Any chance we try for a CB plus a safety? I guess with all those DB numbers, no, but your mentioning the talent gap in the DB aside from Kyle, and his perfect fit for what looks like Freeman’s position of emphasis, makes me wonder. There is no limit on roster size this coming year, if I heard right?
You can carry 25 additional seniors (so 110 scholarships total) and obviously ND will be way, way under that number.
I think most expect a corner and safety to be looked at in the transfer market.
Micah Jones, who didn’t even make the depth chart above, went into the portal today.
Heh, Jamie at ISD told us he was gone a few weeks back. I think he was removed from our recent scholarship post, too.
If they bring in a starting quality Safety, I would imagine Houston Griffith probably re-enters the transfer portal, right? That should be an interesting situation to watch.
I don’t think I would have WDE at #5 on my comfort level list. We’re talking about 5.5 career sacks returning at the position. We’ve got athletes there, but I want to see them do something against high level competition before I feel great. I certainly feel better about our QB situation than WDE, and I probably feel better about OL too. Really, WDE and WR feel like very similar situations to me; tons of theoretical talent there, but until they show it on gameday, I’m nervous.
Ideally, I think Freeman will want to play 4 safeties quite a bit. There’s probably going to be plenty of snaps in 2021 where Hamilton/Brown/Griffith/Transfer all are on the field together as safeties.
I get the nervousness with those positions. But, talent usually wins out.
I think Spindler has a better chance at playing time than Fisher. Fisher, it’s said needs time with Balis first.
SI All American recruiting (first I heard of it too) has Cane Berrong rated the 64th best player in the 2021 class. So not everyone has him dropping, which was discussed here a couple weeks ago.
Patterson was recruited to play tackle and I think that’s where he ends up. First thing is get healthy. What does “the next Robert Hainsey” mean?
I know Tim Prister has said those things about Fisher and loves Spindler but I don’t really see it. Fisher looks in pretty good shape to me in photos I’ve seen and was more physical in high school than Spindler.
That’s a photo Blake shared yesterday. Spindler’s size was exaggerated by the recruiting sites (6-5, 315 by Rivals and 6-4 1/2, 315 by 247) and ND has him at 6-4, 295 lbs. He’s kind of under-sized.
My guess is Prister sees Fisher at 6-6, 330 lbs. and just assumes he’s not in great shape. I know in a recent podcast that he mentioned that Fisher holds a lot, etc. and plays poor competition. I don’t know, seems like Prister just going with something weird about a recruit. Has anyone else mentioned Fisher needing more S&C compared to the usual recruit? For me, Fisher ticks all the boxes of an elite recruit.
Next Hainsey means, the under-sized tackle who will get immediately moved away from tackle when they try and play professionally. Hainsey was already getting work at center in the Senior Bowl.
Hainsey reminded me a little of Z Martin — talented enough and versatile enough to play effectively at tackle in college, but definitely suited to play inside as a pro. I agree that Patterson might fit this general category.
I think that history suggests that neither Spindler nor Fisher will be starting this year — unless recruiting along the line has been poor, upperclassmen tend to have a bigger advantage. There is some talent like Carrell, Baker, and Kristofic who should have a chance to nail down a spot — hopefully one of them is ready to step in at LT so that Patterson can stay inside.
Saw that photo and laughed because Fisher makes Rocco almost look like a normal-sized person by comparison. He’s massive.
Watching Fishers film I don’t see the holding but I do see the weak competition. He just throws little people to the ground. Maybe he has violent hands. Standing next to Spindler, who is not “kind of undersized” he sure is a huge kid. Put 10 lbs. on Spindler and take 10 off Fisher and DL beware. I hope.
I mean more in the sense that Spindler is under-sized for a true freshman to come in and start at guard.
By 10 lbs. ? He could easily put that on in a few weeks. That would put him at the same weight as Patterson who you want to play guard. Granted that’s still 10-15 lbs. behind Banks and Kraemer but most of the alternatives are in the same boat weight wise.
I think 10 lbs. more could be tough for him with narrow shoulders and not real tall to pack that on quickly. He’s already pretty beefy. Reminds me of Zeke Correll, very similar body-type.
Of course, Spindler COULD start at 295, 300, or 305. It wouldn’t shock me at all.
But the larger point is I’m not sure how one could look at Spindler vs. Fisher and think the former has a better shot to start in 2021 so young when he’s smaller and not as physical as Fisher.
I certainly don’t know which one is better at this point. I looked for some film on Spindler’s senior year and couldn’t find it. That said, I’ve never heard anyone say he wasn’t a very physical player. If being heavier wins that debate, I guess Fisher wins.
With this being somewhat of a rebuilding year, I am not overly concerned with the need to get more transfers in (barring a major injury, of course). I think that there is enough talent and enough bodies in the secondary to see who might fit — as you noted, Barnes and Riley are some names to keep an eye on as they might be moved around to find a good fit.
Good call about the lack of players at rover who could stay on the field in passing situations (for coverage). While you have Liufau listed at rover, he seemed better than Simon at buck/will — did Simon even have more than 10 tackles for the season? He seemed invisible. While Liufau made his share of mistakes, he was also around the ball a lot. Before his injury, I had hopes that Moala would be ready to step in at rover, but that injury can take a while for a return.
On the d-line, there is speculation that MTA might see a tryout at SDE (because of the good depth at the d-tackle spots), so with him and Justin there, they might be able to keep Foskey primarily at WDE.
I would almost rather take our lumps at CB and safety with the youngsters than take a one year player and be dealing with the same issue next year. There are enough questions everywhere, particularly QB, OL and WR and with the new scheme on D that this isn’t a play-off year.
There is a fair amount of talent that hasn’t played through, particularly Griffth and Ajavon, who was a 4* as I recall. Admittedly, Freeman likes safeties, the sniper basically being an extra safety so we shall see. I can see Pryor excelling in that role.
This might not be a playoff year, but it’s still in Notre Dame’s best interest to try and be as good as they can be. They could be a team going for 10+ wins again and maybe finally looking to win a NY6 game as a realistic goal.
Just putting young CB/S out there and getting them burned because they’re not good enough in 2021 isn’t going to make them better in 2022 for the experience. It’s just going to wreck their confidence and make them worse. Example: look at Bracy in 2020 where he didn’t play well, gave up lots of big plays…No one does (or should) think he’s got a lot of momentum going into 2021 just because he “took some lumps” in 2020. Most people think his career is derailed or he is just not of starting quality and that 2020 was a negative for him.
I don’t mind getting young players involved and the opportunity to play more on Saturdays instead of veteran locking up all the playing time, which seemed to be a Clark Lea staple that other than DL he was going to run his starting LB, rover, CB, S into the ground with as many snaps as they could handle.
So maybe there’s a happy medium to be found with younger players getting some snaps and a real look at game action to see who might be the future, but ND should absolutely grab a veteran decent player or two to make their team better if they can. There’s no downside to that at all, even if it would be preferable that in the future they don’t need one year patches because they recruit better players in the first place.
The schedule is just so perfect for a “rebuilding year.” No elite opponents. The only opponent who even looks like they might end up in the Top 10 is a G5 school (who just lost their D Coordinator to us). I agree with you that there is no reason to pass over a quality transfer who could start this year. Plus there are at least 5 or 6 games on the schedule where we should be able to rotate heavily.
1) Really nice work. Frankly, much better writing and analysis than anything you can get elsewhere on ND football. I’ll renew my subscription.
2) Among non-QBs and non-Kyle Hamiltons, Kevin Austin is kind of sneakily the most important person on the roster next year, no? If he has a huge breakthrough, this team could win 11 games. If he doesn’t (and a bunch of other things go bad), 7-5 doesn’t seem implausible.
3) Remember when NaNa seemed like an absolute must-get recruit and our DE depth would be dead without him?
1) is very very true!
2) I’d still make a case for Kyren or Mayer…Austin to me, I’ll see what happens before counting on him. I think they can still make some kind of passing game without him (mainly with Mayer and random parts like Davis, Lenzy, hopefully Jordan Johnson). If they lose Mayer or Williams to injury, this offense might implode. I think they’ll find away without Ausin because they did last year too.
At WR, don’t forget Watts. If with the 6-7 top shelf WR recruits on the roster ND can’t find 3 good ones, it’s time to take a look at recruiting and/or coaching at the position.
True. Maybe Austin could be the biggest difference maker if he drops from the clouds and is a true WR1 impact player, but I don’t know….Odds of that happening and him pulling it off seem remote to me. And I think the pass game really will be fine with the other guys that they have.
So I guess since we have lived without Austin for 2-3 years, I’m fine not putting a lot of stock in him being so critical as to finishing 7-5 without him. However, I do think there are scenario were the season is tanked if Mayer or Kyren aren’t available
I think Austin could be like McKinley (in the sense of finally coming through) except way, way, way better.
He just has to stay healthy.
I think that’s totally right! The last statement is why I’m not wanting to put a lot of eggs in his basket, so to say. No doubt Austin could take them to a higher level if 100%, but is he? And what would that be? IMO, the 2 players that they have built and are going to build the offense around is Mayer and Kyren, and they’re the most important players right now.
But it’s kinda my mindset that anything they get from Austin is a nice big bonus.
I don’t know about Kyren’s centrality, mostly because (1) as Eric notes, our RB depth is very good and (2) RB is ultimately one of the – if not the – least important/most replaceable skill positions in football.
That said, Kyren really is special and quite good. It’s just that next year Tyree might be like the 4th best RB in the Kelly era, which is a pretty solid replacement if Kyren gets hurt. By contrast, is there any realistic hope that anybody other than Austin would be a top-10 WR in the Kelly era next year? Probably not unless one of the true sophomores makes an insane, unforeseen leap.
I think that’s fair about RB, but I disagree a bit about Kyren’s value relative to thsi team. I love Tyree but isn’t going between the tackles a lot or getting 20 carries a game. No Kyren means more C’Bo and that’s a big drop-off. You’re right that RB isn’t typically very important, but Kyren is also the #2 best player on offense, I don’t want to lose him, especially since he’s developing into a weapon receiving as well.
Also, for your latter point, I don’t disagree about the WR’s minus Austin not having a standout…But further, I don’t think Austin will be one of Kelly’s top 10 receivers either, even if he stays healthy. Austin is more like Stepherson (for different reasons) but just can’t stay on the field and translate his talent to actual production. And that might even be an insult to Stepherson who has more TD’s at Notre Dame (10) than Austin has receptions in three years (6).
Therefore, all I’m saying is give me an ND offense with Kyren, Mayer and a WR crew that won’t turn heads but hopefully get some development out of young guys (Johnson, Watts, Lenzy). I like my chances there. Take Mayer or Kyren out and sub in Austin, and I’m not sure the team is better off, even if you can guarantee that Austin will be 100%. I guess I’m not ready to bet on what his 100% is in the year 2021 after what he’s been through. I’d prefer more steady, reliable bellcows like Kyren and Mayer as the key players for this team.
Seriously, this doesn’t all have to be on Austin. We now have a handful of guys who could arguably become the focal point of a good-to-great passing attack if they stay healthy, lightbulb goes on, etc.
Keep it up and you just might earn a free year subscription 🙂