No open practices, no problem. How does one figure out what the Notre Dame depth chart is going to look like just under 2 weeks until the first game when no one has watched the team practice? Through logic, dear readers.
Of course, it’s impossible to know everything and if we’re being honest even an official depth chart released by the school won’t always tell the full story of the 2020 roster. Nevertheless, let’s try and break things down the best we can as this weird season is still on track to commence in two more Saturday’s.
[players listed by eligibility]
The Unquestioned Starters
5th SR – QB – Ian Book
5th SR – OT – Liam Eichenberg
5th SR – OG – Tommy Kraemer
SR – OT – Robert Hainsey
r-JR – OG – Aaron Banks
r-SO – TE – Tommy Tremble
r-SO – OC – Jarrett Patterson
r-SO – WR – Braden Lenzy
Pretty much the only thing affecting these players’ status are injuries. The entire offensive line, quarterback, and your likely top two pass catchers is a nice foundation, although one more skill player sure would be nice to plop into the above list.
Who’s Probably Not Playing?
r-JR – OG – Dillan Gibbons
r-SO – WR – Kevin Austin [injured]
r-SO – WR – Micah Jones
r-FR – WR – Kendall Abdur-Rahman
FR – QB – Drew Pyne
FR – WR – Jay Brunelle
FR – OT – Tosh Baker
FR – OT – Michael Carmody
These are the players I feel comfortable believing won’t see the field beyond extreme garbage time situations, in other words the guys who are 3rd team or worse. Unfortunately, this includes the injured Kevin Austin who surely would’ve made the starters list above if he were healthy.
I’m curious to see more from KAR and Brunelle, both young receivers I really liked coming out of high school. It’s just so hard right now at receiver where there are a ton of bodies–11 in total–and that doesn’t include the flex tight ends that will eat up reps from wideouts.
The Trusted Backups & Top Youngsters
SR – TE – Brock Wright
r-JR – WR – Avery Davis
r-JR – OT – Josh Lugg
r-SO – RB – C’Bo Flemister
r-SO – RB – Jahmir Smith
r-FR – QB – Brendon Clark
r-FR – RB – Kyren Williams
FR – RB – Chris Tyree
FR – TE – Michael Mayer
This is the most interesting list of players, by far. I don’t think we’ll see any full-time starters out of this bunch absent a long-term injury somewhere but the 2020 Irish really need most of these guys to be solid to very solid contributors.
We know Lugg is the main backup across the entire line, or at least tackle or guard. Wright is sort of a co-starter depending upon your perspective but could have Mayer stealing snaps from day one. Nothing would surprise me with Davis at this point–he could be relied upon heavily early in the season as a backup in the slot or maybe we won’t see him all that much.
So, we have 4 running backs listed here. Based on last year’s carries you’d think Flemister and Smith are near the top of being a starter but the (very limited!) scuttlebutt coming out of campus is that Williams has made a big jump and Tyree is as advertised as The Future at the position. Those two have also been singled out by Kelly in the press which also helps feed the hype.
The Borderline Guys aka Not-So-Trusted Backups
5th SR – WR – Javon McKinley
r-SO – TE – George Takacs
r-SO – WR – Joe Wilkins
r-SO – OG – John Dirksen
r-FR – OC – Zeke Correll
r-FR – OT – Andrew Kristofic
r-FR – OT – Quinn Carroll
FR – WR – Xavier Watts
FR – WR – Jordan Johnson
FR – TE – Kevin Bauman
You could say this is quality depth but in a way it feels like the older players are trending one way while the younger players are just biding their time for their chance, which is unlikely to come this year.
Some might think McKinley will play a decent role as a backup and they could be right. I think he’s likely pushed out of the picture due to a grad transfer plus someone like blue-chip freshman Jordan Johnson getting his feet wet early this fall camp. I’ve included Watts here as opposed to ‘Probably Not Playing’ because the pre-season is for hope. At best, he’s about the 6th receiver on the team but he’s unlikely to come out of the gate with consistent playing time.
The Other Likely Starters
5th SR – WR – Bennett Skowronek
r-JR – RB – Jafar Armstrong
r-SO – WR – Lawrence Keys
It’s totally fair if no one is super excited about this group being starters. Book seems to have a good rapport with Skowronek and the receiver is expected to fill the role of a steady possession receiver while adding some much needed size to the lineup.
I’m curious to see how much Keys plays this year. If Austin was healthy I thought the best deployment for the offense would be Lenzy in the slot which would’ve severely hampered Keys’ snaps. Now, he’s probably the most trusted slot receiver, but at the same time, I could see Tremble flex out so much that the most often used packages leave someone like Keys on the sidelines.
I’m as ready as anyone to see 1st-team freshman All-American Chris Tyree taking the first carry against Duke and off we go! I’m also a pragmatist who believes a healthy Armstrong is likely to lead the way early in the season. I would imagine his leash is extremely short with so many other options available.
Johnson and Watts are both very talented. It’s just very hard for a freshman to earn playing time at WR. They get overwhelmed with the necessary learning curve.
I think Armstrong starts but Tyree gets 10 -12 touches a game.
I bet Skowronek goes up to unquestioned starter by about the second or third game. Maybe I watched his Northwestern highlights too much but I am pretty excited about Skowronek, weird as it is to say. I’d rather it be Austin or a more explosiva/better all-around WR, but ND has Lenzy and (hopefully) Tyree as burners. Skowronek ought to be that big, reliable target that will get 50ish catches and be a big part of the offense.
Do agree the “The Trusted Backups & Top Youngsters” grouping is the most interesting. I’d bet several players (probably Davis, maybe Wright, at least 1-2 RBs just based on numbers) fall out of that and more into the borderline..
He’s not the same type of player, but I bet Skowronek ends up like a TJ Jones. Nobody was ever really excited about him heading into a season, but nearly every game, he would come up with a huge first down, and you would be thankful he’s such a reliable target.
Not a bad comp!
That’s 18 Stripes Hall of Fame Pyramid member TJ Jones, too. Maybe the most underrated player of the Kelly era?
TJ roomed near my older son — Ray thinks he was/is a very good man. He certainly belongs high up The Pyramid.
Home TV schedule has been released…..a USA Network broadcast. I’m hoping that one is simulcast on NBC Sports Network with the Radio Announcing crew shown like they did last year for the [insert mediocre team here] game.
https://und.com/notre-dame-nbc-announce-game-times-and-broadcast-crew/
Praise Jesus, Flutie is gone.
Holy crap, didn’t even notice that part. Maybe 2020 isn’t so bad after all.
Dungy is going to be awesome! I mean if he’s average and not a bumbling idiot, it’ll be great!
It looks like Kyren will be starting at RB and that he has a couple of new position teammates — Osita Ekwonu and Abdur-Rahman. I wonder if these two moves to RB were more about moving back-ups around for depth / practice purposes, or if either has a real chance to see the field?
Ekwonu is like 6’2, 220 right? That sounds like (dare I say), getting close to FULLBACK territory! And there was much rejoicing!
But seriously I’d love to know what they’re doing with all these running backs. This is a past absurd with the numbers they have there. Williams-Tyree-Armstrong really ought to be getting 90% of important game reps and touches, no?
6’2″ 220 is basically Josh Adams’ college size, right? I didn’t think he could ever be successful because he was so tall and ran so upright; I would love to be similarly surprised by Ekwonu.
Maybe BK has finally given in to the ND Nation demands? Will we be seeing a standard formation with 3 TEs, a FB (Ekwonu), and a RB?
True. I think I used his high school listed stats which (shocker) presented him to be taller than he is. It’s 6’0 3/4” and 236 on what I assume is the updated ND site?
Which puts him past Adams but you’re right on the initial comp. I don’t think Adams would have done well as a college MLB though, I bet they were built way different.
Maybe Ekwonu is for goal-line stuff? II mentioned Armstrong sounds like he hasn’t practiced much, I know Smith and Flemister have been short yardage backs but short yardage stunk last year. And with Tony Jones gone they don’t really have a big/stout back so maybe Ekwonu is the sledgehammer for 3rd and 1s and goal line situations?
https://und.com/sports/football/roster/
I know this was published before the Kelly presser, but if you listen to that, it is Williams as #1, then probably C’Bo and Tyree. The ship may have sailed on the Armstrong era at RB.
Duke Depth Chart:
QB
Ian Book
Brendon Clark
RB
Kyren Williams
Chris Tyree
OR Jahmir Smith
OR C’Bo Flemister
OR Jafar Armstrong
WR
Ben Skowronek
Joe Wilkins Jr.
WR
Avery Davis
Lawrence Keys III
WR
Javon McKinley
Braden Lenzy
TE
Brock Wright
Tommy Tremble
OR George Takacs
OR Michael Mayer
LT
Liam Eichenberg
Andrew Kristofic
LG
Aaron Banks
Dillan Gibbons
C
Jarrett Patterson
Zeke Correll
RG
Tommy Kraemer
John Dirksen
RT
Robert Hainsey
Josh Lugg
They actually shook up the running backs!
Skowronek and McKinley together won’t work long-term due to lack of speed. I wonder how long that lasts.
Gibbons moving up to 2nd team guard is nice. There was hype for Quinn Carroll I wonder where he actually sits if there were injuries at tackle.
I still think that Lenzy being 2nd team is basically b/c of Covid related issues. It of course was like 3rd hand knowledge, but he supposedly missed a couple of weeks due to contact tracing.
If he plays at or above how he ended last year I got to believe by week 3 he will be starting, but so long as he is on the field for 1/2 the snaps against Duke in one capacity or another and gets at least 5 or more touches I’ll not worry too much about the “starting” issue.