Spring practice for the Fighting
Irish football team concluded with the 83rd annual Notre Dame Blue
and Gold Game. The game is the only practice that. This final spring practice
is only chance the public has a chance to view the Irish before they take the
field the first Saturday in September. Besides being great for the fans, the
game is also the last chance players have to make good impressions on their
coaches and teammates. In the past few years, many players have taken advantage
of the big stage to produce huge days. Two players really made a name for
themselves, but you’ll have to read on to find out who they were.
I’m gonna break down the game by each position on the team, from quarterbacks
to kickers. The names under each position are players that will most likely
fill out the depth chart when fall practice begins before the season in August.
Quarterbacks
Tommy
Rees, Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson, Gunner Kiel
This is the position that
is once again at the forefront of the Notre Dame off-season watch list. Last
year, the battle was between Dayne Crist, Rees, Hendrix, and Golson. This year,
there is no Crist. Instead, there is one of the Top 5 ranked recruits in the
country; Columbus, Indiana native, Gunner Kiel.
Before the game was
played, I would have ranked the quarterbacks, in terms of how they should be
placed on the depth chart, as: Hendrix, Rees, Golson, Kiel. That is based on
how they played last year and the assumption that each quarterback will improve
during the offseason. After the Blue-Gold game, I would rank them as: Hendrix,
Golson, Rees, Kiel.
Even though sophomore
Golson had the most statistically impressive game, I don’t think he’s ready to
be the starter yet. He had trouble getting the calls to his teammates and
getting his receivers into their right positions. Golson connected on 11 of his
15 attempts and threw for two touchdowns. He also got 30 yards rushing on 6
attempts. He brings electricity and a dynamic edge to the offense that no other
quarterback can.
Hendrix, Rees, and Kiel
had average days. All completed 50% of their passes and none threw for more
than 100 yards. Hendrix did have one touchdown though. Rees was his usual self.
He made a lot of good plays but he also had one interception. Rees has not
improved in any way since his sophomore season last year. This has been my
complaint since he made his first start in 2010. He is a solid player, somebody
that can manage games, but he isn’t a game changer or somebody that is going to
win a national championship. Sadly enough, he has reached his full potential.
Hendrix, a junior, seems like he has room for improvement and is already as
good as Rees is. He has a good arm, good decision-making skills, and is quick
on his feet. Kiel had a good day too, but I don’t believe there is any way he
will start the season as the starting quarterback. In fact, I wouldn’t be
surprised to see coach Kelly redshirt the incoming freshmen. This would give
him a fifth year as long as he doesn’t play one snap in the 2012 season. Kiel
has a lot of potential and I can see why he was so highly touted in high
school. He is going to be a great player, but not this year.
The whole quarterback
controversy may have gotten a little clearer after an altercation that got
Tommy Rees a misdemeanor. Last week, 19-year old Tommy Rees and teammate Carlo
Calabrese were arrested while trying to run from police who were called to stop
a house party. Rees and Calabrese both acted aggressively towards police
officers and both were over the legal drinking limit. Their penalties have not
been announced yet.
Running
Backs
Cierre
Wood, Theo Riddick, George Atkinson III, Amir Carlisle, Cameron Robinson
This should be one of the strong
points of the Irish offense this year. Wood was the team’s leading rusher last
season and is back for his senior year. He only played for about 10 snaps in
the Blue-Gold game to prevent injury. Obviously, he is the guaranteed starter
for 2012. Fellow senior Theo Riddick was primarily a wide receiver last season
but he has been moved to the backfield because of lack of depth at the
position. He ran 5 times for just 17 yards on Saturday. I was not impressed by
Riddick really. He has speed but he doesn’t have the vision or mindset of a
running back. He just seems like a fast guy that likes to run the ball, which
is basically all he is.
Who was really impressive
on Saturday was George Atkinson III. The sophomore carried the ball 15 times
for 127 yards. Even though he fumbled a couple of times, the way he broke
tackles and worked his way downfield was fantastic to watch. With Atkinson’s
impressive play, I wonder if Riddick will be moved back to wide receiver.
Atkinson seems more than ready to be the backup to Wood.
Sophomore Amir Carlisle is
a transfer from USC and did not play in the game because of an ankle injury.
Junior Cameron Robinson was also recovering from an injury and did not play.
Wide
Receivers
T.J.
Jones, Robby Toma, John Goodman, Luke Massa, Daniel Smith, DaVaris Daniels
There are huge shoes to fill at this spot as one of the best wide receivers in
Notre Dame football history is gone. Those shoes, and many Irish records,
belong to Michael Floyd. Junior T.J. Jones will become the #1 receiver and
fifth-year senior will be the #2 receiver. Playing the slot will be senior
Robby Toma. All three of those guys saw a lot of playing time in 2011 but only
combined for 5 touchdowns. That should tell you how much Floyd meant to the
Notre Dame offense.
Jones, Toma, Smith and Daniels combined for five catches. You can’t blame that
on the receivers though. Most of them only played in the first half of the
game. Plus, many of the passes were to tight ends and running backs. Massa and
Goodman did not register any receptions. I don’t know if they didn’t play or
they didn’t catch any. I would go with the former.
Fitzpatrick and Liebscher are just two white guys who are on the roster to fill
up spots. I wouldn’t expect them to even play once during the season. No shame
in that though.
Tight
Ends
Tyler
Eifert, Alex Welch, Ben Koyack, Jake Golic, Troy Niklas
Along with the running back unit, these guys will be the strength of the Irish
offense. Senior Tyler Eifert is back after a tremendous junior year in which he
was named a first-team All-American. The 6’-6”, 249 lb. future NFL player is
looking to have another great season but did not see very much playing time in
the spring game. Junior Alex Welch only had one catch in his freshman season
and only had one catch in the Blue-Gold game. He is expected to be the starter
along with Eifert.
Freshman Ben Koyack saw a lot of playing time in the game and finished with 4
catches, 38 yards, and 1 touchdown. Neither Golic or Niklas played because of
injury. Golic is a fifth-year senior who will have to work his way up the depth
chart. Niklas was recruited as a linebacker but has been moved to tight end. He
is only a freshman but it will be exciting to watch him in the future. He is
almost the exact same size as Eifert at 6’ 6”, 250 lbs. but doesn’t have the
hands that Eifert does yet, but that can be taught. Expect Eifert, Welch, and
Koyak to get most of the playing time, but also expect Notre Dame to use
numerous tight ends in a similar fashion to Stanford last year.
Doesn’t it seem like we
always have fantastic tight ends? First, there was Anthony Fasano who started
from 2003-2005 and was then drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round.
Then John Carlson became the starting tight end from 2006-2008 before being
drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round. Last, but certainly not
least, there’s Kyle Rudolph. He started for the Irish in 2009 and 2010 and was
then drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round. The current tight
ends coach, Mike Denbrock, was at Notre Dame during Carlson and Fasano’s
tenure. He then left to coach at another school but was rehired by Coach Kelly
in 2010.
Offensive
Line
Braxston
Cave, Zach Martin, Chris Watt, Mike Golic Jr., Christian Lombard, Tate Nichols,
Conor Hanratty, Nick Martin, Jordan Prestwood
A
lot of names up there, but the only ones you’ll hear called on game days will
be: Cave, Watt, Z. Martin, Nichols, and Lombard. Cave, Watt, and Zach
Martin were all starters last year and all are entering their senior years in
2012. Cave is the center, Watt the left guard, and Martin the left tackle.
Fifth-year senior Mike Golic Jr. is looking to get starting time after filling
in for Cave last season because of injury. Juniors Christian Lombard, Tate
Nichols, and Bruce Heggie are vying for the other two starting spots.
Sophomores Brad Carrico, Conor Hanratty, Matt Hegarty, Nick Martin, and Jordan
Prestwood didn’t play at all last year and they all reserved a year of
eligibility.
The three seniors on the left side of the line should give plenty of protection
for whoever the quarterback is. They should also open up huge holes for the
running backs. The Irish offensive line is always one of the best in the
country and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon, especially with five
offensive linemen verbally committed in the 2013 recruiting class.
Defensive
Line
Louis
Nix III, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Stephen Tuitt, Sheldon Day, Chase Hounshell, Kona
Schwenke
The front seven for the Irish is going to be dominant. I don’t think at one
point in the last ten years has the defense ever been this strong. That was
even before Freshman All-American Aaron Lynch left. Nix started 11 games last
season as nose tackle and will return to that position. Junior Kona Schwenke
and sophomore Stephen Tuitt will line up at defensive end. Those three all
started in games, and were integral parts of the Notre Dame defense. Kapron
Lewis-Moore is an early graduate and in his final year of athletic eligibility.
Hounshell saw action last year when injuries started amounting on the defensive
line. He played well in those games and should be even better in his sophomore
year.
Linebackers
Manti
Te’o, Dan Fox, Ishaq Williams, Prince Shembo, Carlo Calabrese, Kendall Moore,
Jarrett Grace, Ben Councell, Anthony Rabasa
This is the second half of a very impressive defensive front. Teo was a 2011
All-American and enters 2012 as a pre-season All-American. The senior inside linebacker
will undoubtedly be an early round NFL Draft pick. Before that happens, he has
a chance to be the greatest linebacker in Notre Dame history. That is just my
opinion, but I cannot think of ONE great linebacker that has played for the
Irish. Backing up Te’o is Kendall Moore and Jarrett Grace. Moore got most of
the playing time in the Blue-Gold game and finished the game with eight total
tackles.
Playing inside linebacker next to Te’o will be senior Dan Fox. Fox started in
all 13 games last year and accumulated 48 tackles during the season. Like Te’o,
Fox didn’t play much during the Blue-Gold game to prevent injury. His back up,
Carlo Calabrese played and recorded four tackles. As mentioned earlier,
Calabrese got into trouble with his teammate Rees and may be disciplined before
the season begins.
The starting outside linebackers will likely be Ishaq Williams and Prince
Shembo. Shembo was a 2011 starter that finished his sophomore year with 31 tackles.
Williams is being hyped as one of the most athletic players on the Notre Dame
roster. The sophomore stands at 6’ 5” and 255 lbs. and is looking to make a
larger contribution this season than last. The backup outside linebackers are
Ben Councell and Anthony Rabasa.
Cornerbacks
Bennett
Jackson, Lo Wood, Josh Atkinson, Jalen Brown
This is the biggest area of concern for Coach Kelly and his team. None of these
players have any starting experience plus Atkinson and Brown are just sophomores.
Wood and Jackson, juniors, will be the starters. Wood played well in the
Blue-Gold game and tallied seven tackles. Atkinson also played well and had
three tackles and broke up a pass. Brown played on the scout team last year and
defended Michael Floyd every day in practice. That experience should pay off
when Brown goes against elite receivers.
What most Irish fans are hoping for is that our cornerbacks won’t have to stick
to their receivers for a long time since our defensive line so good. It is
going to be paramount that Jackson and Wood aren’t left playing one-on-one
against receivers for an extended period of time or it could get ugly. It gets
even worse when you see pass-happy teams Oklahoma, Michigan, and USC on the
2012 schedule.
Safeties
Zeke
Motta, Jamoris Slaughter, Austin Collinsworth, Eilar Hardy, Dan McCarthy, Chris
Salvi
Slaughter and Motta are
the only players in the entire secondary that have any starting experience.
Slaughter started 11 games in 2011 and had 45 tackles and 4 sacks. Motta
started seven games and has amassed 102 tackles in his career at Notre Dame; a
total that is third-most on the team. These two seniors will be key to stopping
opposing quarterbacks that will look to pass against the young cornerbacks.
Fifth-year senior and
graduate Dan McCarthy has mostly been a special teams player and that will
likely continue in 2012. Junior Austin Collinsworth played on special teams in
2011 but made a few appearances on the field in the dime package. Salvi is a walk-on
player who impressed the coaches enough to earn a scholarship for 2012. Salvi
is also a pretty good amateur boxer. The last time a Notre Dame safety
part-timed as an amateur boxer, he ended up in the NFL. Look for Salvi and
Collinsowrth to get more playing time this year as they will likely be the
starters in 2013.
Kickers
Ben
Turk, Nick Tausch, Kyle Brindza
Senior Ben Turk is a
tremendously talented punter and has held the punter position for as long as I
can remember. Senior Nick Tausch and sophomore Kyle Brindza are fighting for
the starting kicker spot. Tausch was the starter last year and made 14 straight
field goals his freshman year. Tausch made it onto the field in 2011 as a
kick-off specialist. Unless Tausch starts nailing 60-yarders in practice in
August, I would expect him to remain on the kick-off unit. He’ll get his chance
to start next year.
It’s a bit too early to
start predicting about the 125th season of Notre Dame Football, but
I really don’t see this team making it to a BCS Bowl this year. I know this is
not what the Irish faithful want to hear. After two, eight win seasons in a
row, everybody will look at the third year of coach Brian Kelly as a benchmark
of how successful he has been so far. The entire success of the 2012 season will
rest on the arm of one of the four quarterbacks. If one of those young men can
claim the starting spot and play great then this is a team that could get to 10
or 11 wins. However, with such a hard schedule, they could easily finish with
7, 8, or 9.
The truth is that Brian
Kelly is just now getting players he wants in his offensive system in the 2012
and 2013 recruiting class. Give Kelly another year and he will prove to
everybody that Notre Dame football is back. I’ll say it right now, Notre Dame
will be invited to play in a BCS Bowl after the 2013 season. We just have to be
patient Irish fans!
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