Technically speaking, summer doesn’t end until the day before Notre Dame plays Michigan State. That’ll be the 4th game of the season for the Irish. Nevertheless, the set of practices we call fall camp is just around the corner beginning Tuesday, August 1st. Speaking of 4th game, that’s how far Brian VanGorder got as defensive coordinator last year before receiving his pink slip. The interim staff did okay given the situation but the Irish were last seen giving up 79 points in the last 2 games of 2016 so there’s a bunch of room for improvement.
Top Storylines
Mike Elko: Miracle Worker, Rebuilder, or Something Else?
The spring was a nice introduction for new defensive coordinator Mike Elko and now things get serious. He was a miracle worker or sorts at Wake Forest but his brief stint in Winston-Salem, an under-the-radar 5 years at the MAC level with Bowling Green, and Notre Dame’s less than ideal talent/experience situation at certain positions leave many cautiously optimistic with a healthy side of skepticism.
Notre Dame’s defense should be better one would hope. It’s just a matter of by how much. Additionally, if the defense starts looking strong during camp do we believe it? August has a way of proving the opposite to be true when the season begins! I’ll be particularly reserved if, like we saw in the spring game, the Irish offense purposely spends fall camp forcing Wimbush to throw the ball for more reps. I’ll be weary of the run defense and worried about the offense’s ability to run the ball at a high level.
Speaking w many coaches for @SInow CFB Preview>Several mentioned how improved they expect #ND to be bc they respect new DC Mike Elko so much
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) July 22, 2017
The rest of the country loves Elko. Can this work out for Notre Dame and do so quickly?
Shaun Crawford Staying Healthy
Two years ago during camp Crawford was a true freshman immediately in the starting sub-package for the Irish before tearing his ACL. Last year, he made it 1.5 games before tearing his Achilles on a pass break-up against Nevada. Notre Dame does like their corners right now and it’s difficult to call Crawford a luxury addition if he can stay healthy but if he can’t be relied upon there are only 4 remaining corners left on scholarship.
Five corners if Crawford stays healthy!
This will be a tight rope act all season that could derail one of the more promising positional units on the team.
Emerging Difference Makers
This defense really needs quality coaching but also a few players to step up as big-time playmakers to help out their coaches. Who could be our candidates?
MLB Nyles Morgan – The smart money choice. A highly touted senior, physically gifted, and playing a position with plenty of opportunities in Elko’s defense.
ROVER Drue Tranquill – He spent the beginning of spring being a mentor at safety and then turned up the production as Elko’s hybrid linebacker where he impressed enough to keep my boy Bilal out of the starting unit.
CB Julian Love – The rising sophomore followed up an impressive 2016 with a rock-solid spring. Among the young guys who have proven something he could be special.
Unless you want to predict the emergence of defensive end Daelin Hayes–who didn’t show any signs of becoming a star during the spring–an issue for the defense is that you can’t really talk about anyone from the front four or safety.
Positional Battles
Both Safeties
Unless things break down and Tranquill has to return we should see a four-man competition during the fall: Studstill, Elliott, Coleman, and Robertson. Converted corner Nick Coleman actually fitting in and rebounding from a terrible 2016 was a great story line in the spring. Otherwise, much work needs to be done for Elko at this spot. It’s still a giant, massive question mark.
Buck Linebacker
This may not be much of a competition as Greer Martini spent all of spring with the 1st team but Te’von Coney is expected to keep his hat in the ring and play a lot, too.
Corners 3-5
We know Crawford has the talent to be a starter if not the top corner. With him taking it easy during the spring the Love/Watkins combo stuck together. At times, both Troy Pride and Donte Vaughn showed something as freshmen but didn’t appear to grow much during the spring. Deciding the pecking order here will be important for depth purposes because, again, this is all we’ve got!
Defensive Tackle
Look, I’m not going to list every defensive line position, although one certainly could do that. Let’s assume Daelin Hayes, Jay Hayes, and Jerry Tillery are starters. Perhaps all 3 won’t be but it’s more likely than not. The situation with Jonathan Bonner I’m much less sure of as he’s moved inside from the edge and hasn’t really proven he has the tools to hold down this position for all of camp. There could be 3 or 4 other options forcing their way on to the field here.
Injury Report
DT Elijah Taylor, lisfranc fracture – The more tepid prognosis was that Taylor wouldn’t be fully ready for fall camp and if he’s technically on the field he might not be ready enough to challenge for the aforementioned defensive tackle spot.
CB Shaun Crawford, Achilles tear – He’s suffered two major injuries but also shown insane ability to recover quickly. Judging by his pace in spring he should be ready, God willing.
LB David Adams, elbow surgery – The incoming freshman was all sorts of banged up as a senior at Central Catholic in Pittsburgh. In mid-February he had UCL surgery on his elbow. It should be a quiet fall camp for him.
NG Daniel Cage, concussions – Although nothing official has come from the school or directly from the player himself the reports last week were that Cage would either be retiring straight away or sitting out 2017 in hopes of being healthy enough to play one last year in 2018. We’ve likely seen the last of Cage in the blue and gold.
Freshmen Watch
S Isaiah Robertson – Already mentioned above as someone fighting for a starting spot. Probably falls short but could potentially still have a big role in 2017.
S Jordan Genmark Heath – A classic high floor, low ceiling type of recruit. That usually lends itself to special teams play early in ones career.
LB Drew White – Everyone loves this kid in comparison to his rankings. The top 6 at linebacker look pretty much solidified so he should redshirt. My pick for Scout team defensive player of the year during the December awards show.
LB David Adams – Mentioned in the above injury report and pretty commonly mentioned as one of the more overrated prospects. Not a great combo for a true freshman.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – Everyone’s favorite late addition to the February class. Most expect him not to redshirt and at least see time on special teams. He’ll probably notch 5 tackles all season but 2 of them will have us predicting him as a starter in 2018.
DT Darnell Ewell – The highest rated defender in the class was expected to do big things ASAP. If he reads the internet there will be tons of pressure from the first practice.
DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa – Can you spell his name yet from memory? He had surprisingly good film as a late-cycle signing and offers flexibility to boot. He could be in the mix quickly.
DT Kurt Hinish – Quick off the line with pretty good power, sounds like a future 3-tech! He’s been a pretty low-key member of this class and committed for a long time. Don’t be surprised if he raises some eyebrows.
DE Jonathan MacCollister – My lowest recruit of the class and someone who I think is going to struggle with being too slow on the end and not big enough to play inside. He’s a long-term project similar to the likes of Tiassum and Mokwuah in classes before him.
DE Kofi Wardlow – Also not real impressed and he was a very late addition to the class. A little higher ceiling than MacCollister but also super raw and not very explosive. If a freshman leaves school in August he’s my bet.
Quick Takes
The X-Factor: S Alohi Gilman
It’s kind of a big deal if a transfer could become eligible and possibly start right away. Surely we can’t be this lucky?
Redshirt Freshman to Watch: LB Jon Jones
Not many choices but the praise for Jones should start manifesting itself more to the public soon.
Under the Radar True Sophomore to Watch: DE Julian Okwara
He’s got the genes and he might be the preferred backup at rush end. That’s a big step up from last year.
Stock Low, Buy a Bit: S Devin Studstill
Hyped early enrollee, to a first season of struggles, to spring backup. Way too young and not enough proven safeties for him not to come back strong.
Now or Never Senior: DE Andrew Trumbetti
We’re not going to be tuning into the opener with Trumbetti resigned to some wacky blocking H-back role, are we?
I feel like if Cage’s concussions are bad enough to keep him out for an entire year, then he should retire for good. Getting one concussion, not a huge deal, happens to everyone, but as soon as it became an issue, I would be out of football soooo fast.
Yeah, right now I’d probably handicap it at about a 25% chance of returning. I’m not sure how bad the second concussion was; from what I’ve seen I think this decision was more about not rushing back after the meniscus surgery. He has had some conditioning challenges before – not saying he’s not trying, just saying that he has a little bit of a struggle to keep in shape – so missing most of the spring with the concussion and all of the summer with the meniscus tear would really put him behind the eight ball.
I think he’s doing a reasonable thing in that sense – take a breather, get the knee right, and then take an appropriate amount of time to get his conditioning back up. I agree on your concerns about his head, though, a second significant concussion would make me really worried. Hopefully everything works out for him.
Oh interesting. I just assumed the time off was because of concussions. Really glad if this is just a physical thing. The one thing I really hate to see is ND kids with concussion problems.
The one thing I really hate to see is kids with concussion problems.
FTFY. Get your point, though.
I’d disagree that Daelin Hayes didn’t show anything in the spring. By all accounts he was very competitive with Mike McGlinchey throughout the spring, and he had seven tackles and four TFLs, including three sacks, in the Blue-Gold game. Even with two-hand touch on the QBs, that’s a pretty good day.
There’s always the Junior Jabbie caveat, of course, and Daelin’s production with the lights on is still pretty close to zero, so I’m not penciling him in for the Bednarik just yet. But he did show something, and now we just need him to translate it to the fall and, of course, stay healthy.
He didn’t show signs of becoming a star, though. I can’t remember any practice report that was more than “he’s doing okay” or something of that nature.
Spring game was nice but largely unblocked on many of those plays, right?
Are y’all concerned about the possibility of Daelin being injury-prone – wasn’t he hurt quite a bit in high school?
The starting defense seems “okay” to me (not great and not horrible) – my concern is the depth, especially at positions like corner and tackle. Maybe this is the wrong year to start pushing the tempo on offense (which will require a larger defense rotation because of the shorter time of possession)?
Dealin’s injury history is definitely a concern. It’s a plus that he got through all of last year without incident, but that’s not enough to make it go away. In fact if he plays three more seasons injury-free and kicks tail throughout, I’m pretty sure his NFL.com draft profile will note his shoulder issues. That’s just the way it goes.
I’m not really worried about depth at corner. Watkins, Love, and Vaughn have all proven themselves, Pride showed flashes, and Crawford has reportedly wowed the coaches so far. I’m concerned about safety until we see real results on the field, and yes, I’m also concerned about interior DL. It’s Tillery and Bonner with no real game-tested guys behind them, no matter what happens. That’s a bit scary.
To Eric’s question, I don’t think most of Hayes’s spring game production was unblocked. He did get to go against Tommy Kraemer for the most part after practicing mostly against McGlinchey, which obviously would be a bit easier. There were a few times when he absolutely abused Kraemer, which maybe looked like he wasn’t blocked.
The defense feels a lot better than it did near this time last year – probably thanks in a large part to not having four players with suspensions pending.
/jinx’d
SHHHH
” He’ll probably notch 5 tackles all season but 2 of them will have us predicting him as a starter in 2018.”
I laughed because I do this every year too.
I got my tickets for the NC State game. My field preview is below. I did not doctor the photo on the Jumbotron, ND appears to be trolling Michigan, so I couldn’t be happier.
That is absolutely fantastic.
Kind of upset they didn’t use this:
EDIT:I thought .gifs loaded automatically? (It’s Devin Gardner getting leveled by Max Redfield)
Fixed. They do, but upon further investigation we noticed that there’s another setting about secure vs non-secure links (start with http vs https) that affected it. Basically it was only automatically rendering the image if the link started with https.
Should be good now, as evidenced in all the Michigan suckery glory of that image.
EDIT: Also, for the record… Max earned the flag for that one. According to the rule book, on an interception the quarterback is considered a defenseless player throughout the duration of the play. You can only hit a defenseless player from the front with a one and half step (I think) lead-in. You know, exactly what Onwualu was lining him up for. I think it’s a perfect encapsulation of Redfield’s career that the biggest hit he ever made was a clear violation of the rules that was also completely unnecessary because a teammate was right there waiting to do it the right way.
All the same, 37-0.
Would have been 44-0, too, if Redfield hadn’t been so stupid.