For some that pay close attention, the biggest takeaway from Wednesday’s first spring practice of 2023 hardly comes as a surprise. Instead, it felt like a long time coming, especially with the amount of talent in Notre Dame’s backfield. But rising senior [autotag]Chris Tyree[/autotag]’s days in the backfield are limited if Wednesday was any indication.
Tyree, who will be a senior this fall and sports the No. 2 instead of 25, spent Wednesday working at slot receiver. The 5-foot-9 speedster spent his first three seasons at Notre Dame in the backfield, rushing a career-high 100 times last year for 444 yards and three touchdowns. He hauled in 24 receptions for 138 more yards and two more scores.
So will Tyree stay in the slot or will he be in the backfield? [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] offered the following after the first spring practice:
“He’s a guy that has multiple skill sets, and we know Chris Tyree is a guy we have to have on the football field. … The ability to put him at wideout, we know what he can do as a running back, to really be a guy that can do multiple different things.”
It seems Tyree’s days in the backfield aren’t entirely done, but the writing sure seems on the wall for him to be thrown to a lot more this year. [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] and [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag] breaking out last year adds to that, as do the additions of highly regarded incoming freshman [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] and sophomore [autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag], who missed last year due to injury.
It’s also a way to better a wide receiver group that lacks depth. It’s seemingly improving but has a way to go before it’s anywhere near a championship level. Tyree moving to receiver helps that but the gap remains.
It should be fun to see how Tyree’s tremendous speed is utilized in the slot. How defenses have to account for it will bring a compelling dynamic.
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