Notre Dame begins their preparation for the 2020 season today, these are a few things to watch for during the Irish’s spring practices.
The Fighting Irish return to the field today, as Brian Kelly start his team’s preparation for the 2020 season with high expectations. Notre Dame is viewed as one of a handful of teams that could compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff but that doesn’t mean the Irish do not have questions to be answered this spring. Here are a few things to watch over the next month finishing with the Blue-Gold game on April 24th.
Who will emerge as options on offense?
The Irish return everyone on the offensive line and QB Ian Book but they lose starters RB Tony Jones Jr, WR’s Chase Claypool and Chris Finke and TE Cole Kmet. Every single skill position on the offensive side of the ball will have competition to replace the departed starters and the spring should be telling as who will be in contention for playing time in the fall. In the backfield, Jahmir Smith and Jafar Armstrong will battle it out for the feature back role. By adding graduate transfer Ben Skowronek will soften the blow, but look for Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys and Michael Young to fight for playing time. Early enrollees Jay Brunelle and Xavier Watts didn’t leave high school early for nothing, they both will be looked at options out wide as well. The tight end group will feature Tommy Tremble and Brock Wright fighting in the spring for reps.
Where will the sacks come from on the defensive line
Julian Okwara, Jamir Jones and Khalid Kareem combined to account for 14 sacks last year and their production will have to be replaced by multiple players. Daelin Hayes, Isaiah Foskey, Ovie Oghoufo, Justin Ademilola and Adetokunbo Ogundeji return so there is some experience but its more about production then experience. If Ogundeji continues his impressive play from late last year, all of his 4.5 sacks came in the last 3 games, then this might be a moot point.
Ian Book’s backup
The senior leader took the majority of snaps last year and with backup Phil Jurkovic transferring to Boston College, there is some concern if something happens to Book. At the current moment, rising sophomore Brendon Clark is the backup, but he has only attempted two career passes. Drew Pyne saw this lack of depth as an opportunity, as he enrolled early and will try to impress the coaching staff. Whoever ends up as the backup this year will have a leg up when it comes to the starting spot in 2021.
Which of the early enrollee’s will stand out
Three of the early enrollees have already been mentioned in Brunelle, Watts and Pyne, but there were five others that will participate in this spring: DB Caleb Offord, athlete Ramon Henderson, DE’s Alex Ehrensberger and Rylie Mill and LB Jordan Botelho. At least a few of these freshman will turn heads this spring and potential set themselves up to see playing time this season.
These are just a few of many things to watch for this spring when the Irish hit the field. What are you most interested in seeing?
