Where Notre Dame stands at every spot on the depth chart exiting preseason camp
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Where Notre Dame stands at every spot on the depth chart exiting preseason camp

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame ended training camp Friday with a scrimmage of nearly 100 plays, standard practice for mid-August during head coach Marcus Freeman’s previous four seasons in charge. Most years, Freeman is eager to get into what the Irish did well, picking out a few standout performances and naming a winner between the offense and defense.

This year, not so much.

It’s hard to tell if Freeman didn’t like what he saw or was just gassed from the breakneck pace of camp, which had been reconfigured by design. Notre Dame crammed in 15 more hours of meetings during training camp’s first 10 days, trying to create time before school begins next week. Notre Dame will break this weekend, then shift into game prep for Wisconsin.

“The amount of break time is condensed. The amount of time you have from walk-throughs to the next meeting is condensed, and it’s jam-packed,” Freeman said. “There’s not much downtime from the minute they get in the building and we start meetings to the minute they leave.

“We’ve been intentional about pushing them … in the hopes to make sure in Week 1 that we’re playing at a higher elevation.”

Notre Dame doesn’t need to join a conference, for now

Pete Sampson

With a No. 4 ranking in the major preseason polls and receiving first-place votes, there’s a lot of love for Notre Dame nationally. Internally, the Irish still have questions to answer before heading to Lambeau Field. Here are the biggest ones by position, with some spots more settled than others.

Quarterback

Did Notre Dame get any closer to figuring out its QB2? It didn’t sound like it as Freeman talked through the competition among Blake Hebert, Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard. Hebert missed nearly half of camp with an undisclosed personal issue, which may have opened the door for Grubbs and Jarrard to beat him out. If the differences between all three quarterbacks are negligible in mid-August, it’s hard to believe the more talented quarterbacks — Jarrard and Grubbs — won’t grow into the more capable ones by mid-season.

“Who’s the backup quarterback? I would like to say we’ll go watch it and make a decision, but I don’t know if we’ll be ready to here today,” Freeman said. “We’ll probably get to the next week and start saying, ‘We gotta have a guy really getting the reps, and what’s gonna be the game for that person?’”

During the limited media viewings, Grubbs and Jarrard worked with the second-team offense during the tempo drill, which is basically a handful of rapid-fire plays in 11-on-11 without serious contact. Each threw touchdowns during team periods that Notre Dame put on social media.

Are either ready to play in a game, even if the outcome is without doubt? Probably not. But it seems like the Irish staff wants to get them there.

Running back

Can a player have a breakout camp when he’s already the starter? It feels like Aneyas Williams had a camp that elevated him from “first-time starter” to “established contributor” within the offense. For a player who logged just 47 snaps last season and was limited during spring ball following offseason elbow surgery, this is a big jump.

Notre Dame doesn’t need Williams to be the next Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price, because he’s not going to be. But to be the next workhorse back who can convert short yardage and be a threat in the pass game? It seems like Williams is already there.

If Williams and Nolan James Jr. felt like 1 and 1A coming out of spring ball, that now feels closer to 1 and 2. It’s not a surprise the staff seems to favor Jonaz Walton as the third back, but it’s worth noting that running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider continues to rave about the freshman from Carrollton, Ga. Still, Freeman noted Kedren Young, who suffered a season-ending injury a year ago, could be a factor.

This running back room won’t be as good as last season — no one expected it to — but it should be enough for Notre Dame to have success on the ground.

Wide receiver

The good news? Jaden Greathouse made it through camp without a flare-up of his recurring hamstring injuries. The bad news? Ohio State transfer Quincy Porter regressed and will have another knee procedure on Aug. 21, per Freeman, who said the boundary receiver is still “a couple weeks away” from returning to action. If that’s truly the case, it’s hard to see Porter being part of the Wisconsin game plan.

“He’s still got a little bit of time to be in a position where we feel like he can help his team,” Freeman said. “But it’ll happen, it’s gonna happen here soon. I just don’t know when it’s going to be.”

The mystery at receiver is which inexperienced player will crack the rotation first after Greathouse, Jordan Faison and Mylan Graham. After talking up presumptive starter Micah Gilbert, Freeman basically listed the entire roster at the position.

Is that damning with faint praise, or is the depth actually that good? The hunch is Notre Dame’s receiver rotation will evolve all season after the top three. Jerome Bettis Jr. might be one of camp’s bigger surprises, although it’s hard to know what that means for the season.

Tight end

It’s Cooper Flanagan and everybody else at tight end, but Notre Dame feels good about what comes after its TE1.

Freeman called Flanagan an “alpha male,” with the senior now more than a year removed from tearing his Achilles against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. He logged just four snaps last season against USC and never felt quite right. Now he’s the sharp edge of Notre Dame’s run game, which needs an upgrade in short yardage.

“(Flanagan) will be the first one to go out there,” Freeman said. “But we have a deep tight end room.”

James Flanigan, a Wisconsin native whose father, Jim Flanigan, starred on the defensive line at Notre Dame under Lou Holtz before a 10-year NFL career that included one season in Green Bay, appears to be TE2. After that, it’s reserves Ty Washington and Jack Larsen.

For now, five-star freshman Ian Premer isn’t quite ready to make an impact with the starters.

Offensive line

When Ashton Craig finished his second comeback from a torn ACL, the presumption was he’d do it at center, the place where he’s started in parts of the past three seasons.

Turns out, the fifth-year senior could be a solution at right guard, where he’d compete with Sullivan Absher, assuming that center Joe Otting is good enough to hold down the starting job. Otting took over Craig last October and held up reasonably well, even if he doesn’t have the size of the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Craig.

“We’re still kind of tinkering with, ‘Hey, what is the best five out of those guys?’” Freeman said. “And then we got to get to a point where Ashton isn’t truly cleared to play yet.”

Freeman said Craig got extensive work during Friday’s scrimmage. Having options is a good thing on the offensive line, which has been stretched the past few seasons from injuries. Left tackle Will Black, left guard Anthonie Knapp and right tackle Guerby Lambert are set in stone coming out of camp.

The three-man competition at center and right guard will continue, even if it won’t include Matty Augustine, who suffered a broken fifth metatarsal that required surgery. Augustine is expected back later this season, although a specific return date is not set.

Don’t count Augustine out of challenging for a job in November and beyond.

Defensive line

When the transfer portal opened last winter, Notre Dame was desperate for help at defensive tackle. Donovan Hinish medically retired. Armel Mukam entered the transfer portal (only to re-sign with Notre Dame). The Irish were already replacing Rylie Mills and Howard Cross. And recruiting on the defensive interior had been poor the previous few cycles, as Notre Dame went four years without signing a front-line tackle who developed into a high-end college player.

Now?

“We’re deep with a lot of guys that will play, a lot of guys that could start,” Freeman said. “It’s great competition. Those guys have really had a good camp.”

That Francis Brewu (Pittsburgh) and Tionne Gray (Oregon) are part of that depth isn’t a surprise. Elijah Hughes (USC) is another transfer boost after joining the program a year ago. The shocker is Mukam, who wasn’t good enough to get on the field last season but will be part of the rotation this fall. And that doesn’t mean only playing in blowout wins. The fact that Mukam developed from scout team to potential starter may be the shock of camp.

“He’s had a terrific camp,” Freeman said. “Really has elevated his play.”

Linebacker

If defensive tackle is the deepest position on the team, linebacker is second according to Freeman. So much of that has to do with the health of Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who said he’s been cleared for contact and expects to open the season in the linebacker rotation. Viliamu-Asa suffered an ACL tear against Syracuse last November, and there was hope he could help in the opener against Wisconsin.

But it appears the junior can offer more than a boost off the bench.

“No restrictions right now. Just limited reps. That’s about it,” Viliamu-Asa said. “Now I’m starting to do pretty much everything. Seven-on-seven, team reps, team run. I’m doing all the (individual periods). So really it’s just a limited number of reps to make sure we’re not overdoing it.”

That means Notre Dame will open the season with four linebackers with extensive experience. In theory, the Irish don’t have to rush Viliamu-Asa at Lambeau Field because of Drayk Bowen, Jaylen Sneed and Jaiden Ausberry. Those three have combined to play 3,186 career snaps on defense.

Defensive back

Does Notre Dame have a competition at field corner, nickel or both? Freeman said the battle between transfers DJ McKinney (Colorado) and Jayden Sanders (Michigan) will stretch into game prep for Wisconsin.

Sanders opened camp with the starters while McKinney moved up after the first week. Now they’ll keep competing, although Freeman revealed Sanders is also getting work at nickel. Does that mean Christian Gray’s position is under threat, or does that suggest Dallas Golden isn’t quite ready?

“We haven’t made a decision yet between DJ and Jayden because we’re kind of moving Jayden around, because he’s gonna help us at nickel and field corner,” Freeman said. “But they’ve got a good battle, and both of them have really played well.”

Unlike at receiver, where Notre Dame has more depth than returning production, the cornerback spot is loaded with experience. McKinney has logged more snaps than anybody on the roster (2,093 on defense). Even Sanders (303 snaps) played enough as a freshman at Michigan to put him on even footing with Golden and Mark Zackery IV in terms of experience.

It’s a safe bet that cornerback will work itself out heading toward Wisconsin.

Safety feels like a couple of two-man rotations: Adon Shuler and Brauntae Johnson at the top with Luke Talich and Joey O’Brien next up. Getting the five-star freshman up to speed isn’t a shock, but it’s significant at a position that will likely turn over after this season.



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