SOUTH BEND, Ind. — As the Notre Dame media awaited the Irish safeties for interview opportunities Tuesday, the persistent buzz among a handful of reporters was all about a defensive lineman.
And that was three days after their first and only extended look at Jason Onye this spring.
Jason who?
Onye is a 6-foot-5, 292-pound junior from North Providence, R.I., whose only playing time in his first two years on campus was compressed into eight snaps in the snow globe-esque 44-0 rout of Boston College, Nov. 19 at Notre Dame Stadium.
Even after recording career tackles Nos. 1 and 2, Onye had neither the pedigree (three-star prospect), nor a clear lane to be a contributor in 2023. Yet Saturday, in Notre Dame’s only spring practice completely open to the media ahead of the April 22 Blue-Gold Game, Onye looked every bit the part.
“We need the next generation of guys to step up,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said days before the open practice and mentioned Onye by name as a possibility.
After watching Onye take No. 2 reps at nose guard behind incumbent grad senior Howard Cross III and give Notre Dame’s interior offensive line all it could handle on Saturday, Onye can claim the non-NIL-rewarding, non-trophy-bearing distinction of the Irish player I’d most like to see more of this spring.
Even if it’s not until the Blue-Gold Game.
The reason being, if the position group that has the most to prove this spring consistently surprises — as it did Saturday — Onye’s player development story is a necessary piece to make that happen.
Some of the other five in my top half dozen made the "must see" list for similar reasons. Some for quite different ones. I excluded injured/recovering players. Otherwise, running back Jadarian Price, safety/nickel Thomas Harper, cornerback Cam Hart, tight end Eli Raridon and rover Jaylen Sneed would be included.
Without further blather, here are the other five who DID make the list:
Lorenzo Styles, WR, junior
Given his struggles with drops last season, it doesn’t seem real that Styles is Notre Dame’s leading returning receiver (30 catches, 340 yards, 1 TD) or that he was one of the most prolific freshman receivers since 2010 the year before (24 catches, 344 yards, 1 TD).
In practice these days, he doesn’t have the look of a dominant No. 1 wide receiver, but the 6-foot-1, 192-pounder does appear to have recaptured his confidence and reliability with a chance again to ascend. Even if that just makes him a strong rotational player in an improving position group, that’s a win for the Irish offense.
Billy Schrauth, OG, sophomore
A practice injury to Michael Carmody at left guard Saturday opened the door for No. 1 reps for 6-5, 304-pounder, who new Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph lost out on at the 11th hour at Wisconsin in the 2022 recruiting cycle.
The question doesn’t seem to be if Schrauth can become the next elite NFL guard prospect out of ND but how soon he can show that consistency. The balance of spring practice should at least strongly hint at the answer, especially if he’s taking reps next to All-American left tackle Joe Alt.
Mitchell Evans, TE, junior
In the Gator Bowl last December and in Saturday’s practice, the former high school quarterback didn’t look like former All-American Michael Mayer, but he did have the look of a strong No. 1 tight end at a school that sends them to the NFL with startling regularity.
Once sophomore Eli Raridon and senior Kevin Bauman return from their respective ACL rehabs this summer, that No. 1 tight end distinction will become all the more competitive. But if the 6-5, 260-pound Evans can consistently improve over the second half of spring practice, he’ll at least earn the trust of the coaching staff that he’s not just the flavor of the week.
Jack Kiser, LB, grad senior
The 6-2, 223-pound grad senior has a keen sense of what’s in his skill set and what is not, and he plays within that framework at a position (rover) that doesn’t accentuate his strengths. And yet, he’s not only been remarkably productive the past two seasons, he’s also graded out, by Pro Football Focus, among ND’s top three defensive players (those with more than 10 reps on the season) each of the past two seasons.
The dilemma is how do you make the best of his talents when there’s already an incumbent starter (Marist Liufau) and ascending challenger (Prince Kollie) battling for reps at the position that would fit Kiser best, weakside linebacker?
That’s for Golden and new grad assistant linebackers coach Max Bullough to figure out between now and the Blue-Gold Game.
Javontae Jean-Baptiste, DE, grad senior
Last season, the Irish plucked a depth piece out of the transfer portal, in Harvard’s Chris Smith, to bolster the defensive line. This time, they need a starter, if not a star.
It’s not clear yet if the 6-5, 255-pound Ohio State transfer is either of those things. But he does have moments when he looks capable of being coaxed in that direction. Just like Onye, defensive line coach Al Washington needs multiple copycat storylines of strong, if not surprising, offseason transformations.
So far, he has a fighting chance.
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