Notre Dame’s starting left tackle for the season opener at Texas A&M on Aug. 31 will likely be the runner-up in a right tackle competition that came to an abrupt and certain end over the weekend.
When put that bluntly, the facts may not be comforting to Notre Dame football fans or the quarterbacks on Notre Dame’s roster. But that’s exactly what’s developed for the Irish since projected starting left tackle Charles Jagusah tore his right pectoral muscle in Saturday’s practice.
With Jagusah expected to miss the entire 2024 season, offensive line coach Joe Rudolph made the decision to move graduate senior offensive tackle Tosh Baker from the No. 2 right tackle role to the No. 1 left tackle role. By all accounts, the 6-foot-8, 320-pound Baker lost the starting right tackle competition to junior Aamil Wagner after the Blue-Gold Game concluded spring football. Now Baker stepped back into the spotlight.
SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS
Related Content
► Notre Dame football LT Charles Jagusah expected to miss 2024 season
► Watch List Watch: Notre Dame RB duo named Doak Walker candidates
► Notre Dame football TE Kevin Bauman seeks healthy finish to college career
► Notre Dame ranked No. 7 in preseason Coaches Poll
► Bigger, brasher Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love rockets into the spotlight
---------------------------------------------------------------
Rudolph spoke with confidence about Baker to local reporters Tuesday after Baker spent the previous two practices filling the No. 1 left tackle role.
“He’s got incredible size, incredible length,” Rudolph said of Baker. “He's got understanding. He understands technique. He understands situational football. He will play physical. He will give you everything he has. Great communicator. I think the guys see him as a leader. I’ve got no doubt about his ability to step in there and do a great job.”
Baker does have more experience at the position than anyone else on Notre Dame’s roster. Baker found his way into the starting left tackle role as a sophomore in 2021 following injuries to Blake Fisher and Michael Carmody in the first two games of the season. Baker started the next two games against Purdue and Wisconsin before being sidelined with a concussion in practice the following week. By the time Baker was healthy to return, Joe Alt emerged as the starting left tackle. Baker spent the rest of Alt’s All-America career backing him up at left tackle.
But Baker wasn’t Rudolph’s first choice at left tackle in the Sun Bowl last season when Alt skipped the game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Baker, who also started as an extra offensive tackle/tight end against Ohio State, started at right tackle in the Sun Bowl while Jagusah started on the left side.
Rudolph explained Tuesday that the guard pairings played a role in his decision to align Baker and Jagusah at their respective spots in the 40-8 victory over Oregon State. He liked Baker playing next to young right guard Billy Schrauth and Jagusah playing next to experience left guard Pat Coogan.
Playing Baker next to Schrauth is no longer a priority. Rudolph wants to keep the 6-6, 290-pound Wagner at right tackle, because that’s where Wagner feels more comfortable. Baker feels more comfortable on the left.
“I just try to put guys in the best position that I think they can be successful with,” Rudolph said. “Sometimes it's what they do most naturally from a physical standpoint — their build, the way they are. Like Aamil, I kept him on the right side because structurally he's just a lot cleaner when he works from the right side, for whatever reason.”
What Wagner did in the spring was play “consistently and noticeably better,” than Baker, Rudolph said. When Baker was informed that Wagner would move ahead of him on the depth chart, Baker told Rudolph that he wanted a chance to compete to win the job back. Baker didn’t hop in the transfer portal to find a clearer path.
“It says everything about him. You know what I mean?” Rudolph said. “It not only says everything about him, it says everything about what he believes in this place and what he believes in his teammates. At a place like Notre Dame, that's got to be an edge for you.
“That group that you put on the field, like, they’ve got to love each other, man. They’ve got to be willing to make sacrifices for each other. They’ve got to be willing to go to places that you wouldn't go if you didn't care about the guys around you. And he displayed that in a big way, and I think the guys know that about him.”
Sorting out interior of Notre Dame’s offensive line
The only things to remain completely the same in Notre Dame’s starting offensive line since the Sun Bowl are the names at center and right guard. Junior center Ashton Craig and junior right guard Billy Schrauth are locked into the roles they played in the final three games of last season.
But the left guard competition between seniors Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler continues to be tightly contested. On an offensive line with so much inexperience, it’s a bit odd that the two with the most career starts — Coogan with 13 and Spindler with 10, all from last year — are competing for one job. Rudolph described the competition as “pretty balanced” so far in camp.
“The amount of volume of installation offensively and defensively is high,” Rudolph said. “So really, what you're looking for is: Who can apply themselves, now that the installation is kind of done? Like who's going to be able to be at their best? How do those things play out? I think there's a lot of great competition. I do think it's bringing out the best in us, but it's ongoing.”
Sophomore Sullivan Absher moved inside from tackle to compete at left guard as well. Notre Dame’s been running one of Spindler/Coogan at the No. 2 right guard to give the 6-7, 321-pound Absher more opportunities there.
“I think he's done really well,” Rudolph said. “The idea was to put pressure at the left guard position and keep developing him and see if he could push. He pushes at times. There's times where he does things probably as good as they could be done, and then there's times where you realize he's not quite closed the gap on being a consistent player. So, he's working through that journey.”
Regardless of how the Coogan-Spindler battle ends, Rudolph likes his options and how the players with handle the decision.
“Pat Coogan is a great leader. He'll be a great leader no matter what,” Rudolph said. “His level of care for this place is incredible. He doesn't just lead the O-line room. He’s just a leader on this team in a lot of ways.
“And Rocco brings that group a toughness, and just the physicality. And then, Ashton and Billy the way they finished last year, the physicality they play with, the understanding. They definitely have a chemistry, how they execute. They've truly taken an opportunity and just continue to rise with it, not only to finish the season, but carried it through the spring. And I think that's why they are where they're at right now. So, I love it, and I love the group in general.”
The unexpected freshman making his mark
Anthonie Knapp wasn’t just the lowest ranked of Notre Dame’s four offensive linemen who signed with the 2024 recruiting class in December. Knapp was the only one of the four to carry a three-star rating. Fellow tackles Guerby Lambert and Styles Prescod and guard Peter Jones were all rated as four-star recruits.
Yet Knapp, who was on campus as an early enrollee this winter/spring with Prescod and Jones, is the one already comfortably in the two-deeps. Knapp, who Rudolph originally recruited out of Roswell (Ga.) High during his time at Virginia Tech, is Notre Dame’s No. 2 left tackle and may be the next choice at right tackle behind Wagner too.
The 6-4, 291-pound Knapp doesn’t have the prototypical size of a tackle, but Rudolph can’t help but be impressed with how he’s handled what’s been thrown at him.
“… Knapp’s development has been pretty remarkable outside,” Rudolph said. “And he's really a consistent football player. And, ideally, as we move along, I think we find a home for him inside. But not many freshmen come in and can play like that, especially against this defense and this volume and stuff.”
Knapp played right tackle in the spring, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s the next tackle off the bench regardless of side. Junior Ty Chan took second-team reps at right tackle Tuesday after being stuck as a third-string guard earlier in camp. Prescod and Lambert are trying to find traction as well.
“The question is, what does Anthonie actually work into as a tackle? Like, what all can he be able to do for us?” Rudolph said. “And can we trust him to be like, ‘Hey, we need you,’ or ‘You’ve got to step in and get this done.’ I think that's what the rest of camp's for. But he's having a good showing. He's doing a great job with it. Some young guys are coming on.
“Like, Sully absolutely has the ability to go back out there [to tackle] and play. Got no doubt in that. And then Ty Chan, Guerby Lambert. Guerby’s just a little bit behind, in coming in, in the summer. He's doing some really, really good things. It's just that there's a lot of things going on, on offense and defense, that he's trying to close the gap on.
“Styles Prescod, who also could be an answer there, Styles is getting over that knee he came in with from high school, so he didn't really practice for most of the spring. But now he's kind of overcoming that, and he's showing some good signs. So, it's early in fall camp. So, our job is to keep pushing and keep helping their eyes, but Anthonie's done some really good stuff.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
