Notre Dame Football: Full Practice Report No. 1 - Defense
Notre Dame kicked off the 2019 season on Sunday, August 4th with a practice down in Culver, Ind. Yesterday we released the immediate hot takes from the defensive practice, and now we dive into a more detailed position-by-position report.
DEFENSIVE END
Notre Dame did not wear any pads other than helmets on the first day, which means evaluations about defensive linemen and linebackers will be relegated mostly their conditioning and athleticism.
Anything beyond that must be viewed with incredible skepticism, because success rushing the passer and playing the run, or a lack of success, when not wearing pads doesn’t really say much about how things will be when the pads come on.
Senior defensive end Julian Okwara is listed at eight pounds heavier (up to 248) than he was last fall, and he is noticeably thicker in the upper body. My concern with any weight and size gains is will that player maintain his athleticism, and that concern has been alleviated with Okwara, who showed an excellent burst off the edge during the first day of practice.
At the very least Okwara is as explosive as he was last season, and he could be a step quicker. On one particular team rep he exploded off the line and beat right tackle Robert Hainsey off the ball and forced the quarterback to step into the pocket.
Senior end Khalid Kareem also looked to be in top-level conditioning on the first day of camp, showing a thicker frame and a better burst off the line. He had two good reps against Hainsey during 1on1s, and even though he didn’t get to the quarterback on either rep, they were quality battles where Kareem showed a good burst off the line.
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