Notre Dame O-line intrigue continues and could become an ongoing saga

The handful of context-lacking, overreaction-tempting, echo chamber-inducing practice snaps that true freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp and essentially redshirt freshman Sam Pendleton fired off in front of the media on Thursday turned out to be way more of an audition than a promotion.

For now.

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► Notre Dame football depth chart projection two weeks out from Texas A&M

► Leaner version of Notre Dame WR Jayden Thomas leans into proving himself

► Unearthing more intriguing storylines percolating in Notre Dame fall camp

► QB Riley Leonard remains assumption as Notre Dame football starter

► Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman post-scrimmage press conference transcript

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What Saturday’s post-scrimmage press conferences with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock provided was how the curious upstarts’ individual preseason training camp surges may play out from this point forward.

And that what the college football world sees lined up as the top of the Irish O-line depth chart in week 1 — in presumably, hot, loud and nasty Kyle Field in prime time against 20th-ranked Texas A&M — may not necessarily have staying power.

“We take all of those things into consideration — who has experience, the ceiling of the individuals you have in that room,” Freeman said Saturday after the Irish offense edged the ND defense, 42-40, using a scoring system that the coach either couldn’t or didn’t have the motivation to explain.

“Really, where will they be week 1 versus where will they be week 8? And that's something that you even saw last year as we progressed throughout the season. You had a couple new guys that ended up starting.

“So, all those things we have conversations about, and we take all those things into consideration at some point. And we say, ‘OK, let's name the starting five [on the] offensive line.’ But you do, you have some experience. You have guys that aren't as experienced, or have zero experience but are really talented football players.

“And at some point, you just have to make a decision based off all those facts you mentioned and be confident who you're going to have out there on week 1. And what we decide on is best for week 1 doesn't mean it's going to be the best for week 5 or 6. And that's something we've discussed as a coaching staff, but we’ve got to figure out what's best for week 1.”

Whoever Freeman rolls out against Texas A&M will be facing one of the nation’s best defensive lines, which also could be said about the group they face in practice on a daily basis.

“The benefit those guys have every day is who they’re going against,” Denbrock concurred. “So, it’s not like they’re out there just measuring themselves against average players. Those two boys in the middle and some of those guys on the edge are pretty good players.

“So, at least we have that as a reference point, and I’m not comparing our D-line to anybody else’s D-line, I’m just saying we’ve got some really talented players on the defensive line here at this university and they get to match up with those guys every day.”

As a reminder, seventh-ranked Notre Dame entered training camp on July 31 — 14 practice sessions ago — with sophomore Charles Jagusah as the No. 1 left tackle, junior Ashton Craig as the undisputed No. 1 center and junior Billy Schrauth as the No. 1 right guard and with the reputation as perhaps ND’s best overall offensive lineman.

Junior Aamil Wagner entered camp with a decided edge at right tackle over Sun Bowl stand-in starter and grad senior Tosh Baker. The only perceived open competition was at left guard between seniors Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan, the latter the only O-lineman on the roster to start a full season or more.

Sophomore tackle Sullivan Absher was auditioned at guard at the start of camp to push those two and perhaps even overtake them.

Pendleton was a spring experiment as a backup center that carried over into camp. Knapp also got an audition at center in the spring as an early enrolled freshman and also worked at right tackle.

But he opened camp taking No. 2 reps at left tackle. When Jagusah went down with a season-ending right pectoral tear in practice 4, on Aug. 3, Baker shifted to left tackle and started taking the No. 1 reps, while Knapp stayed at No. 2.

“We're always going to have a competitive camp, so [Baker] was still competing over there on the right side with Aamil,” Rudolph responded when asked on Aug. 6 about Baker’s status as the next option at left tackle. “But yeah. I mean, I totally expect him to step up and own that spot, and so that'll be what we move forward with in camp.”

Apparently, Knapp continues to have other ideas, even though he’s more “guard-sized” at four inches shorter and roughly 30 pounds lighter (6-2, 291) than Baker.

Now, 6-7, 318-pound freshman Guerby Lambert — the No. 37 player overall and No. 3 offensive tackle nationally in the 2024 class — wouldn’t have been a shock to vie for early playing time, given his size and pedigree. And the June enrollee, currently No. 2 at right tackle behind Wagner, may photobomb his way further into the offensive line picture, somewhere, later in the season.

But Knapp was an unheralded three-star prospect out of Roswell, Ga., with an offer sheet that reflected that status. The No. 69 tackle nationally in the class was notably snubbed by in-state power Georgia and his offer list was heavy with Group of 5 teams.

During Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph’s one season at Virginia Tech, Knapp attended camp with the Hokies and had a strong interest in that program. And when Freeman hired Rudolph away in February of 2023 after O-line icon Harry Hiestand’s retirement, Knapp said he’d be interested in being recruited by the Irish if Rudolph and ND were willing.

“I think, No. 1, it's hard,” Rudolph said of what he liked about Knapp in camp. “Like, the hardest thing you could ever do is just gain information from high school film and say, ‘Is this guy a great player? Is he not?’

“But when you get a chance to work one-on-one with them, that, to me, is an incredible opportunity. Where you know someone's athletic level, you know their athletic ceiling, and numbers don't lie.

“So, if someone is at a different level in some certain areas and you know their understanding and just their basic body movements are going to allow them to assimilate quickly, you trust what you feel in a camp.”

And that trust is being rewarded so far.

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Pendleton, meanwhile, was in Hiestand’s final full recruiting class, coming to Notre Dame in the 2023 cycle from Pfafftown, N.C., and in the same recruiting cycle his twin sister. Emma, was being recruited for basketball. She landed at Lenoir-Rhyne.

The 6-4, 305-pound Sam Pendleton was a four-star prospect and No. 20 offensive guard in his class, ranked slightly behind teammate Chris Terek by Rivals. Pendleton played just 15 snaps in 2023, 14 of those running plays, and fashioned a Pro Football Focus grade in that tiny sample size comparable to that of Zeke Correll, who started most of the season at center and played 558 snaps before a season-ending injury in November.

Pendleton handled all but the snapping part of playing center impressively. So, roughly a week ago, he started getting a look at guard, and Coogan started taking No. 2 reps at center during the media-viewed portions of practice.

If Knapp starts, he’ll be just the 11th Notre Dame offensive lineman since freshman eligibility was restored in 1972 to start at least one game as a freshman and just the third to start a season opener, joining Sam Young (2006) and Blake Fisher (2021). Young is the only one to start a complete season as a freshman.

“We have not named a starting offensive line yet, and we will at some point,” Freeman said. “We have to soon, but what they've [Knapp and Pendleton] done is they’ve created a lot of confidence in the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach with what they've been doing with their reps.

“I don't care if it's been with the 1s or the 2s. We want our guys to know that we're evaluating everything you do. Now, the challenge is when you're young and you're doing a really good job with the 2s, we’ve got to put you with the 1s.

“We’ve got to see what you can do versus our best [defense]. And that's what we've done, and both of those two have done an unbelievable job.”

If Notre Dame does indeed deploy an offensive line of Wagner, Schrauth, Craig, Pendleton and Knapp against the Aggies on the road in two weeks, they’ll collectively have six starts among them, with three of those players having zero on the college level.

“It’s what we ask for as coaches,” Denbrock said of Pendleton’s and Knapp’s ascendance. “They consistently perform at a high level and stacking periods together and stacking reps together and stacking days together.

“This isn’t anything we’re rewarding them with. They’ve earned opportunities to be seen against the things our defense can provide us. Then we’ll make our final decisions and evaluations from there.

“It’s almost like when you have your own children. At one point do you trust them to themselves? ‘You’re ready for this.’ Or do you hold on and say this may not be the best place. Those are hard decisions, within families and obviously trying to construct an offensive line that can match up against our week 1 opponent and all the ones down the road, and be the type of force we’re going to need that group to be.

“So, those are not easy scenarios for sure. We’re trying to work through them and make the best decision that’s best for the football team.”

Ten true freshman offensive linemen have started games at Notre Dame, the first coming in 1995. Freshman eligibility was permanently restored by the NCAA in 1972.

Save for Sam Young (2006) at Georgia Tech and Blake Fisher (2021) at Florida State, none among them started the season opener.

In 52 years, there have been nine combined starts by freshmen at offensive guard. None of them at left guard. Quenton Nelson -- the gold standard -- was not one of those.

Here are the 10:

Mike Rosenthal (RT) 1995: The pioneer with three starts as a true freshman (at Ohio State, USC and at Air Force).

Brad Williams (RG) 1996: Two starts (Navy and Boston College). Rosenthal had moved to guard, and Williams started in the injured Rosenthal’s place after Williams played the first half of the season at defensive tackle. He then moved back to defense for the remainder of his career.

Ryan Harris (RT) 2003: His first start came in Game 5 at Pittsburgh as part of paving the way for Julius Jones’ school-record 262-rushing yards. Harris started the final eight games that season for the 5-7 Irish.

Sam Young (RT) 2006: The five-star prospect started 13 games as a true freshman right tackle and 50 straight by the conclusion of his Irish career, then a school record.

Trevor Robinson (RG) 2008: Robinson made three starts in November after an injury to starter Chris Stewart.

Steve Elmer (RG) 2013: Elmer, who walked away from football early, started early as well with four starts over the final six games, beginning in late October, as injuries mounted up front.

Robert Hainsey (RT) 2017: It goes down in the record books as just one start (vs. LSU in the Citrus Bowl), but Hainsey tag-teamed that season with Tommy Kraemer for the Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line.

Blake Fisher (LT, RT) 2021: Started the season opener at left tackle, but suffered a knee injury and underwent meniscus surgery. He returned to start the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State at RT, with Josh Lugg out with an injury and LT Joe Alt having established himself as the No. 1 option at that position.

Joe Alt (LT) 2021: Played in all 13 games, initially as an extra tight end, technically, in power packages. Started the final eight games at LT after Michael Carmody and Tosh Baker struggled to replace Fisher.

Charles Jagusah (LT) 2024: After playing five reps all season heading into bowl season, Jagusah started at left tackle for the Irish in their 40-8 Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State, that after Joe Alt opted out of the game to prepare for the 2024 NFL Draft as an early entry.

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