Notre Dame Practice Report: April 4 - Defense
Notre Dame’s 11th practice of the 2019 spring was inside the Loftus Center, and the focus of practice was more about individual drills and teaching. The number of competitive reps was a bit limited today, which means the practice reports will be a bit shorter than normal.
We will start things off talking about the Irish defense, which probably had its most productive and successful session of the spring.
Quick Notes
* Senior end Khalid Kareem was out during today’s practice. Kareem spent some time on the stationary bike and was around the line the rest of the practice. The way he walked around and moved he seemed to be moving around well, which means he is likely in good health and is just dealing with a minor issue and today was a good day to give him rest.
* Fifth-year senior cornerback Shaun Crawford was quite limited today, but today was the first time we saw him go through drills. Crawford wasn’t moving full speed, but it was a good sign to see him moving around in drills.
* Sophomore nose tackle Ja’Mion Franklin and freshman defensive tackle Hunter Spears were both in pads today and both went through the stretch period. Following stretch they both went back to the medical area and did not participate in any drills.
* Senior cornerback Donte Vaughn, freshman rover Jack Kiser and junior linebacker Drew White were all out today. White’s right arm was in a sling, which indicates he has had the surgery to repair his shoulder injury.
* Today was the most we saw of senior safety Alohi Gilman, who got reps during 1on1s.
DEFENSIVE LINE
The offensive line has won most of the battles with the defense this spring, but today we saw the Irish defensive line have its most impactful day of the open sessions …. by far.
Senior end Daelin Hayes has been good all spring, but this morning he was truly outstanding. He dominated junior Aaron Banks – who was playing left tackle – on back-to-back 1on1 pass rush reps.
On the first snap Hayes attacked Banks on the outside and beat him with a power move in which he knocked Banks back and then discarded him as he got outside and into the backfield. On the next rep, Hayes exploded outside for a couple of steps and as soon as Banks overset Hayes beat him inside and easily got into the backfield.
During a later team session Hayes made arguably the most impressive play of practice. He was lined up on the left side of the line, and at the snap Hayes slanted inside and then immediately read a screen that was being run to the other side of the field. Hayes stayed on path and blew the screen up in the backfield despite starting the play on the opposite side of the field.
Hayes had another dominant rep during team where he powered around junior guard Joshua Lugg for a pressure that likely would have been a sack if the quarterback was live.
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