Notre Dame Spring Practice No. 3 Video: Takeaways And Observations
Spring practice is a time for experimenting and giving several players at one position a chance to impress. That means it’s not too common for one player to hog the first-team reps at an up-for-grabs spot.
Sure enough, there were a couple changes visible in the clips Notre Dame provided Thursday from its third spring practice, mainly on the offensive line — where Notre Dame has more turnover than any other position.
Here’s a look at some personnel-related observations. (Required disclaimer: These videos are only a small portion of practice and are not indicative of final decisions on the depth chart. They do, though, offer a glimpse of who worked where for all or part of the day’s practice, and that helps identify contenders for open starting jobs).
• In the second clip, the second-team offensive line appears to have shuffled. Freshmen Blake Fisher and Rocco Spindler are on the left side again, but that’s sophomore Michael Carmody at center, senior John Dirksen at right guard and junior Quinn Carroll at right tackle. Carmody was at tackle in the clips from the first two practices, with Carroll at guard and junior Andrew Kristofic at center. In the clip, fifth-year senior Jack Coan completes to sophomore tight end Kevin Bauman in offense-only drills.
• Some meaningful offense vs. defense clips start at the 3:34 mark. Coan hands off to junior running back Kyren Williams. Fifth-year senior Josh Lugg is at right tackle blocking fifth-year senior Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, playing defensive end once again. Senior John Dirksen and junior Zeke Correll are on the interior line. Senior Joe Wilkins Jr. and fifth-year senior Avery Davis are in the slot at receiver. On defense, junior linebacker Jack Kiser, junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey and senior safety DJ Brown are visible.
• The 3:55 mark is a shot of the second-team interior line again (the tackles are not clear) going against what looks like the second-team defense. Junior NaNa Osafo-Mensah is at defensive end, senior TaRiq Bracy and cornerback, freshman Devin Aupiu at another end spot, senior Bo Bauer at linebacker and junior defensive tackle Howard Cross III making the tackle on senior running back C’Bo Flemister, who took a handoff from freshman quarterback Drew Pyne.
• That’s followed by another Flemister carry with Carroll and Kristofic blocking for him. On defense: Osafo-Mensah, Aupiu, freshman tackle Gabriel Rubio, junior linebacker Osita Ekwonu, junior linebacker Marist Liufau, sophomore cornerback Ramon Henderson and freshman safety Justin Walters.
• For what it’s worth, there are three linemen with a hand in the ground in defense-only drills at 4:18.
• At 4:47, it’s receiver vs. defensive back one-on-ones. Davis turns around junior safety KJ Wallace to catch a pass from Coan on a slant. The 2:11 mark is a Coan deep throw to an unidentified receiver broken up by junior corner Cam Hart. Immediately after that is freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner connecting with senior wide receiver Matt Salerno on a shot play against Bracy.
• In what looks like five-on-five at 5:30, Pyne is intercepted by Kiser when targeting sophomore wide receiver Jordan Johnson. Bauer and sophomore cornerback Clarence Lewis are on defense. Senior wide receiver Lawrence Keys III is in the play, too. The next two plays are Buchner out routes to a tight end: the first is intended for Bauman and broken up by Liufau. The second is a touch pass over a flat defender and an outstretched catch by freshman tight end Cane Berrong.
• 11-on-11 work starts at 6:22. Coan fakes to Williams and then completes to Davis on a crosser on an RPO. Senior safety Houston Griffith eventually stops Davis. Kiser, Tagovailoa-Amosa, Brown, Hart, Lewis and fifth-year senior llinebacker Drew White are on defense. Lugg is at right tackle, but the rest of the offensive line is unclear.
• The last clip is Coan at quarterback again, but there’s a notable change. Fisher is at left tackle with what looks like the first-team line (Lugg, Dirksen and fifth-year senior guard Dillan Gibbons are on it). Tagovailoa-Amosa gets by him. Foskey and sophomore tackle Rylie Mills are also on the defensive line. The throw is a deep out completion to Wilkins.
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