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Notre Dame Spring Practice No. 7 Video: Takeaways And Observations

Brian Kelly said Saturday he's giving the 14 early enrollee freshmen more reps than they might've earned so they get as much out of their extra spring as possible. The customary three minutes of video from that day's practice contained plenty of appearances from those mid-year additions.

Here are some personnel-related takeaways from it and the video in its entirety.

(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 and get an idea of plans for individual players).

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Blake Fisher is with the first-team line once again at left tackle in the first clip. He gets a rep against defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. Rocco Spindler, Zeke Correll, Andrew Kristofic and Josh Lugg are the other linemen. The play is a Jack Coan to Joe Wilkins Jr. touchdown.

• The second clip is yet another new position for sophomore Michael Carmody: left tackle. He has worked at center, right guard and right tackle in prior practices. Tosh Baker is at right tackle, and Quinn Carroll at one of the guard spots. The defensive line is end Jordan Botelho, tackle Howard Cross III, tackle Rylie Mills and an unclear fourth. The play is a Drew Pyne touchdown to freshman receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr.

At 2:05, there’s another look at Tagovailoa-Amosa playing end. He goes up against Lugg and sheds him and then tight end George Takacs to bring down receiver Braden Lenzy on a jet sweep.

• The 2:35 mark has Dillan Gibbons working at center once again, with John Dirksen next to him at right guard, along with Carmody (LT), Carroll (LG) and Baker (RT). They’re blocking a four-man front of Botelho, Mills, Cross and Justin Ademilola. Pyne tosses a long touchdown to receiver Lawrence Keys III, who’s pursued by corner Philip Riley and safety Litchfield Ajavon. Running back C’Bo Flemister halts Ademilola on a blitz pickup.

Most notable from this play: It was a three-receiver set with Keys, Lenzy and Jordan Johnson. None has worked as a boundary receiver much before. Someone (it appears Johnson but not fully clear) had to do it there. Tight end Mitchell Evans was on the field too.

• Fisher and Spindler are on the left side of the line at 3:57.

• Cornerback Cam Hart is at the boundary spot at 4:27 and drops Kyren Williams in the backfield.

• 4:47 is an apparent first-team rep for safety K.J. Wallace. On the field with him are Jayson Ademilola, Hinish and Tagovailoa-Amosa in what looks like a three-man front. Fisher blocks Ademilola.

• At 5:35, Fisher blocks defensive end Isaiah Foskey, a matchup seen often this spring. Spindler is once again next to him, with Gibbons, Kristofic and Baker the rest of the line. On defense, the notable player taking what looks like a first-team rep is cornerback TaRiq Bracy.

• 5:54 has Botelho and Tagovailoa-Amosa on the field together. The rest of the defensive front isn’t clear, but Hart is guarding Wilkins on the boundary.

• The front seven at 6:18 includes an interesting defensive front of Mills, Justin Ademilola, Hinish, linebacker Shayne Simon and linebacker JD Bertrand. It looks like a three-man front, with Mills at the big end and Simon blitzing next to him.

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• Defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah is on the field at 7:20 next to Cross. Mills and Botelho are on the line too. It’s hard to fully tell, but Wallace is in a backpedal inside of Bracy – perhaps as a slot corner or nickel defender. Styles, a frequent slot receiver, runs from the same area Wallace occupied.

• Early enrollee freshman defensive end Devin Aupiu is on the field at 7:40, but not on the line of scrimmage. He eventually sees a run play and is greeted by Evans’ block. Osafo-Mensah, tackle Aidan Keanaaina and cornerback Caleb Offord are in the play. Aupiu is in the same off-ball spot in the next clip.

• Freshman offensive tackle Caleb Johnson is in at right tackle at 8:25. He hasn’t been in many of the clips from prior practices. The quarterback is Ron Powlus III.

On defense, freshman end Will Schweitzer, Keanaaina, Aupiu, safety Justin Walters and a few walk-ons are on the field. Powlus completes to walk-on receiver Conor Ratigan. On the next play, Walters breaks up one of his passes. Freshman defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio is on the field in the last couple clips too.

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