The biggest question mark heading into spring camp is the Notre Dame secondary — more specifically, the cornerbacks.
On Thursday, Blue and Gold Illustrated had access to the first spring practice in its entirety and kept a watchful eye on defensive backs and new cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens.
Only helmets were worn during practice.
Alignment
As noted yesterday, the first-team cornerbacks on day one were rising junior TaRiq Bracy and potential sixth-year senior Shaun Crawford, who is still waiting to hear from the NCAA if he is eligible to play in 2020. But head coach Brian Kelly does not foresee any roadblocks when it comes to Crawford’s eligibility and expects to have him officially cleared by the middle of May.
“We don’t think that there will be any issues,” Kelly said. “We’re not expecting any issues with [Javon McKinley] nor Crawford.”
In terms of alignment, Crawford appeared to play the field position during team drills, but due to a hamstring injury, he did not partake in seven-on-seven and team drills. During those portions of practice, Bracy was lined up in the boundary with rising sophomore Isaiah Rutherford playing to the field.
Rutherford is closer to the build of a typical boundary corner, which is often responsible for covering other team’s best receiver and needs to be an effective tackler in space.
Rutherford is listed at 6-0½ compared to Bracy at 5-10 and 180 pounds, but despite his slight stature Bracy has exhibited many of the traits Notre Dame wants to see in the boundary.
