Top Notre Dame Position Battles In 2020

This week the NCAA Division I Council finalized a six-week schedule for football team activities, starting with up to eight hours per week of strength and conditioning, meetings and film review from July 13-23.

Those hours expand to 20 per week from July 24 through Aug. 6 (eight hours of strength and conditioning, six hours of walk-throughs with a football and six hours of meetings and film review) before traditional training camp begins Aug. 7.

What will be the top position group battles for a starting job, or major role, at Notre Dame?

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We did not include the defensive line because that unit under Mike Elston has cultivated the past few years a regular and quality rotation where starters receive about 66 to 75 percent of the snaps while the second group also earns its way in.

Tight end also will have a lead figure while still using multiple sets, while finding the No. 2 quarterback between sophomore Brendon Clark and freshman Drew Pyne will prompt its share of attention.

But these areas in particular will have multiple figures attempting to vie for a significant role/playing time on offense or defense.

Presumably, North Carolina State two-year starter, 2019 captain and graduate transfer Nick McCloud will start at the boundary spot vacated by Troy Pride Jr.

This would then allow junior TaRiq Bracy and sixth-year graduate student Shaun Crawford to fill the wide side of the field, with Crawford especially valued in a nickel capacity. Crawford started eight games last year, while Bracy paced the teams in passes broken up (seven).

But given lion-hearted Crawford’s long injury history that has sidelined him three different seasons (and partially last year), and a knee injury to McCloud last year that resulted in a medical redshirt, relying on the 5-10, 180-pound Bracy alone to be a swing player with the most snaps might be overextending.

There are six cornerbacks on the roster with four years of eligibility remaining. At least one has to distinguish himself in 2020 to join the rotation. Anyone among sophomores Isaiah Rutherford, KJ Wallace and Cam Hart would be the early front-runners.

Notice we didn’t demarcate this into boundary (W), field (X) or slot (Z) positions. This could be any of the three spots.

While the boundary has produced three consecutive NFL prospects in three years with junior sixth-round selection Equanimeous St. Brown (2017), third-round pick Miles Boykin (2018) and second-round choice Chase Claypool (2019) — plus current junior Kevin Austin could be the star in waiting there after a 2019 exile — the candidates to be the alpha figure overall are numerous.

No wideout while at Notre Dame has more than the 13 career receptions of slot Lawrence Keys III, but Northwestern graduate transfer Ben Skowronek — who lined up at X in the lone spring practice — did snare 110 with the Wildcats.

No one has the home-run capabilities of Braden Lenzy, but five-star recruit Jordan Johnson could also provide impact.

A rotation of six in a game is probable, but is there a get-out-of-jail safety net for quarterback Ian Book to throw to as he had with Claypool last year, especially on so many jump balls?

Junior Houston Griffith and Ohio State graduate transfer Isaiah Pryor are vying for snaps at the spot vacated by Alohi Gilman. Both enrolled with high accolades, but have been trying to find their niche.

The top-ranked prospect (No. 43 nationally) in Notre Dame’s 2018 haul, Griffith tried his hand at nickel as a freshman and auditioned at boundary corner last year before the staff opted to let him settle in last fall at his most natural safety spot, where his strengths as a tackler can particularly be utilized.

Pryor started seven games as a 2018 Buckeyes sophomore but saw his role diminish last season.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if defensive coordinator Clark Lea regularly employed a three-safety alignment that he used quite a bit last year with Gilman, Jalen Elliott and freshman Kyle Hamilton. That might also depend on the progress of the corners.

Every option is qualified with a “yeah, but” caveat.

Jafar Armstrong is the most experienced with 505 career rushing yards … yeah, but he’s been slowed by injuries and averaged 2.7 yards per carry last year.

C’Bo Flemister tallied five touchdowns in 2018 … yeah, but he also averaged only 3.4 yards per attempt while amassing only 162 yards.

Jahmir Smith provides some physicality … yeah, but in the last four games he totaled seven carries for zero yards.

Kyren Williams has all-purpose-like skills … yeah, but the staff felt he needed much more work last season so it redshirted him.

Stanford graduate transfer Trevor Speights provides maturity and experience … yeah, but he didn’t play last year nor in 2016, and has seen limited time in meaningful game situations.

Freshman Chris Tyree is an electric top-100 prospect with game-breaking speed … yeah, but at 179 pounds and after missing several games last year, is he durable enough to be a mainstay as a college rookie?

While it is likely this will be a running back by committee, ideally somebody can take on a lead-dog role.

The buck stops here. Or in this case, it’s who starts here.

Each of the last two seasons Lea filled this void with the former starter at rover, first with Drue Tranquill (2018) and then Asmar Bilal (2019).

Shifting 2020 rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah this year is not on Lea’s radar because the senior is the prototype of the hybrid position. Whether junior rover backup Paul Moalawould get an audition could be open for debate.

At the start and end of spring drills — all in the same day — senior Jordan Genmark Heath took the reps with the first unit. That was in part because juniors Jack Lamb (hip) and Shayne Simon (patella) were recovering from November surgeries.

Sophomores Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser also could cross-train at Buck and rover.

While we’re at it, if junior Bo Bauer, last year's Special Teams Player of the Year, is good enough to start at Mike, then maybe the 2019 starter and co-leading tackler Drew White could move over to Buck.

Such competition is its own version of option football.

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