2021 Spring Practice

[T-Boone]

I think Patterson should stay at centre. Correll has a lot of eligibility left so can back up for another year.

 

[Irish YJ]

I think the OL situation is simpler than most are trying to make it. IMO, BK is just trying everything, especially with the young pups. And making everyone work for it.

And if LT is really, or potentially, a battle between Blake and Tosh, why wouldn't you consider the loser of that battle at RT?

Same conversation at G. Spindler has been getting a ton of 1st team reps at LG and looking good doing it. If that's really a competition, might the loser there get a look at RG?

I have zero clue how it'll all wind up, but I think we have a ton of options, and BK is going to look at all of them. With all the turnover this year, is anyone really surprised that BK is keeping the competition open?

We'll know more when the Spring Game gets here, but I doubt it will be what we see come game 1.

 

[Irish#1]

I think the OL situation is simpler than most are trying to make it. IMO, BK is just trying everything, especially with the young pups. And making everyone work for it.

And if LT is really, or potentially, a battle between Blake and Tosh, why wouldn't you consider the loser of that battle at RT?

Same conversation at G. Spindler has been getting a ton of 1st team reps at LG and looking good doing it. If that's really a competition, might the loser there get a look at RG?

I have zero clue how it'll all wind up, but I think we have a ton of options, and BK is going to look at all of them. With all the turnover this year, is anyone really surprised that BK is keeping the competition open?

We'll know more when the Spring Game gets here, but I doubt it will be what we see come game 1.

You make too much sense. Lol

 

[Irish YJ]

You make too much sense. Lol

And I'm not even drinking lol.

All I know is I love hearing how good the newbs are looking. Not sure if that because they are so good (my bet), or just because our older guys are a bit meh. The future of the of the OL, not necessarily this year, looks very bright though with Tosh and Blake potentially at Ts, and Rocco at LG.

 

[IrishLax]

The problem is that there are too many unknowns. If you still had Banks, it's a lot simpler to start slotting guys in. But when you effectively have to hold open tryouts for 5 spots AND you have no idea how people will work together... well, then you need to get enough reps in enough different combinations to figure out what you want to do. And even then it's likely to be somewhat a failure that requires tuning after the first few games. It's especially complicated if no one can assert themselves as a dominant player at some position -- for example, if Baker does some things better than Lugg but some things worse, that's a worse personnel situation to be in than one of them clearly excelling at RT.

You also don't want to start too many frosh or RS frosh because seasoning matters. So I still think it's likely that Patterson plays LT, Correll plays C, and Lugg plays RG just for experience's sake. Projecting out to 2022, you're trying to have the team ready to a GREAT offensive line again not just a passable one like they will have this year. I think that ultimately means Baker + Spindler + Correll + ??? + Fisher. But we'll see. There are a lot of guys we aren't talking about, and there are guys like Joe Alt where I'd be shocked if they don't develop into a possible starter despite their ranking.

 

[ND88]

And I'm not even drinking lol.

All I know is I love hearing how good the newbs are looking. Not sure if that because they are so good (my bet), or just because our older guys are a bit meh. The future of the of the OL, not necessarily this year, looks very bright though with Tosh and Blake potentially at Ts, and Rocco at LG.

TB developed with a beast OL, some potential bosses at RB and WR. Man...

ND is brilliantly annoying at getting us excited for 2-3 years from the present moment, lol. Genius marketing strategy.

 

[Dale]

ND will likely have the OL vs DL advantage in every game this year, with possible exception being Wisconsin IMO. I think that’s a important zoomed out POV

 

[Irish YJ]

TB developed with a beast OL, some potential bosses at RB and WR. Man...

ND is brilliantly annoying at getting us excited for 2-3 years from the present moment, lol. Genius marketing strategy.

 

[Irish YJ]

Watching OSU's spring game. True Soph and 5 star Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR just made a crazy endzone grab....
Sure hope our WRs look like that....

 

[Huntr]

Lugg "will probably settle in at tackle this fall." - BK today, per Sampson twitter

 

[Luckylucci]

Well, there you go. That makes for some interesting conversations.

 

[Luckylucci]

A lot more information from Kelly here. Suggest everyone read. Good stuff.

https://247sports.com/college/notre...actice-Fighting-Irish-164304137/#164304137_10

 

[Dale]

A lot more information from Kelly here. Suggest everyone read. Good stuff.

https://247sports.com/college/notre-.../#164304137_10

A few more declarative ones for OL:

The offensive line is is one where we know Fisher, we know Baker, we pretty much made a decision that Carmody — those guys are staying out of tackle.

No Fisher at OG.

We think Zeke's one of our five, so he's the center

Correll off his hot seat, starting C.

As you know, we've been playing a lot with with Fisher and Spindler on one side and because of that, it's solidified the guard and tackle position.

So this, I think jumping to conclusion can come. I took this as Fisher being at 2 deep OT and Spindler a viable 2 deep OG. Not that they are LT and LG and we’re off.

I think he (Lugg) feels most comfortable at the tackle position. That's kind of where we have settled in our own mind as well, because of where we think the other pieces......It makes sense, if you're going to plug in say Patterson at guard, Lugg goes to tackle. That's where we are right now after 10. ......Jarrett, we're not we're sure until we get him back, whether he is a tackle, and then we move Lugg to guard, is he a guard and then Lugg stays out at tackle.

So in the actual quotes and not just sound bites, he was not as committed to Lugg at OT but that is current feeling.

OT: Baker OR Fisher and Lugg OR Patterson
OG: Lugg OR Patterson and Bunch of names, but not Fisher.
C: Correll

”After 10” OL:

Baker/Fisher - Patterson - Correll - RG - Lugg

• RG: Spindler, Gibbons, Dirksen, Kristofic, Carroll

 

[BabyIrish]

A lot more information from Kelly here. Suggest everyone read. Good stuff.

https://247sports.com/college/notre...actice-Fighting-Irish-164304137/#164304137_10

Kelly gave us some pretty solid information. Sounds like we’ve got three positions settled, those being:

RT- Lugg
RG- Patterson
C- Correll

Looks like we’re still looking at the left side of the line. Baker or Fisher for tackle. Not sure on Guard.

 

[IrishLax]

Direct Kelly quote:

We think Zeke's one of our five, so he's the center because if you want to get your five best, we want to leave an open mind to whether it's guard or tackle to kind of go back to answering that original question of getting the best five on the field. What we're doing is we're saying all right, Jarrett is the guard right now, what's our best five, Jarrett is the tackle, who's the best five. So, this is kind of like a game that we're playing right now in spring to see what's the best five when Patterson comes back, is it guard or is it tackle. He can play anywhere right now because he is not playing, but the fact of the matter is, once he gets back, then we'll start to figure out where his comfort level is and where he makes us the best five.

So basically, Patterson is likely to play LG or LT, and all other spots are up for grabs with Lugg likely to be your RT candidate for Day 1 starter because of experience. Right now I'm leaning towards Patterson being LG with Baker at LT and Lugg splitting time with Fisher at RT... and we'll see if Spindler can lock down the RG spot. With that combination, next year you'd only have to find one new body.

 

[calvegas04]

- Jack Coan finds Kyren Williams for a short gain in the flat.
- Jack Coan hits Braden Lenzy on the sideline.
- Kyren Williams finds a few yards up the middle.
- Kurt Hinish all over Kyren Williams in the backfield.
- Lawrence Keys III jet sweep for a nice gain.
- Kyren Williams doesn’t find much room.
- Isaiah Foskey pressures Jack Coan and then DJ Browns breaks up a pass to Avery Davis.
- Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa with pressure as Jack Coan finds Lawrence Keys III.
- Howard Cross III, Justin Ademilola and Jordan Botelho with pressure on a screen pass from Tyler Buchner.
- Tyler Buchner completes a pass to Lorenzo Styles Jr. for a first down.
- C’Bo Flemister gets some tough yards.
- Low snap to Tyler Buchner leads to a Justin Ademilola sack.
- Tyler Buchner finds Chris Tyree in the flat, but Jordan Botelho is all over it.
- Jordan Botelho and Isaiah Pryor (I think) sack Tyler Buchner.
- NaNa Osafo-Mensah, Alexander Ehrensbeger and company sack Tyler Buchner.
- Gabe Rubio deflects a Ronnie Powlus throw.
- Leo Albano stopped for a short gain after a nifty move in the backfield.
- NaNa Osafo-Mensah tackles Leo Albano for a short gain.
- Ronnie Powlus finds Chase Ketterer for a small gain.
- Chase Ketterer stopped for a short gain by Alexander Ehrensberger.
- Ryan Barnes breaks up a deep ball to Jay Brunelle.

 

[Luckylucci]

A few more declarative ones for OL:



No Fisher at OG.



Correll off his hot seat, starting C.



So this, I think jumping to conclusion can come. I took this as Fisher being at 2 deep OT and Spindler a viable 2 deep OG. Not that they are LT and LG and we’re off.



So in the actual quotes and not just sound bites, he was not as committed to Lugg at OT but that is current feeling.

OT: Baker OR Fisher and Lugg OR Patterson
OG: Lugg OR Patterson and Bunch of names, but not Fisher.
C: Correll

”After 10” OL:

Baker/Fisher - Patterson - Correll - RG - Lugg

• RG: Spindler, Gibbons, Dirksen, Kristofic, Carroll

That’s what it kind of sounds like to me. Or maybe might expectation at this point.

 

[Luckylucci]

Direct Kelly quote:

So basically, Patterson is likely to play LG or LT, and all other spots are up for grabs with Lugg likely to be your RT candidate for Day 1 starter because of experience. Right now I'm leaning towards Patterson being LG with Baker at LT and Lugg splitting time with Fisher at RT... and we'll see if Spindler can lock down the RG spot. With that combination, next year you'd only have to find one new body.

That was my next thought. I’d like to see Blake get time at RT. Even if it’s only for next year, if he’s one of the 3 best OT’s now, he should be one of the 2 best next year.

 

[Irish YJ]

Unless I missed something (which is entirely possible), outside of Correll, really didn't hear much as it pertains to starters anywhere outside of C. Just some positional firming. Sound like we only know who 1 of 5 is (Correll). Maybe 2 (Patterson) if he comes back strong and healthy, but not sure where.

Here's the TLDR I took.

Baker/Fisher/Lugg/Carmody are all Ts
Patterson is an unknown T OR G
Correll is one of the best 5, and will be C
Not much said about Dirkson, Carroll, or Gibbons

So...
LT - Baker OR Fisher OR Patterson
LG - Patterson OR Gibbons OR Spindler
C - Correll
RG - Dirkson or Carroll or anyone from the LG stack
RT - Lugg OR Carmody OR anyone from the LT stack

 

[Dale]

Different position battle tea leaves:

Receiver, it's really about, to me, more than anything else, is getting Wilkins, Lenzy and Keys at the next level. That's where this really is about.....Now, that's assuming we get Kevin back, if we get Kevin Austin back healthy, Avery's obviously been steady for us in the slot, we got a great tight end, two outstanding backs, three really good C'Bo, you got a pretty good offense there. But these three guys have to ascend. That's really the key here for us at the wide receiver position."

WR1: Kevin Austin
WR2: Wilkins, Lenzy or Keys
Slot: Davis

Only reason I found that interesting, Austin has the job if he’s healthy, that isn’t shocking but I think to pencil him in there like he’s Davis, Mayer, Kyren/Tyree was interesting. You also have Wilkins is technically Austin’s backup, Keys is technically Davis’ backup, but the implication would be they can play the other WR position, someone just needs to take the “third” WR spot .

 

[ThePiombino]

Different position battle tea leaves:



WR1: Kevin Austin
WR2: Wilkins, Lenzy or Keys
Slot: Davis

Only reason I found that interesting, Austin has the job if he’s healthy, that isn’t shocking but I think to pencil him in there like he’s Davis, Mayer, Kyren/Tyree was interesting. You also have Wilkins is technically Austin’s backup, Keys is technically Davis’ backup, but the implication would be they can play the other WR position, someone just needs to take the “third” WR spot .

And still no JJ. Cool...

 

[Dale]

And still no JJ. Cool...

He was actually in the middle of the quote I posted I just took it out.

“Jordan Johnson is getting better. There's no doubt. He's got to continue though on the little things. He's missed a couple of practices. We got to get him back in the flow of things. But those three guys are where this is at.”

 

[Irish YJ]

Different position battle tea leaves:



WR1: Kevin Austin
WR2: Wilkins, Lenzy or Keys
Slot: Davis

Only reason I found that interesting, Austin has the job if he’s healthy, that isn’t shocking but I think to pencil him in there like he’s Davis, Mayer, Kyren/Tyree was interesting. You also have Wilkins is technically Austin’s backup, Keys is technically Davis’ backup, but the implication would be they can play the other WR position, someone just needs to take the “third” WR spot .

I think he's talking more in general about the 2 deep, than who is going to take that 3 spot. I do agree several could emerge there though. I don't really see Keys outside though unless it's a go/9 route. That is, unless BK decides to go full "Z" type there, which would be a departure from 2020 with Javon.

All in all, it'll be interesting to see how WR, and the passing game in general, develops this year. We no longer have 2 possession guys (Skow/McK) on the outside who were effective, but not too dynamic. We'll definitely have more speed however it turns out. That should at minimum change some of the play calling and strategy.

 

[ResLife Hero]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/FightingIrish/status/1383450807392083969[/TWEET]

Dude sounds like a head coach.

 

[Irish YJ]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/FightingIrish/status/1383450807392083969[/TWEET]

Dude sounds like a head coach.

Probably will be next year or the year after

 

[ND88]

Probably will be next year or the year after

Makes sense.

A year or two to get comfortable in the gear.

 

[T-Boone]

I am hoping they are deliberately showing offense lowlights as particularly today but also generally the D has been all over the O.

 

[Luckylucci]

Per this breakdown, KJ Wallace working at slot CB. He’s a guy who could be very important if he gets into the mix.

https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-spring-practice-no-10-video-takeaways-and-observations

 

[Irish YJ]

Per this breakdown, KJ Wallace working at slot CB. He’s a guy who could be very important if he gets into the mix.

https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-spring-practice-no-10-video-takeaways-and-observations

I think Sherm Sticky and I were discussing this a few days or week ago. I'd prefer Wallace step up at NB so Lewis can stick at CB.

 

[Irish YJ]

Per this breakdown, KJ Wallace working at slot CB. He’s a guy who could be very important if he gets into the mix.

https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-spring-practice-no-10-video-takeaways-and-observations

To add... mentioned Kyren and Tyree on the field at the same time. Yum