Notre Dame Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up

Strengths & question marks coming out of spring

Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly continues to restrict what is seen and known about his team during the offseason. The Spring Game featured an Irish defense showing next to nothing of what we expect new coordinator Brian Van Gorder to exhibit come August 30^th against Rice. Based only on what we’ve already seen from experienced players, here’s an early grab at their clear strengths and assumed weaknesses following an earlier than normal Blue & Gold Game:

Strengths – The Irish are getting quarterback Everett Golson back from a season-long exile for academic misdeeds. He has never lost a regular season game as a starter and all recent reviews point to a physically bigger, mentally smarter, and more confident leader in his return. In spite of a hit and miss Spring Game performance, returning a QB who led a National Championship Game run in his first season as a starter must be considered a strength.

Incredible depth, elite skills, and trusted experience – The 2014 running backs on the Irish roster all look prepared to get Brian Kelly, who is calling plays again, back to his preferred style of rushing for 200+ yards per game at breakneck speed. Greg Bryant (Soph), a 2013 five star recruit who redshirted last fall. Tarean Folston (Soph) emerged in the season’s second half and Cam McDaniel (Sr) completes a trio that will be hard for opponents to handle. Bryant could be a star sooner than later.

Notre Dame seems to have made major strides in upgrading athleticism in the secondary. CB KeiVarae Russell (Jr) will stake a claim as one of the nation’s best at his position and Max Redfield (So) is likely to slide into one of the starting safety positions to provide a height/weight/speed combination (6-3, 220 lbs, 4.50) not seen for the Fighting Irish in some time. This is also the deepest unit on this side of the ball by a wide margin, only strengthened this summer when former Florida starting safety Cody Riggs joins the program and possibly the starting line-up.

Weaknesses – The Irish can’t replace DT Louis Nix III or DE Stephon Tuitt, both of whom will be called upon early at the NFL Draft, from their current roster. The defensive line, which is likely moving to a base 4-3 from the 3-4, is filled with question marks and veterans with recent major injuries.

Two 2013 outside linebackers, Ishaq Williams & Romeo Okwara, are the projected starters at defensive end which should make the unit more athletic but won’t remind Irish fans of 2012 when Tuitt (6-7, 310) and Kapron Lewis-Moore (6-5, 320) held the edge and kept Manti Te’o clean.

Offensively the offensive line loses one of the best tackles in program history, Zack Martin, and the stalwart guard who lined up next to him for three years, Chis Watt. Brian Kelly has solved the depth issues that plagued this unit in recent years, but much is to be proven from a group that has been reshuffled in 2014.

Name a few breakout players to keep an eye on in 2014

RB Greg Bryant looked ready in the Blue & Gold game to live up to his enormous hype as a 5-Star recruit in 2013 whose season was cut short by injury. Power, speed, vision, and that “extra effort” all come with his game and as defenses loosen up due to Golson’s cannon arm and mobility, Bryant could reap the rewards and make a huge impact.

WR Corey Robinson (Soph), son of David Robinson, provides match-up nightmares for opponents as his 6-6 frame, precise route-running, and soft hands make him the most talked about player of nearly every practice viewing session.

CB Cole Luke (Soph) was immediately identified as a 2013 freshman who would see the field and contribute. He’ll likely start opposite KeiVarae Russell and see a lot of balls from QBs trying to avoid the All-America candidate patrolling the other side of the field.

Grade each position group

QB (Grade B+) – Golson is experienced, dynamic, and could be special in 2014. Sophomore Malik Zaire was the star of the Spring Game and has some expecting his skills to find their way on the field in spite of Golson. Long, athletic incoming freshman DeShone Kizer brings the strengths of the entire unit together for the first time under Kelly.

RB (Grade B+) – Expectations are A+ based on potential and scheme but the same was true a year ago and it didn’t quite work out as expected.

WR (Grade B) – DaVaris Daniels is expected to return after a spring suspension and he is everything you need in a college #1. Corey Robinson and Devin Fuller are expected to improve on solid freshmen campaigns. Amir Carlisle, an oft-injured USC transfer, has shown brilliant flashes of what he can bring the slot. Chris Brown is an athletic freak who could surprise. Torii Hunter Jr. is that “sleeper”.

TE (Grade C) – Grade based on proven commodities, as all 4 players at the position were 4 or 5 star recruits who’ve been sitting behind high NFL Draft picks until now. Senior Ben Koyack looks to be the next in an embarrassingly long line of riches at the TE position in South Bend, but Durham Smythe and Mike Heureman bring different assets to the table for a coach who loves multiple TE sets.

OL (Grade B) – Injuries put a lot of underclassmen on the field in 2013, and the unit still only yielded 8 sacks while protecting a QB with zero escapability. They still have to replace a guy who manned LT every game for four seasons and will have a different starter at a minimum of 3 positions from last fall.

DL (Grade  C+) – Defensive Coordinator Brian VanGorder is going to attack and permanently moving Williams and Okwara to DE makes this unit very athletic. At defensive tackle, Sheldon Day’s health changes everything this unit is capable of.

LB (Grade A-) – This season could see a lot of fronts with only two linebackers and with VanGorder’s hybrid safeties we’re waiting to see where players land. Notre Dame may already have the best all-around linebacker in America with Sophomore Jaylon Smith. He runs like a corner, is built like a defensive end, and plays the game like a seasoned pro. He alone makes this grade a minimum A-.

Secondary (Grade A-) – Likely the deepest, most dynamic portion of the depth chart – it features multiple players who may play CB or Safety or OLB and be successful. Max Redfield is an NFL prototype safety who could break out. KeiVarae Russell could be a 1^st Team All-American next December.

What can we expect from Notre Dame in 2014?

We head to Year 5 of Brian Kelly and he might actually have the pieces in place to execute what made him so successful at previous stops: An attacking defense partnered with a fast-paced, run oriented offense. With QB Tommy Rees and conservative Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco no longer integral parts of the program, it’s a new day for Brian Kelly in South Bend and improvement is expected by everyone associated with the program over last year’s 8-4 regular season.

10-2 is the WAY too early record prediction if I generously assume ND can go 3-2 versus Michigan, Stanford, Florida State, Arizona State, and USC while beating the 7 teams they appear to be far superior to when compared on paper … in April (Rice, Purdue, Syracuse, North Carolina, Navy, Louisville, and Northwestern).

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Steve Herring of Herring Bone Sports provided the information for our Notre Dame Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up. For more Fighting Irish  football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Steve on Twitter @ManCaveQB.

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