Blake Fisher Looking to Join Rare Company

Notre Dame has had four offensive linemen start as true freshmen in the last 20 years. There was Robert Hainsey in 2017, Steve Elmer in 2013, Sam Young in 2006, and Ryan Harris in 2003. Hainsey, Young, and Harris all started at right tackle. Elmer started at right guard.

Harris is the only one who eventually played left tackle in a full-time capacity and that move didn’t occur until he was a sophomore.

Those individuals are in rare company and 2021 true freshman Blake Fisher is about to enter his own category. None of these players started from game one at left tackle, which is exactly what Fisher is about to do at Florida State on September 5.

To call him unique doesn’t quite cut it, but there may not be a more appropriate word. What else could one call a 6’6” 335 pound athlete who has shown he can compete with one of the top programs in college football?

Part of this is happening because he’s walking into a situation where Liam Eichenberg is gone and Aaron Banks left a year early for the NFL instead of sliding over to tackle for one last season in blue and gold. The other part is that Fisher is good enough for the role and his physical traits allow him to be beyond his years on the field.

When Brian Kelly was asked about him after practice last Thursday, he acknowledged that Fisher has room to improve while also recognizing what makes Fisher someone who is already very capable in pass protection.

“I think we've talked about this a little bit, it's the length of a play,” Kelly said. “You saw it today? It's just finishing off plays. He is from a pass-rush standpoint, he's hard to get around. He's long, he moves his feet well; he's strong, you can't bull rush him. He can get his hands on you. His development is still there, it needs to continue to grow.”

His size, strength, and his athletic ability at his age have put him in a position to play, but it’s more than that that makes him a special player.

“His makeup is elite. When I say makeup, his ability to go out there, his body recovers,” explained Kelly. “Most of these guys don't recover. They don't have the ability to bounce back the next day and recover with the workload they get. He can recover. He got a gift. He's a gifted young man.”

He certainly is. One of the few gifted players to be able to start at one of the most valuable positions on the field at a power program like Notre Dame.

And to be able to earn a starting position protecting Jack Coan’s blind side for his first college football game? That puts him in an exclusive club with players like Alabama’s Cam Robinson and Oregon’s Penei Sewell.

Both Robinson and Sewell won the Outland Trophy during their college careers. Fisher has shown he has the potential to one day bring home that award as well.