Practice Report: Offense 3/25

Notre Dame, IN – The Fighting Irish football team held its fifth practice of the season today, and it was completely open to the media for the first time this spring.  There was a considerable difference in offensive focus during this practice than in many that have been open to the media in the past.  The first pass wasn't thrown for over thirty minutes into practice, and it was a simple throw to the flat.  The offensive staff said they only ran 31 plays the entire practice in team.  They were ultra-focused on the running game, and that is music to the ears of die-hard Irish fans.

The first part of practice was very focused on drill work and very specific skill sets such as ball security for the running backs, initial steps, and drives for the linemen and tight ends and cone work for the wide receivers.  Specifically, to the wide receivers Chris Finke, Miles Boykin, and CJ Sanders were clearly superior in their footwork and body control around the cones and their explosion out of the breaks.  The wide receivers were also working a mirror drill where they mirror the defender in preparation for a block on the outside.  They have to mirror the actions of the defender and then commit to a fit to finish the drill.  They then went into straight stalk blocking.  This is the first practice that I have personally been to over the years where I have seen the wide receivers focus on blocking on the perimeter.  I realize they must have practiced it at some point in the past, but there was a real emphasis today.

The first team session was an attempt at tempo but more deliberate tempo than we have seen so far.  They were operating at about 75% and truly focused on the run game.  They ran a lot of inside and outside zone with both the first and second teams.  This setup was mostly two wide receivers and two tight ends.  The first team was Finke and St. Brown at receiver with Smythe and Jones at tight end.  Both Tony Jones, Jr. and Josh Adams were the primary running backs with the first team.  

At this point, the action moved outside to the LaBar practice facility from the indoor facility.  One on ones proved to be a bit anticlimactic, but Boykin made a nice adjustment on a fade route over Donte Vaughn for a good catch.  Early enrollee Brock Wright impressed all day.  His size is already that of a starter, and he moves down the field with such grace and athleticism it is no wonder he was the top recruit in the country at his position.  His hands were fantastic all day.  He was not rotating in with the first group but got some quality reps with the second group.  There will be no surprise if he sees the field this year.  Both Kevin Stepherson and Finke dropped what appeared to be pretty routine throws over the middle on dig routes.  At one point, Javon McKinley had a ball go right off his face mask for a drop.  Then they moved to goal line one on ones where Jones made a nice move to the inside for a score and St. Brown caught a nice fade in the back right corner of the end zone for a score.  Boykin also had a nice catch for a score during this period.  The throw was a purposeful back shoulder throw that he made a nice adjustment to and came down with the ball.

The next session was focused on the punt team, but ND was trying out a few guys as returners.  The candidates today were St. Brown, Finke, Sanders and Stepherson.  The results were less than spectacular, to say the least.  St. Brown looked about as uncomfortable as you could look just standing there waiting for the play to start and once the bullets started flying around him, he was not at all comfortable attempting to catch the ball.  He would certainly not be my first choice for this job.  Sanders looked like he was taking a page out of last year’s book with the way he fielded his attempts.  He just cannot decide whether to field a punt or let it bounce.  Every single opportunity he had he could have caught, and yet he let a few of them bounce and one he tried to pick it up on the bounce and fumbled it.  Delvaughn Alexander was coaching the returners, and he was none too happy with this turn of events.  Finke and Stepherson were both fairly solid on their tries with Finke being the main contender for the position based on today’s events.  He will probably not do anything flashy at the position, but he will catch the ball and not do anything the coaches don’t want him to do.

The next session was a full team session, and the first time we got to see them hit the defense and vice versa.  Again, the Irish employed the two tight end set with Jones and Smythe and St. Brown and Finke at receiver.  What stood out early was Brandon Wimbush’s poise in the pocket.  Realizing he was wearing the red jersey and could not be tackled (except by the radio controlled dummies that were chasing him later in practice) but his footwork and movements in the pocket were very smooth.  He bought extra time and was able to step up in the pocket and throw to an open tight end running a crossing pattern for a long gain which would not have been possible if he was a statue back there.  The two battles on the offensive line are at center between Sam Mustipher and Tristen Hoge and right tackle between Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg.  On this day both Mustipher and Kraemer were running with the first team, and Hoge and Eichenberg were with the second team.  There were consecutive plays where Eichenberg blew Daniel Cage down the line of scrimmage so hard that he ran into the guard allowing Tony Jones to score.  It was textbook technique and power shown by Eichenberg.  Another aspect during the team session that was a positive sign was Wimbush’s propensity to check down.  There were times when he had nothing downfield and went through his progressions and found his running backs either in the flat or sitting at linebacker depth.  I was impressed that a young guy taking his first meaningful first team reps was able to have the poise to make this happen.  Speaking of the running backs in the passing game both Adams and Jones showed they had amazing hands.  I cannot recall either one of them dropping the ball during any of the team sessions today, and they did it with the ease of a receiver. Clearly, Jones and Smythe did well but so did Nic Weishar who had a few nice catches over the middle and in the end zone.  That is four tight ends that stood out today which will be critically important going into fall camp and the season with Chip Long’s love for the position.

The defense finally decided to show up on the goal line during one of the team sessions towards the end of practice.  Five plays in a row were either minimal gains on the ground, a dropped swing pass or a blown up mesh in the backfield.  One thing about this new defense is there are guys flying all over the field and getting into the backfield.  The offense recovered nicely when Adams took an inside zone play over 50 yards into the red zone that was capped off by a Chase Claypool touchdown catch in the back of the end zone.  Claypool had a few nice catches today, and it is clear once he figures out this game and the coaching staff figures out how to use him he is going to be a force to be reckoned with.  He has the size of a tight end and the hands, speed, and athleticism of a receiver.  He just needs to learn some of the finer points of the position.  

The final Irish player that stood out was Tony Jones, Jr.  He did a lot of things very well in the running game today including shedding defenders as he was running between the tackles.  He also took a flat pass that traveled about 10 yards in the air an additional 40 plus yards down the sideline.  He was able to showcase his speed for all in attendance.  He was finally caught at about the five-yard line, but it is evident that he has the speed to be a breakaway back in this offense.  There was a buzz on the sideline as he raced past all the onlookers and I expect that buzz to continue well into the fall.  The final play was a fourth and three situation from about the eight-yard line.  Jones was thrown the ball in the front right corner of the end zone where he was able to leap up and make the catch over Drue Tranquill for the score.  It was just another example of his athleticism and talent.  After practice, his position coach, Autry Denson, told me, “Look out for Tony Jones.  You can’t be in cruise control with Jones behind you” referring to the other running backs on the Irish roster.

The key takeaways from this practice is that there is a clear emphasis on the running game for Notre Dame and they have the horses in the backfield to do it.  Brandon Wimbush is poised and ready to be QB1 at Notre Dame and has all the physical tools to get the job done.  The battles for center and right tackle are very competitive and are only going to make whoever gets the job that much better.  The Chip Long offense at Notre Dame is looking like a fine marriage of what Brian Kelly does and what Long wants to do in the running game and with the tight ends.  It should be very exciting to see the evolution of this offense moving forward.  The next practice is open to the media on April 7, and it should be interesting to see where the offense has evolved to by then.