Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman wasn’t giving away too much Friday afternoon as the Fighting Irish put a stamp on fall camp with a scrimmage inside Notre Dame Stadium.
It’s no secret that Freeman and his staff have focused on building depth across the roster since his first season as head coach.
That depth is starting to show, and Freeman didn’t hesitate to point to the deepest group on the roster, which is a position Notre Dame has struggled to recruit consistently for years.
“One would be the defensive tackle position,” stated Freeman. “We're deep with a lot of guys that will play, a lot of guys that could start. It's great competition. Those guys really had a good camp.”
The Irish added transfers Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray, but the talk of camp has been Armel Mukam.
The 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior entered the Transfer Portal and took several visits before ultimately returning to Notre Dame, giving Charlie Partridge an opportunity to reshape his career.
“Armel has really had a great camp,” Freeman said. “His leadership is showing. He's not only a leader by the way he plays, but his vocal leadership is showing up and he's making those people around him better.”
Freeman was also quick to give Partridge credit for enhancing the defensive line room in a short period of time.
It’s not easy to gain immediate buy-in from an established position room, but that’s exactly what Partridge has done.
It's a credit to Coach Partridge, who has done an amazing job with the D-line top to bottom,” explained Freeman. “I've always said this, when you're a new coach that comes into a program that has guys that are established and guys who have done a really good job, it's difficult.
“He's earned their trust and they've improved.”
On the edge, Notre Dame also has depth, especially with the emergence of Keon Keeley, Loghan Thomas and freshman Rodney Dunham.
For Keeley, it’s been a matter of finding a comfort level in the defense and terminology that allows him to play fast. It appears that has happened.
“Keon Keeley's had a really good camp,” said Freeman. “He's really shown us that he can be a dependable player. Anytime you go into a new system and you're coached in a different way, it takes a minute to get to the point where you can play fast. He's showing in fall camp that he understands what's demanded of him and has done a good job.”
For Thomas, there have been questions about his weight, especially considering Notre Dame has linebackers and safeties bigger than him. That said, Freeman didn’t seem concerned about Thomas’ size following his performance over the last three weeks.
“He's really put a lot of work into keeping his weight where it needs to be and increasing his weight,” Freeman stated. “It wasn't an effort thing, but now you can see him consistently being at a weight and playing at a high level.”
Freeman didn’t hide his expectations for Dunham, although he also didn’t go in-depth on what the freshman’s role will be early in the season.
“Rodney Dunham's a good player,” explained Freeman. “He's one of those freshmen who came in in the spring that you said, “This guy can play.’ He's going to help us. I don't know when, how much, but Rodney Dunham will help us.”
Across the line of scrimmage, Notre Dame is still figuring out its best five on the offensive line.
Will Sullivan Absher win the right guard job, with the center battle then coming down to Ashton Craig and Joe Otting? Or does Rudolph believe Craig or Otting is a better guard than Absher, with the other moving to center?
It sounds complicated, but the silver lining is that all three players have experience.
“We're still kind of tweaking with, ‘Hey, what's the best five out of those guys,” Freeman said. “Ashton isn't truly cleared to play yet. I think he's going to get there in the next week or two. He played a lot today, but we still need docs to say, ‘Hey, he's 100 percent clear.’ He's done a really good job as well as Joe Otting and Sully. We'll watch and evaluate the scrimmage today.”
The season opener is still two weeks away, so there is plenty of time to figure it out. And even then, Notre Dame had its right guard competition leak into the season last fall.
“We're going to know,” Freeman stated. “We're going to have to make some decisions, but there's a confidence we have in all three of those guys you just named. Ashton obviously has started a lot of ball for us, but with Joe and Sully, we have a lot of confidence they can get the job done.”
Want the latest scoop on Notre Dame Football and Recruiting? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under Armour Golf Leprechaun Fleece Hoodie
