Notre Dame entered fall camp with a wealth of returning experience, which meant there were relatively few true position battles during the month of August.
If anyone was looking for clarity on those competitions, Notre Dame didn’t provide much on Monday when the program released its first depth chart ahead of Sunday’s season opener against Wisconsin.
The Fighting Irish did offer more insight than the Badgers, as Wisconsin did not release a depth chart for the contest at Lambeau Field.
Notre Dame’s right guard battle is arguably the most significant of the remaining competitions and there is at least some clarity regarding who will play there Sunday.
Senior Sullivan Absher and junior Style Prescod are still competing for the starting job, and it’s likely both will see the field against the Badgers.
And if things don’t go according to plan, offensive line coach Joe Rudolph still has another option. Notre Dame could move Ashton Craig or Joe Otting to right guard while the other takes over at center.
“I would say it's close,” Freeman stated. “We got to make a decision here soon. We're not making it today, but I think it started with Ashton Craig being in and out. Sully had a couple practices where he may got pulled out because of an injury. He's fine now. But it gave Styles an opportunity to get some reps at guard and he did a really good job.”
While neither Absher nor Prescod has run away with the job, Freeman is confident Notre Dame can get quality play from either player.
“We feel confident at the right guard position, no matter if it's Sully or Styles,” explained Freeman. “You might see them both. It's a credit to the progression that Styles has made as a football player here in training camp.”
Speaking of Craig, the Indiana native beat out Otting for the starting center job despite Otting playing solid football a year ago.
The decision was hardly a surprise given Craig’s body of work when healthy, but Freeman had indicated that the fifth-year senior had yet to be fully cleared following Notre Dame’s final day of fall camp.
It appears Craig is now cleared and ready to go.
“He has a lot of experience and I think there's a calmness that he brings because of his experience and he's a really, really good football player,” stated Freeman. “He's really progressed throughout camp with his workload and has gotten himself to a place that he's ready to go. There's a level of comfort with that.
“There's a lot of comfort and confidence we have in Joe Otting, but to have Ashton out there is going to be something that helps it all.”
The other notable defensive competition comes at cornerback, where the question is who will line up opposite All-American Leonard Moore.
It could be graduate transfer DJ McKinney or sophomore Jayden Sanders.
The implications of that decision are significantly less than the battle at right guard because both players are expected to see meaningful snaps and both have already shown they can play at a high level.
McKinney brings more game experience, while Sanders has more time in Notre Dame’s defense after practicing with the Irish during the spring.
“He's been as consistent as anybody in that back end,” Freeman said of Sanders. “He's really performed daily. Every DB will have a play or two that they give up during practice, but the ability to respond and go out there and get your job done is something that he's done a terrific job at doing. He's cross-training between corner and nickel. That's a lot on his plate, but he's been able to handle it terrifically.”
The backup quarterback competition has probably been the most anticipated battle throughout the last month.
Notre Dame didn’t provide much clarity there, other than confirming it had become a two-man race between freshmen Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard, with sophomore Blake Hebert seemingly out of the competition.
With Notre Dame’s schedule, it would be beneficial for the Irish to take care of business early enough to give its young quarterbacks some live-game experience.
But before Freeman can worry about getting both freshmen on the field, he needs to determine who would be the first option if something happened to starting quarterback CJ Carr.
“We have to have a backup that we know would go in the game in case CJ (Carr) got hurt,” Freeman said. “If you're ever presented with the opportunity to get both of them in the game, you would love to. We did it similarly with Kenny (Minchey) and Steve (Angeli) a couple years ago. We want to try to get them both reps when we can, but we also have a plan if CJ goes down, who's going to be the first guy in.”
If Carr did go down, Freeman would have quite a decision to make.
Does Notre Dame turn to Grubbs, who has a little more familiarity with the playbook, or Jarrard, who can provide another dimension with his ability to use his legs?
For now, it remains unsettled.
“It's an ongoing process to develop those guys,” said Freeman. “The biggest thing is, yes, make a decision so you're prepared for the game. But how do we continuously develop those guys? I think that's going to be an ongoing process throughout the season.”
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