Practice Observations: 3/29
It was a warm but wet morning in South Bend, so the Irish practiced indoors on Thursday. There wasn’t much to report as we were there for the first six periods.
Quarterback Avery Davis, defensive end Jay Hayes, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and safety Jordan Genmark Heath were not practicing due to academic commitments as Notre Dame breaks for Easter break today.
Receiver Michael Young did not participate, while tight ends Nic Weishar and George Takacs continued to get conditioning work in as they recover from surgery.
Notre Dame started with the tempo drill, and there were some changes to the Irish offense including Liam Eichenberg to left tackle, Tommy Kraemer to left guard and Robert Hainsey to right tackle.
First Group
QB: Brandon Wimbush
RB: Dexter Williams
WR: Javon McKinley
WR: Chris Finke
WR: Miles Boykin
TE: Alizè Mack/ Cole Kmet
OL: Liam Eichenberg
OL: Tommy Kraemer
OL: Sam Mustipher
OL: Alex Bars
OL: Robert Hainsey
Second Group
QB: Ian Book
RB: Jahmir Smith
RB: Tony Jones Jr.
WR: Chase Claypool
WR: Micah Jones
WR: Freddy Canteen
OL: Aaron Banks
OL: Logan Plantz
OL: Trevor Ruhland
OL: Dillan Gibbons
OL: Josh Lugg
The defense started off with:
First Group
Drop: Daelin Hayes
DT: Jerry Tillery
DT: Jon Bonner
DE: Khalid Kareem
Buck: Drue Tranquill
Mike: Te’von Coney
Rover: Asmar Bilal
CB: Troy Pride Jr.
CB: Nick Watkins
S: Nick Coleman
S: Jalen Elliott
Second Group
Drop: Julian Okwara
DT: Kurt Hinish
DT: Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
DE: Ade Ogundeji
Buck: DJ Morgan
Mike: Jonathan Jones
Rover: Isaiah Robertson
CB: Julian Love
CB: Shaun Crawford
S: Alohi Gilman
S: Devin Studstill
The Irish then broke into positional groups for the next several periods. The quarterbacks and offensive line were too far away to get a good read on what they were doing, but it wasn’t anything overly exciting as Wimbush and Book were tossing the ball to a stationary student manager.
The receivers were working on footwork and some blocking, while the running backs worked on a little bit of everything during drill work.
Safeties coach Terry Joseph led his unit in footwork drills and some ball work. The cornerbacks worked on footwork and shedding blocks. Linebackers did the standard footwork and sled drills.
The defensive line was a little sloppy to start practice. Mike Elston was on his guys for not starting the drills right, not finishing the drills right or even standing in the middle of the drill.
Tagovailoa-Amosa not using the right footwork and not lining up properly got under Elston’s skin, and he let him know about it on a few occasions.
While Tagovailoa-Amosa was drawing some heat, Elston praised Daelin Hayes and Jerry Tilley for good reps, as well as Kurt Hinish and Khalid Kareem.
The last period we saw consisted of some competition as the offensive, and defensive lines did some half-line, while the skills positions did one-on-one tackling. I could only see the tackling drill, but the defense didn’t have its best day. The drill does favor the offense, but the intensity and focus wasn’t quite where it was last week.
WR Chris Finke tackled by CB Julian Love
RB Jahmir Smith beat S Devin Studstill
WR Micah Jones beat CB Houston Griffith
RB Jahmir Smith beat S Nick Coleman
WR Micah Jones tackled by CB Donte Vaughn
S Nick Coleman tackle
RB Jahmir Smith tackled by S Alohi Gilman
WR Micah Jones tackled by S Jalen Elliott
RB Jahmir Smith tackled by CB Julian Love
WR Chris Finke juked the heck of someone
WR Micah Jones tackled and stripped by S Jalen Elliott
WR Miles Boykin beat CB Nick Watkins
There just wasn’t much more to even form an opinion on from today’s practice.
Notre Dame continues to move pieces around on the offensive line to find the best five. I was expecting the combination used today to be the best five, so it will be interesting to see if Trevor Ruhland, Josh Lugg, and Aaron Banks can break into the top five for someone over the next few weeks.
Notre Dame's defense also continues to look better each time you see them from an athletic standpoint. There are a lot of athletes on the field fighting to take on significant roles, which I'm not sure you could have said the last few years.
Notes
- The Slippery Fox (Chris Finke) was slippery today making multiple DBs miss tackles in 1-on-1 drills.
- Safety Jalen Elliott had a nice forced fumble.
- I like Tommy Kraemer at LG. Power guy in a power position.
- Center Sam Mustipher has raised his game.
- Offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons had a nice day in half-line. Physical kid and seemed like he had a jump in his step today.
- Safety Alohi Gilman plays nasty. Very physical player.