6 Thoughts on a Thursday

The part of camp where we learned about the 2018 Fighting Irish is over. We were fortunate enough to get to see four full practices (I was in attendance for three) out of the first eleven. There is still more to go for them where positions will get locked down and improvements made, but for us, we can only concentrate on what we know.

Here’s a quick rundown from the practices we’ve seen:

This is a deep defensive line that should be very good. The front seven as a whole is strong.

The cornerback play might be the best it’s been in a very long time. (I’m talking when Bobby Taylor played for the Irish. So yeah, a long time.)

The personnel at safety should be much better than it was a year ago.

There might not be a true alpha at receiver, but there are several playmakers to choose from.

While there is still uncertainty at running back, there is talent.

Justin Yoon is going to have a fantastic year.

That about sums it up for me. Those are all good things and things Notre Dame fans should be excited about. It’s a strong roster. Maybe the strongest overall that Brian Kelly has had at Notre Dame even if the star power on offense might not be the same as it has been in other seasons. But what we have learned, if we didn’t already know already, is that the Irish have a lot of things going for them that can help them be a top-10 team this fall.

We also have to dip into the unknowns after those practices we witnessed. The obvious one is at quarterback.

As we mentioned on Power Hour, even if Brandon Wimbush was lights out all camp, it was going to be a “wait and see” scenario. It may take three games before we get full clarity at the position. (It may take one if he is great against Michigan)

The other big unknown for me right now is the offensive line. I watched three practices in full pads and I honestly couldn’t tell you how good the O-line can or will be.

This has nothing to do with Jeff Quinn replacing Harry Hiestand or anything of that nature. It boils down to that we did not see Notre Dame run the ball very often.

Very often is probably an exaggeration. The amount of running plays we watched compared to the amount of one on ones and 7 on 7 was minimal.

What we didn’t see is any 9 on 7, half line, and we saw very little team periods. The first two are run specific drills. It’s pretty much impossible for anyone in the media to evaluate offensive lineman without those drills. The sample size of team for us was just not large enough to get a good idea of who is excelling or struggling.

We might see a guy get beat here and another pancake a defensive lineman there, but those are just flashes that stand out. That’s not enough for me or anyone else to say “X offensive tackle looks like he’ll be an All-American”.

Before everyone starts freaking out about them not working on these things, the reality is that they probably are. They just aren’t doing it when the media is in attendance.

Last year we didn’t see them working on the running game a lot and look how they came out and ran the football. It was pretty clear they were working on things, but not a lot of it when we were there.

I don’t know how good the offensive line is going to be blocking Michigan’s front. I don’t know how well they will pick up the blitz (the defense rarely brought additional rushers in team). I don’t know if there are going to be a lot different with how they do things without Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey.

I just don’t know because I didn’t see enough to form an opinion on it.

What we didn’t see in the practices we weren’t in attendance for and the practices from now until Michigan are going to reveal things about the offensive line. We just won’t know about them until Michigan.

That is not comforting to a Notre Dame fan who is thinking about Don “Dr. Blitz” Brown’s defense or the studs Michigan has on their defensive line, but at least Brown and Michigan have no idea how good the Irish offensive line is going to be either.

They don’t know what new wrinkles Chip Long has installed for the running game and they don’t know if Notre Dame is going to run a lot more run-pass options plays this season as compared to the year before. There is unknown for them too.

That’s probably for the best rather than having me writing about how the right side of the line really struggled picking up a specific stunt or that a guard had trouble scraping off a double team and picking up a linebacker.

The Irish could be thriving on the offensive line right now or they could be working out the kinks in preparation for a tough test on September 1st. The latter is more likely, but it will remain unknown.

Much like the quarterback play, we’ll have to wait and see where they are at when they show up on that first Saturday of the season.

2. Another unknown from camp is Rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. He was injured all three days I was there and only went through individual drills because of a tight hamstring. It’s too bad because I was looking forward to seeing if he could make an impact on this defense.

If he can’t, it may not matter all that much because of Asmar Bilal.

It shouldn’t bet that surprising after the spring, but that spot feels like it’s in pretty good hands with the improvements he has made. Bilal has always enticed with his physical tools and now things appear to be clicking for him in a different way entering this season.

Yesterday Clark Lea described the ways Bilal has progressed as a player since last year.

“He has got speed and he has got power,” the defensive coordinator said. “Both of those things might be as good as anybody on the team. What I would like to see from him and what I feel like he’s displayed to a certain degree at this point in fall camp is letting his football instinct take over too. Don’t be robotic out there.

“It’s about executing, but it’s also about using that strength and speed to go make a play and cut loose sometimes. I think Drue was really effective that way in some of those perimeter screens to the field last year where he just swallowed up a block on the perimeter. I want to see Asmar think less about, ‘Do I go inside or outside?’ and just go through. I think when he does that, he’s going to experience all of the preparation in the weight room and on the field will come together for him and he’ll have a great year.”

First of all, I have not been around a coach who articulates this stuff as well as Lea does. He really knows how to paint a full picture with his answers to questions.

Back to what he said about Bilal, though. What he referenced about Tranquill versus the perimeter screens and Bilal and having Bilal's football instinct take over really says it all in regards to what he has shown this camp.

There is a decisiveness to his game now that didn’t exist before. That’s why he is around the football so much. There aren’t many guys on the roster with the raw athletic talent that Bilal possesses. It might finally be the time when he stopped only looking like an SEC caliber linebacker and started to play like one.

3. Similar to the offensive line, it was difficult to a get a full evaluation on the defensive line without those drills and team. What we knew heading in and what little that we did see is enough for me to say that the D-line is going to as advertised. With limited opportunities it’s just tough to say so and so is standing out, though.

That is also what makes what Khalid Kareem did in those three practices so impressive. He stood out without having many chances to.

We had heard he had great summer of training and he definitely had a strong spring. His Blue-Gold game was impressive too. I think this defense has more than a handful of players with star potential and Kareem sure looks like he deserves to be in mentioned in that group.

We spent so much time talking about how great Troy Pride has looked and he deserved it. Kareem deserved a bit more love than we’ve given him so far.

Mike Elston threw a ton of praise towards Kareem at media day.

“Khalid is probably one of my favorite guys I’ve ever coached because it’s so important to him. He’s so intentional, and he works his tail off. He doesn’t normally have bad days. He had one this camp, which shocked me, but in 11 practices that one bad day is pretty good.

“He’s always consistent and in the backfield. He’s great with his hands. Physically, he has long arms, and he knows how to use his body with his hips and hands. He’s just a special player and fun to be around but he knows when it’s time to work.”

Last year Kareem finished third on the defensive line with 5.5 TFLs. He didn’t play anywhere close to the third most snaps and in hindsight should have been on the field more. This year he is going to play a ton and doubling his TFL total seems more than reasonable.

4. Lea confirmed yesterday that he wants to call the game from the box rather than on the field. I think it’s a good idea and I like his reasoning behind it.

“I think it’s always great to be on the field because you’re sharing in the experience of gameday with your players and you can read the emotion and you can give and take as you need,” he explained.

“I don’t know how I’d accomplish the things I need to be able to accomplish for these guys as a play-caller with all of that emotion in front of me. I feel it’s important that I remove myself from that fray a little bit so I can be calm and collected as I look at the next step. For me right now, the box seems to be the best place.”

I really think Chip Long could benefit from following that reasoning and calling plays from upstairs too. I especially think that because Long is an emotional guy who doesn’t hide how he’s feeling, which is pretty much the opposite of Lea.

I don’t know if Long will do that or not, but I think he can be a better play-caller if he does. It’s something I would like to see him do this fall.

5. With Lea likely away from the field, there will need to be someone who plays an important role communicating things while the defense is playing from the field level. I don’t think it’s a good idea for that person to be Mike Elston.

It has nothing to do with Elston not being capable of doing so. He is probably the most qualified to do it, to be honest.

I’m thinking of it from a defensive line perspective and the job he has to do while they are in the middle of a drive. I think it would be best for the D-line to have his total focus on them. This has everything to do with the rotation and getting the right guys on the field at different times.

Unless they are going to do something similar to hockey line changes, it can be difficult to manage the rotation up front. With Notre Dame having possibly as many nine or ten players in the rotation, it becomes even more challenging to mix and match who is going out for a specific series when the starting defensive line is not out on the field.

When the defense is off the field, I’m all for Elston being the primary voice for Lea from field level making adjustments in between series. I think he can do well in that role. While the play is going on, though, it’s a different story.

There are just too many moving pieces for a defensive line coach to manage because so many more guys play on the D-line than any other position outside of receiver.

6. Houston Griffith eased back into the safety competition after dealing with a hamstring injury early in camp. If that wasn’t the case, he could have easily been the freshman that everyone was buzzing about in camp.

Without him at the forefront, the freshman that stood out the most was Kevin Austin. That comes to the surprise of no one due to his ranking as a recruit and how everyone pretty much predicted he was capable of great things right away.

It’s still nice to see it come to fruition, though. At his press conference yesterday, Brian Kelly said that “(Austin) doesn’t know 50 percent of the playbook, but he’s got the skill set. He’s a guy that can help us this year.”

He didn’t even really need to say anything for anyone to figure that part out. All anyone would have to do is pick out the jump balls he was catching over corners in the red zone or him running by Julian Love on a post for a touchdown in one on ones yesterday.

Austin is too good to keep off the field and he should be a dangerous weapon for the offense even if used in limited capacity.

Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool both have gotten better. Both have tantalizing potential and should have productive seasons. Austin is so much further ahead than those two were as true freshman it’s scary.

Who knows how much better Austin can get over the next few months? Some freshmen hit a wall and stay the same level they were in camp all season. Even if that happens with him, he can still help the team.

And if he bursts through that wall, he might be the one to provide that star power on offense that Irish don’t have quite yet.