OMalley Defense Spoiler Notre Dame, Ind. — An exceptionally humid morning greeted Marcus Freeman's third-edition Irish at their first practice of Training Camp 2024, one that lasted just 15 segments as the Irish assimilate through the weekend before beginning full contact next Monday. Three players worked the exercise bike today, plus a walk-on i was unable to identify: Walk-on defensive lineman Quentin Autry, running back Gi'Bran Payne, and linebacker Kahanu Kia. Payne is out for the regular season (Blue-Gold Game ACL tear) while Kia was announced today as out for the season after suffering a summer ACL tear. Per NCAA regulations, Notre Dame was in helmets and shells, thus negating even the 'Thud' segments that sometimes accompany a practice viewed by the media. First and Second Unit Observations: Two reasonable sets of 1s and 2s exist from this morning, but I'm going to defer to A.) Logic, and B.) traditional practice structures nationwide, and thus, an 11-on-11 segment late in practice likely featured Camp's opening '1s and 2's rather than early-practice skeleton drills. At Nose Tackle: Absent during 11-on-11 below is Gabriel Rubio: my speculation is that Rubio succumbed to heat or a minor injury, as he stopped repping and was replaced by Armel Mukam. SDE: RJ Oben, Josh Burnham DT: Rylie Mills, Jason Onye, Donovan Hinish NT: Howard Cross, and Armel Mukam Vyper: Jordan Botelho, Boubacar Traore Linebackers: Jack Kiser and Jaylen Sneed (more on this rotation later) Nickel: Jordan Clark, Rod Heard Safety: Rod Heard, Adon Shuler Safety: Xavier Watts, Luke Talich Boundary: Benjamin Morrison, Christian Gray Field: Christian Gray, Jaden Mickey, Chance Tucker Conversely, in skeleton drills, Mickey was the No. 1 field corner (Morrison to the boundary, of course) and Shuler was the No. 1 safety next to Watts. There were no other changes. Likewise, the linebacker rotation was heavy alongside the lone constant (Kiser), with the following combinations in 11 vs. 11 action: Kiser and Sneed Bowen and Ausberry Viliamu-Asa and Ausberry Viliamu-Asa and Kiser Kiser, Bowen, and Sneed Kiser, Viliamu-Asa, and Ausberry (And I'm sure I missed a rep or two.) If you're looking for third- and fourth-teamers, they hit the other field obscured from our view NOTABLE MATCHUPS A review of what we saw in one-on-one WR/DB action defensively. Remember: these should favor the offense… Xavier Watts opens with an interception Jaden Mickey wins vs. Kris Mitchell and adds a shove Chance Tucker holds Beaux Collins Jayden Harrison dusts Jordan Clark with a stutter in space Nice catch by Jordan Faison on Christian Gray Leonard Moore with the hold Eli Raridon muscles through Adon Shuler for a competitive catch Good defense on the deep corner by Karson Hobbs vs. Logan Saldate Good defense by Mickey on the post vs. KK Smith Deion Colzie catches the fade vs. Marty Auer (the long-time safety is now a CB) Jaden Greathouse with a pretty route beating solid coverage by Rod Heard Cam Williams fights through Kennedy Urlacher's hold Benjamin Morrison with the PD vs. Jayden Thomas Jayden Harrison again loses Clark from the slot Colzie beats Tucker by an immeasurable margin on a stutter go (I assume it was a stutter-go…I certainly saw the 'Go' part) Mickey gets into Karson Hobbs for being late to the final rep alignment Mike Denbrock rips into Eli Raridon for not getting up field fast enough (now we're in 7-on-7s) To borrow from Remember the Titans: Jaden Mickey loves himself some contact… Adon Shuler drops a certain Pick 6 (Steve Angeli) and hears about it from Mike Mickens Tucker holds Gilbert who nearly catches the deep ball anyway on a pretty pass by Angeli Gilbert with a drop (he'd been catching everything to date) Jayden Thomas beautiful leaping fade catch over Benjamin Morrison who determines the receiver was out of bounds (Riley Leonard outstanding touch on the throw) Tucker holds Gilbert again Pass breakup by Jaden Mickey on a terrible throw to the flat intended for KK Smith. Mickey makes fun of the pass post-play (to Smith, not the QB). Pass Rush Matchups: An absolutely violent rep by Brenan Vernon though I didn't see who he beat (there were no starters on the OL involved) Chris Terek buries Devan Houstan Loghan Thomas swim move beats Guerby Lambert Styles Prescod stones Kobi Onyiuke (long-time walk-on) Ty Chan handles Cole Mullins Sean Sevillano gets a good push on walk-on Max Anderson Peter Jones handled Armel Mukam, but you could argue I misspelled "holds" in that sentence Grant Ristoff right through Guerby Lambert with an inside move Good punch by Onyiuke through Anthonie Knapp but the end result is Knapp on top of him…might've been at the QBs feet in a live rep, however Devan Houstan rip move beats Sullivan Absher (Absher is the most well-regarded OL in this grouping at present) Boubacar Traore no-go vs. Charles Jagusah Joe Otting handles Brenan Vernon easily Aamil Wagner stones Josh Burnham Cole Mullins beats Chris Terek but maybe not in live action where a QB could shuffle Guerby Lambert struggles to contain Thomas again AROUND THE FIELDS Bryce Young is impossible to miss from 50 yards away on the bleachers. It's worth noting there were almost no third-team players involved in our 11-on-11 observations above. They moved to the far field out of our view. Jaylen Sneed delivers a 'BOOM!" but it was audibly, not with a hit. This is no contact 11-on-11 downfield. Funny nonetheless as Sneed intimates he'd have killed the intended receiver Jaiden Ausberry takes great pleasure in pointing out Eli Raridon jumped right in front of him pre-snap Armel Mukam getting a lot of reps for Rubio as noted above. Might be a player to watch for 2025-26? Mukam remember missed spring ball with shoulder surgery. Regardless, Mukam's No. 88 kinda looks cool on an interior lineman. Sean Sevillano's body looks better than the spring. Which reminds me… Adon Shuler: quality 12-pack stomach The Defense wore blue today (they always wear white. A result of the 'Jersey Scrimmage' perhaps?) Regardless, I briefly wondered who No. 30 was on offense and if he would one day be a Hall of Fame offensive tackle. Looks like it was just Bryce Young. Punt Returners in order today: Jaden Greathouse, Jordan Faison, Jaden Mickey, KK Smith, and Aneyas Williams Jordan Clark is all over the flats (running backs) when he detects a leak out by the back or backside screen action Riley Leonard was blitzed A LOT and was very impressive handling it: quick releases Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa seems to have a knack for the interior blitz pressure
Has anyone except D3 been on the Burnham train? He's been talking him up for two years but curious if others are
Rubio broke his foot and out for a while. Duece flipping to auburn on Tuesday. hope the actual football part of this goes better than the last 30 days or so.
The recruiting thing is just the natural progression. Can’t sell hope anymore so have to actually produce. Rubio is a bummer.
Deuce sucks, but Rubio sucks more. For him and the team. Losing ANY recruit who may noy realistically start for another few years is easier to overcome than losing a key rotational piece at a position that is expected to put the team over the top.
True. Especially continued encouraging reviews of the WRs and the fact that there might be some guys competing and earning chances at OL versus simply having to settle on the safest options due to experience. If Wagner has power, athleticism, and technique, I'm not as concerned about the extra 20 pounds we'd prefer he carry. And I have an idea that the guards - last year's weak spot, are going to turn out nasty.
Everyone in recruiting in the know a month ago: “Auburn missed on their QB target Lewis and are gonna throw an insane bag at Deuce cuz they need to make a splash” ND fans: We are losing Duece because of hope, results, distance, Gerard Parker, WR recruits, etc It’s the fucking money guys it’s free agency
If we're going to let Auburn outbid us for the most talented QB recruit to even glance in our direction in over a decade, then we're paying a game we're never going to win. It's just never going to happen.
It sounds like he'll definitely announce the flip then its anyone's guess what he does if Leonard's in New York after we're 11-1 and Auburn goes 7-5 and we match the bag Is my read
From Loy about 30 minutes ago: Auburn expects him to flip soon. He informed Notre Dame he's still committed, but will take things into the fall. Official visits are likely, and he'll return to South Bend this fall as well. That's the latest.
Meh. Paying a kid 2mm who may never play a snap is its own kind of stupid and unsustainable. They just need to keep with the portal and it will all be fine.
I understand your POV and usually I'd agree. Deuce is the exception for me. I think he's a future Heisman finalist and 1st round pick. IMO you do whatever it takes to keep him.
I dunno. Maybe - but who knows if he says long enough for that to happen etc. etc. I just can’t get too fussed about recruiting. I’m more fired up about getting Sophs in as transfers.
He's a raw talent with a very talented and more developed prospect ahead of him. If Carr is the real deal he probably bails anyways.
It is wild how it’s the parents now working against nd. The duece article on on3 is basically “well we didn’t think we could get as much money last year but now that he has blown up we went around looking for the biggest bag for ourselves”
The "overly optimistic ND twitter" cadre seems to be saying Deuce's offer was "flip now immediately or its gone" so every day he waits the better for us. That was the JuJu offer and he passed
You can start next year. At ND you’re three years away. Can’t blame him. Maybe ND can be his third stop.
If money is the motivating factor behind his change of heart, history tells us it'll be an ongoing factor in his future moves. Yes, I said future moves. Nothing against the kid but I doubt he finishes 2 seasons at Auburn.
lol, so they’re really gonna cancel this after 2026, aren’t they? honestly, just go B1G at that point
There are a lot of factors that may force us to join a conference. USC turning full bitch isn't one of them imo
Let’s see how they feel after a few years in the big ten, getting fucked over for Michigan and osu being the king of the conference will get old for them real quick
Not sure what our 2026 OL board looks like, but Ignatius has a prospect with offers from Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, and OSU we haven't touched yet. USC offered today. A little strange we're not around him at all https://www.on3.com/db/will-conroy-238028/
They've only offered ten guys on the OL so far (three of which are just courtesy offers to elite guys they have no shot at) and they are looking good for 3 already so I imagine they will be pretty picky as always at the position