Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2019 33 "You're handed this block of clay, and you've got to really work to mold it," Lea said of the Virginia native. "He's an incredible athlete, so you don't worry about that with him. It's being in those positions and having exposure to fitting the B gap at times, or tackling a screen on the perimeter. "The more he does it, the more he adapts to it. He's gradually im- proved, I'm excited where he's headed." Sophomore Jack Lamb demon- strated an exciting level of playmak- ing ability all spring, but after not playing in 2018 while trying to get healthy, Lamb still has work to do when it comes to being more assign- ment correct. "He has a natural instinct in cov- erage we're going to use to our ad- vantage, plus his length," Lea stated. "When you start dropping a guy that's 6-4 into the middle of the field, the dig window tightens inevita- bly, especially when he has a great awareness of what's going on behind him. He's shown a knack for that and taking coaching on, too. "My urgency with him at times in practice is about where we need him to get to. It's about a belief that he can be the player that he wants to be — and there is no reason to wait on it." HOUSTON GRIFFITH MAKING GAINS Houston Griffith was moved back to cornerback this spring, a position he struggled at a year ago before tran- sitioning to safety. While he still has plenty of work to do to lock down the position, the sophomore took ad- vantage of the extra reps he had with veterans Shaun Crawford and Donte Vaughn sidelined all spring while recovering from surgeries. "Houston has some things he's re- ally good at as a corner, and things that he is still getting a feel for," Lea explained. " … The finer points that don't always come naturally have to be learned — and sometimes as a corner those are learned by the ball going over your head. "From a strength and power and speed standpoint, he has it. Certain techniques we're deploying for him he does really, really well. He's a great tackler … he's looked really good and as clean as we've had. For him it's getting comfortable with techniques and repetition in some of the things that are more challenging for him. The potential is there." INTERIOR LINEUP PROGRESSING Juniors Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish are going to be vital figures in the defensive interior rota- tion in the fall, but the emergence of a pair of young players will determine just how effective that group will be next season. "Jayson [Ademilola] and Jacob [Lacey] both have a skill set that gets you really excited," Lea said. "Par- ticularly with Jacob [who is an early enrollee], everything is so new to him right now. You're going to hit walls in there and develop a little slow." Both demonstrated flashes of big- time playmaking ability throughout the spring, yet are still very much works in progress. "Jayson … he's really going to need to show a consistency and the ability to push for some prime opportunities to play," Lea said. "Then Jacob, we're excited about where he is. I'm sure he's anxious to reset after spring and catch his breath. "Both guys have a chance to be impact players." ✦ Strongside End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 53 Khalid Kareem 6-4 262 Sr./1 91 Ade Ogundeji 6-4½ 250 Sr./2 44 Jamir Jones 6-3 257 Sr./1 47 Kofi Wardlow 6-2½ 245 Jr./3 18 NaNa Osafo-Mensah 6-3 235 Fr./4 Defensive Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 95 Myron Tagovailoa 6-2½ 286 Jr./3 57 Jayson Ademilola 6-3 285 So./3 90 Hunter Spears 6-4 295 Fr./4 Nose Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 295 Jr./2 54 Jacob Lacey 6-2 294 Fr./4 94 Darnell Ewell 6-3 340 Jr./3 55 Ja'Mion Franklin 6-1½ 308 So./4 Walk-on: Logan Plantz (62) Drop End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 42 Julian Okwara 6-4½ 240 Sr./1 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 268 Sr./1 19 Justin Ademilola 6-2 250 So./4 29 Ovie Oghoufo 6-3 230 So./4 Mike Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 22 Asmar Bilal 6-2 227 5th/1 33 Shayne Simon 6-3 230 So./3 52 Bo Bauer 6-3 230 So./3 45 Jonathan Jones 5-11½ 227 Sr./2 40 Drew White 6-0 225 Jr./3 Buck Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 2 J. Genmark Heath 6-1 231 Jr./2 31 Jack Lamb 6-4 227 So./4 33 Shayne Simon 6-3 230 So./3 Rover No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 30 J. Owusu-Koramoah 6-1½ 215 Jr./3 13 Paul Moala 5-11½ 210 So./3 24 Jack Kiser 6-1½ 212 Fr./4 Walk-on: Reed Gregory (50) Field Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 5 Troy Pride Jr. 5-11½ 194 Sr./1 35 TaRiq Bracy 5-10 172 So./3 20 Shaun Crawford 5-9 186 5th/2 Walk-ons: Temitope Agoro (26) and Brandon Garcia (39) Field Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 11 Alohi Gilman 5-10½ 201 Sr./2 12 D.J. Brown 6-0½ 192 So./4 Boundary Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 21 Jalen Elliott 6-0½ 210 Sr./1 7 Derrik Allen 6-1½ 220 So./4 Walk-ons: John Mahoney (25), Patrick Pelini (32), Christopher Schilling (38) and Marcus Thorne (43) Boundary Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 3 Houston Griffith 6-0 205 So./3 8 Donte Vaughn 6-3 210 Sr./1 4 Avery Davis 5-11 200 Jr./3 16 Noah Boykin 6-0½ 179 So./4 SPECIAL TEAMS Kicker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 200 Jr./2 Punter No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 19 Jay Bramblett 6-1 189 Fr./4 Walk-on: Jake Rittman (30) Long Snapper No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 54 John Shannon 6-2 238 Sr./2 Walk-on: Michael Vinson (65) Notes: Spears, Franklin, Kiser, Vaughn and Craw- ford did not participate in team drills while re- covering from surgeries ... White missed the final 13 practices because of March 22 surgery for separation of his right AC joint (non-football related). BGI Post-Spring 2019 Defense Depth Chart