Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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center in 2011) at guard and first-time starter Lombard next to him at tackle, Hiestand said it was ���a process��� all of 2012 on the right side. ���Two guys having played zero, basically, at the positions they���re playing at,��� Hiestand said of the 2012 alignment on the right side. ���You���d rather they not be next to each other, but that���s kind of how things went, and Chris Watt wasn���t really an option to move him.��� If Watt wasn���t an option to be moved in 2012, it might be even less likely to occur in 2013. ��� How ready will Hegarty will be to help at center? Last Dec. 14 he underwent heart surgery to patch two holes that caused a mini-stroke in November. However, the Notre Dame medical team has given him clearance to ease back into football this spring. ���Hegarty has had some experience there,��� head coach Brian Kelly said. ���We���re going to look at Nick Martin at that position. And I think Mark Harrell did a very nice job for us [during] the championship game preparation. So those three guys, I think, will get the first look at it.��� Tackle Tandem From the outside looking in, offensive tackle might be deemed one of the two or three strongest positions on the 2013 Notre Dame team. Left tackle Zack Martin has has graded out as Notre Dame���s top lineman each of the past three years, even though at 6-4 he doesn���t possess the prototype height (6���6, 6���7) or reach of a classic NFL left tackle. Still, he bypassed an NFL paycheck in 2013 to continue his master���s degree in offensive line play under Hiestand, who considers Martin one of the elite players at his position. Former USA Today first-team AllAmerican Lombard started all 13 games at right tackle and is also on pace to become a three-year starter. The Fighting Irish are set with starting tackles, but building depth there is going to be a vital step in 2013. Freshman Ronnie Stanley had been in the mix early during the 2012 campaign, but he was out of commission in the latter portion of the season because of elbow surgery. Consequently, guard/ center Nick Martin ��� the most versatile lineman on the team ��� had to be the backup tackle at both slots in preparation for the BCS National Championship Game. Meanwhile, Hanratty was the top option at both guard spots, thereby limiting some of the scrimmage work in December because of the dearth of able bodies along the line. Fortunately, reinforcements are on the way because offensive tackles were a priority ��� a ���red-line area��� as Kelly described it ��� in the 2013 recruiting haul. The first to get a shot this spring will be early enrollee Steve Elmer (6���6, 315), the recipient of this year���s Anthony Munoz Award. annually presented to the top high school offensive lineman in the country. Come August, Mike McGlinchey (6���9, 275) at left tackle will provide more volume, and Hunter Bivin (6���7, 290) possibly could too, although he is projected to get a first look on the inside. Along an offensive line, different possibilities usually are manifold. ���