Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/131896
First-Year Impact How will the 24-man freshman class fit into the 2013 plans? T By Lou Somogyi he strength of a college football recruiting class is not necessarily correlated to how many of the first-year players see extensive action. One of the weakest classes in Notre Dame history was in 2005 with a 15man group, the smallest ever at the program. Yet under first-year head coach Charlie Weis, 10 of the 15 saw action as freshmen, evoking some reaction that the class had been "underrated." The reality was that the overall Fighting Irish program was sorely lacking numbers in 2005, and there were only 69 recruited scholarship players on the roster to begin the year. While annual transfers make it difficult to reach the NCAA maximum of 85 players — the Irish stand at 83 in 2013 after the departures of three freshmen, quarterback Gunner Kiel and wideouts Davonte' Neal and Justin Ferguson — freshmen aren't needed as much this year out of desperation. The incoming 24-man freshman class that was ranked among the top three or four nationally will likely not match the 66.7 percent of freshmen who played in 2005, but that doesn't mean it is less talented. Rather, the infrastructure is stronger. At the conclusion of spring practice, here is our "guesstimate" of the incoming group and where it stands, with players listed alphabetically: Most Likely To Play (seven): Running back Greg Bryant, linebacker Michael Deeb, wide receiver James Onwualu, outside linebacker Doug Randolph, safety Max Redfield, outside linebacker Jaylon Smith and defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes — if he arrive in South Bend (See sidebar). The first freshman referenced this year by head coach Brian Kelly was the 6-1, 215-pound early enrollee Onwualu, who could aid special teams, at least. "He can play with the veterans right now in terms of conditioning and weight training, going every rep," Kelly said prior to spring practice. Last year, Kelly lamented the shortage of bodies on special teams with linebacker- and safety-type figures. He