Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2022 9 UNDER THE DOME Winter workouts and spring practices are Colzie's chance to lock down the boundary receiver spot and make Notre Dame's staff comfortable with finding a complementary guy in the portal rather than needing a starting-caliber import. There's not another receiver with his build in camp. He's essentially compet- ing against himself. KEVIN BAUMAN • JR. • TE Bauman impressed Notre Dame's staff as a freshman, but with three NFL tight ends on the roster (yes, you can include Mayer in that), the barriers to inclusion in the lineup were firm. He stood out in fall camp practices open to the media last summer, but a broken leg suffered in the opener ruined chances at snatching the No. 3 tight end role. Now, though, Bauman is recovered and can see the opening behind Mayer after last season's No. 2, George Takacs, took a graduate transfer. The Irish have five tight ends beside Mayer, but two are June enrollees and another (Cane Ber- rong) is working his way back from an October ACL tear. That leaves Bauman and sophomore Mitchell Evans, who took that No. 3 tight end job last year and made him somewhat of a forgotten man. B a u m a n h a s d i s p l aye d f l a s h e s through two years. Stringing them to- gether to grab the No. 2 tight end job this year or carving out a spot in red- zone packages is an achievable 2022 goal. RYLIE MILLS • JR. • DL Notre Dame has several possible an- swers for replacing Myron Tagovailoa- Amosa at strong-side defensive end, and none is a wrong one. Moving Mills, though, is both tempting and practical. His pass-rush skills from the interior were hard to miss. He made a spot start for Tagovailoa-Amosa at Virginia last year and notched two sacks. All told, it's a sample that deserves a look as a starter. Notre Dame could give him that workload at defensive end, but not at three-technique tackle. JORDAN BOTELHO • JR. • LB Last offseason's popular breakout pick never took off, missing the first two games for undisclosed reasons and bouncing between vyper and linebacker the rest of the way. If told of that future last August, you might have predicted a decent year for Notre Dame's 2021 pass rush at best. Instead, the Irish set their single-season sack record while Botelho hopscotched around the defense. The goal this spring should be find- ing a long-term home where his mean streak, athleticism and motor can help. Is that as the No. 2 rover? What about vyper behind Foskey? The former should be friendlier given Isaiah Pryor's departure. That's nearly 300 snaps va- cated. It might be the only real option if graduate student Justin Ademilola stays in his No. 2 vyper job. Notre Dame had the front seven depth to withstand Botelho's derailment last year. The onus is on him to force his way into the mix this spring. That starts with Notre Dame giving him a home and keeping him there. MARIST LIUFAU • SR. • LB B o te l h o 's b rea k t h ro u g h s ea s o n stalled. Liufau's was sideswiped. Any observer during open portions of fall camp saw his disruption and decisive- ness that earned him the starting will linebacker job until a lower leg fracture in late August ended his season. Notre Dame withstood it, with re- placement and classmate JD Bertrand posting a team-high 101 tackles. He, se- nior rover Jack Kiser and graduate stu- dent sub-package linebacker Bo Bauer are all back. Defensive coordinator Al Golden has to determine how Liufau fits with those pieces (and five underclass- men), because it's impossible to imagine him not starting if he's at all the player he was in camp pre-injury. JAYLEN SNEED • FR. • LB Notre Dame's highest-ranked 2022 signee looks like a fit at will or rover, and both have openings for second- stringers who could play weekly roles. Sneed's mix of explosiveness, fluidity and coverage potential should translate to either — and perhaps earn him a spot in the rotation if he can adjust to the speed of the college game in short order. That might be a more encourag- ing sign for 2023 than 2022, but line- backer depth this year won't be taken for granted after watching how injuries wiped it out and left Bertrand with no real backup last fall. The workload took its toll. CLARENCE LEWIS • JR. • CB It's not often a 19-game starter makes this list, but Lewis is an interesting case and starts on shaky ground after a rough Fiesta Bowl. Is he as bad as he was that game? No. This is the same player who appeared on the season opener two- deep as a freshman and took over as the starter later that year. But his upward trend halted in 2021, and Notre Dame's staff has to help him relaunch it. That involves a mental rebound as much as it does technique develop- ment. Cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens understands the latter is important for his entire unit this spring in its quest to make more plays on the ball. Lewis felt no threat to his job last year like he presented to Ta'Riq Bracy in 2020. This spring, though, Notre Dame has five underclassmen corners on the roster (any of whom could have easily made this list). One must emerge to avoid a repeat of the barely tenable three-man corner rotation Notre Dame used last year, and that player could push Lewis if his bounce-back spring doesn't materialize. BRANDON JOSEPH • SR. • S On paper, Notre Dame is replacing one All-America safety with another. Joseph snagged six interceptions in 2020, demonstrating rare coverage skills for his position. Last year, though, Northwestern's defense cratered as it changed coordinators and brought him down in the process. His 80-tackle, three-interception season was still fine overall, but a step down from the prior year. Now in a new setting and new de- fense, can Joseph return to form? If he's anything close to an All-American, that's a boost for an Irish secondary that needs an anchor after losing one. The spring is his chance to prove last year's changes at Northwestern were the ag- gravating factor in his departure from that status, not some kind of decline in skills. ✦