Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 APRIL 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ALL EYES ON … SENIOR BRANDON JOSEPH Everyone loves the new guy, but honeymoons don't last forever. Joseph has such big shoes to fill in replacing potential top-five NFL Draft pick Kyle Hamilton, so the spring will largely be spent looking for Hamilton-like traits from Joseph. He doesn't have to be a Hamilton clone. That's impossible. But if he can do some of the things Hamilton did, Notre Dame should feel a lot better about its secondary. PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coaches: Mike Mickens (3rd season, cor- nerbacks) and Chris O'Leary (2nd season, safeties) Departing Starters: S Kyle Hamilton (19 career starts) Additional Departures: S Litchfield Ajavon (en- tered transfer portal), S Khari Gee (transferred to Georgia Tech), CB JoJo Johnson (entered transfer portal), CB Caleb Offord (transferred to Buffalo) and S KJ Wallace (entered transfer portal) Returning Starters: Graduate student Houston Griffith (15 career starts) at S, senior Cam Hart (10) at CB and junior Clarence Lewis (19) at CB Projected New Starter: Senior Brandon Joseph (21 at Northwestern) at S Also Back: Graduate students TaRiq Bracy at CB and DJ Brown at S, juniors Ramon Hender- son and Xavier Watts at S, sophomores Ryan Barnes, Philip Riley and Chance Tucker at CB, and sophomore Justin Walters at S New Faces: Freshmen Jayden Bellamy, Jaden Mickey and Benjamin Morris at CB O n paper, Notre Dame has the same number of All-Ameri- cans in the secondary as it did in 2021. In comes former North- western safety Brandon Joseph to replace Kyle Hamilton. All good, right? No drop-off? Not so fast. Hamilton is a projected top-five pick who's appearing as high as No. 2 in mock drafts. When a player like that departs, there will in- evitably be a drop-off. To say there's no difference between Hamilton and Jo- seph because they're both All-Americans is unfair to Hamilton. Especially not when Joseph battled tack- ling issues and saw his coverage num- bers drop from elite to good on a leaky 2021 Northwestern defense. At the same time, Jo- seph has an impressive back- ground and rare coverage skills for the position. He's confident last year was a blip and not indicative of what's to come. If so, Notre Dame's secondary outlook changes considerably. But that's just one position. The other three (four, really, given the nickel's prevalence in modern foot- ball) have much to prove. Senior Cam Hart looks like a building block at cor- nerback, but he is missing the spring while he recovers from a shoulder issue. Junior corner Clarence Lewis needs a bounce-back spring after a rough Fi- esta Bowl and a 2021 season where he surrendered too many big plays. Five underclassmen corners will be looking DEFENSIVE BACKS NUMBERS TO KNOW 1 Touchdown allowed by safety Kyle Hamilton in 819 coverage snaps during his three years at Notre Dame, per Pro Football Focus. 4.2 Percent missed tackles percentage by graduate student safety DJ Brown in 2021, which led the team among players with at least 150 pass snaps. Brown was on the field for a total of 237 pass-play snaps and missed just one tackle. 371 Yards and four touchdowns through the air for Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, after he shredded the Irish in the second half. The passing yardage represented a season high for Sanders, who entered the final drive of the first half with only 72 aerial yards. POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH WHO'S THE STRONG SAFETY? There are two safety spots. Joseph can't play both at the same time. This feels like a four-way race between graduate students Houston Griffith and DJ Brown plus juniors RAMON HENDERSON and Xavier Watts. Of the four, Henderson might have the most upside. He displayed it against Virginia last fall but needs to demonstrate enough consistency to earn the starting nod. The seniors might have something to say about that. 2022 SPRING FOOTBALL OVERVIEW PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS to filch snaps from him. Nickel TaRiq Bracy is back as a super senior, but he also has to hold off the younger players. Eve n i f b o t h h ave strong springs, Notre Dame needs some- o n e to e m e rge and expand the rotation. The I r i s h p l aye d three corners all season and had no one to give Hart, Lewis or Bracy a rest in the bowl game. Fresh- man Jaden Mickey is a name to watch. At the other safety s p o t , j u n i o rs R a - mon Henderson and X a v i e r Wa t t s w i l l try to push gradu- ate students Houston Griffith and DJ Brown. They made mid- season position switches in 2021, with Henderson's range and Watt's tackling standing out. Those four are likely com- peting for three spots — one starting role and two backup jobs. BRANDON JOSEPH