Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com APRIL 2022 7 FAN FORUM There was no shortage of interesting topics to discuss during Notre Dame's spring football practice, which began on March 17. Among them was, "Who will replace Kyren Williams as the Fighting Irish's leading rusher?" Last year, Williams produced the first back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons by an Irish ball carrier in 15 years, while compiling 1,002 yards with 14 rushing scores. Junior Chris Tyree is competing with sophomores Logan Diggs and Audric Estime for carries in 2022, with sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner also likely to contribute to the rushing attack. Here's a sampling of the discussion our staff had with members of our mes- sage board at BlueandGold.com: FWCOACH: ND ranked 83rd last year at 143.8 yards rushing per game. Total of 1,869 rushing yards. Top 30 rushing attacks ran for 2,400-2,500 yards. With [offensive line coach] HH [Harry Hiestand], [running backs coach Deland] McCollough, returning OL studs, I think ND will rank top 30 give or take in 2022. So let's go off the premise that ND runs for 2,500 yards, here's how I think it breaks down. Tyree 900 yards Buchner 600 yards Diggs 600 Estime 250 Price 150 I could see Diggs having more like 500 and Estime getting closer to 250. Also [wide receiver Braden] Lenzy could have 100 or so if they use him right. PaNDalum: I'm just legitimately concerned that it will be Buchner. FWCOACH: I don't see any scenario where an OL of [Joe] Alt, [Blake] Fisher, [Jarrett] Patterson, [Andrew] Kristofic and [Josh] Lugg being coached by HH and Tyree, Diggs, Estime and [freshman running back Jadarian] Price being coached by McCollough doesn't result in either Diggs or Tyree leading the team. If Buchner leads the team, it would mean the read option is on an elite level, and DEs are just crashing down all season with zero discipline. I think losing Williams is offset big time by HH being the OL coach. I don't think ND will have a 1,000-yard rusher in 2022 because they don't need one. If MF/Rees [head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees] decided they wanted one back to run for 1,200 yards, I think that would happen. Just don't need to. Too much talent in the backfield. Very exciting to see it. PreTill: I think we saw a glimpse of how Tyree will be used in the Okl St game. Diggs got 12 carries vs. Tyree's 6, but Tyree was used as a big weapon in the passing game with 6 receptions for 100+ yards. Well, at least in the first half until Okl St made adjustments that ND couldn't handle. I am a big fan of Tyree and think he is under-appreciated by many fans on this board. Turf toe is a tough injury. I expect him to have a break out year but it would be wise to keep him fresh for the entire year IMO. mh2365: Diggs … Tyree will probably have more total yards though … Kcndmis97: I'm going to mix it up a bit and have some fun, go out on a limb. I think Tyree will lead the team in rushing the first half of the year but then we will suffer an injury to Diggs. Estime will take over and seize the job the second half, coming out on fire and edges Tyree in rushing yards overall. Due to the rise of Estime, Rees will use Tyree more in the slot the second half of the season. thomasna: Diggs. He's the most natural running back we have on the roster. I love his balance, lateral movement and patience. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: sdowney@comanpub.com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! GET ONE YEAR FOR JUST $1 FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com IN APPRECIATION Please pass along my appreciation and love to all of the fam- ily at Blue & Gold. I can't tell you how much your card meant to me after the passing of my dad, David Chestnut. I'm sure he's smiling down and thanking you each as well for taking the time to send a card and hand sign it from everyone. My dad was a Notre Dame fan his entire life, had football season tickets, brought me to a game one year and faithfully read your magazine until his last days. They would pile up be- side his bed even when he could no longer see nor understand the difference between the TV remote and his fork yet he con- firmed every day that the magazines were right beside him to flip through and during the season that his caregivers always had the Notre Dame game on so he could listen to it. Thank you for being the organization that continued to bring him joy and resemblance of normal this past fall/winter. It means so much to me. Thank you again for the card. In love, Kris Radzanowski (Dave's daughter) Rising sophomore Logan Diggs, who rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns in eight games as a rookie, figures to be a key piece in Notre Dame's rushing attack this season. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN