Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 23 and were suspended until 2022 due to an ankle injury that zapped his junior season. He still led Notre Dame defen- sive players in snaps during the regular season, though. He will remain a starter unless someone usurps him. Sneed has the athleticism to cover in the slot and the range to wipe out crossing routes. The natural progression for him after a redshirt year is to earn a rotation spot in 2023, either at an inside linebacker spot or rover. Even better if he proves he's a starting-caliber player. ROVER Starter: Jack Kiser (Gr.) Others: Nolan Ziegler (So.), Jaiden Ausberry (Fr.), Will Schweitzer (Jr.) Golden's increased nickel usage made the rover a smaller part of the defense and pushed Kiser to the in- side linebacker spots at times. When Notre Dame does use three lineback- ers, though, he's the top rover. Ziegler worked at multiple linebacker spots in 2022. BOUNDARY CORNERBACK Starter: Benjamin Morrison (So.) Others: Clarence Lewis (Sr.), Chris- tian Gray (Fr.), Ryan Barnes (Jr.) Morrison became an indispensable part of the defense in his first season and was named a Freshman All-Ameri- can by several outlets. Ousting him from this spot would require something dras- tic on his end. Lewis has played all three cornerbacks spots in his career and will fit wherever Notre Dame needs him. SLOT CORNERBACK Starter: Thomas Harper (Gr.) Others: Jaden Mickey (So.), Micah Bell (Fr.) The Irish plucked Harper (Oklahoma State) from the portal as a graduate transfer. He's a safety in designation, but his specific position at Oklahoma State often handled slot coverage. He played 259 of his 397 defensive snaps in the slot last season. Notre Dame is replacing the reli- able TaRiq Bracy, who was the primary nickel the past two seasons and played 527 snaps in 2022. He was an important piece of the Irish's secondary becoming a strength in 2022. Mickey saw time in the slot and at field corner as a fresh- man. FIELD CORNERBACK Starter: Cam Hart (Gr.) Others: Chance Tucker (Jr.), Philip Riley (Jr.) Hart, a two-year starter, announced in November he is coming back for a graduate season. He did not play in the final two games of 2022 due to a shoul- der injury. Mickey started in his place in both games and can shift between nickel and the outside again, as Bracy sometimes did in 2022. Tucker was off the scout team as a sophomore and is likely to get a chance at breaking into the rotation after draw- ing positive practice reviews in the fall. SAFETY Starters: DJ Brown (Gr.) or Ramon Henderson (Sr.) or Xavier Watts (Sr.) Others: Justin Walters (Jr.), Ben Minich (Fr.), Brandyn Hillman (Fr.), Adon Shuler (Fr.) Brown's return for a sixth year be- came a more important development when Brandon Joseph declared for the NFL Draft. Watts and Henderson tak- ing over as starters would be the best outcome here when considering upside, but Brown will be involved no matter who earns starter status. Brown led all Notre Dame safeties in snaps last season (504). Harper will likely help here, too. Watts was a starter alongside Joseph in the regular-season finale and should be viewed as one until proven other- wise. Henderson played 319 snaps, see- ing time at safety and as a slot defender. Walters has yet to play a defensive snap in his career and missed the last seven games with an unknown injury. KICKER Starter: Spencer Shrader (Gr.) Others: Zac Yoakam (So.), Joshua Bryan (Jr.) Notre Dame plucked a kicker from the transfer portal for the second straight off- season in Shrader, who spent four years at South Florida. He is 28 of 41 on field goals in his career and went 9 of 13 last year. His best season was in 2021, when he hit 11 of 13 attempts with a long of 52 yards. Yoakam, a walk-on, handled kickoffs and passed Bryan on the placekicker depth chart in 2022. One wonders what that reality will lead Bryan to do regard- ing his future. PUNTER Starter: Bryce McFerson (So.) Others: Ben Krimm (Gr.) McFerson was one of the highest- rated punters in the 2022 class, and Notre Dame feels he's ready to be the starter after taking a redshirt year. The Irish went the Ivy League walk-on graduate transfer route again, adding Krimm, a former Penn punter. Last year's punter transfer, Jon Sot, beat out McFerson and kept the job all year. McFerson will be much harder to nudge from the top spot this year. LONG SNAPPER Starter: Michael Vinson (Gr.) Others: Rino Monteforte (So.) Vinson came back for a sixth and fi- nal season, which was a main factor in scholarship senior-to-be Alex Peitsch opting for the transfer portal in January. Special teams coordinator Brian Mason swayed Monteforte away from a schol- arship opportunity at Buffalo to walk on at Notre Dame. ✦ Graduate student linebacker JD Bertrand led Notre Dame in tackles each of the last two seasons. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER