Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1496419
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2023 27 harder to cover him. He's extremely fast and has great hands. "It's been great to just keep Chris on the field at all times out of the slot and still have our best backs in the backfield." RINSE, REPEAT One position group that doesn't want or need significant change like Mayer leaving or Tyree working more with the wide receivers is the Notre Dame offensive line. Yes, the position group has a new coach in Joe Rudolph. Harry Hiestand's return to South Bend only lasted one year before he drifted off into retirement again. But it didn't take long for the Irish to realize that Rudolph is every bit as no- nonsense and addicted to perfection of the process as his predecessor. Take it from Joe Tippman, Rudolph's starting center at Wisconsin in his final year as the offensive line coach there. "Coach Rudolph was an awesome coach," Tippmann said at the NFL Combine. "He was a guy who really put everything into it. He wasn't going to do anything halfway. For me especially, one thing I got from Coach Rudolph was confidence. That was a thing he harped on for me. He built up that con- fidence for me." Like Hiestand was, Rudolph is at Notre Dame to get the most out of the players. He inherited some great ones in junior tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, both potential first-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Graduate student Zeke Correll is the incumbent starting center. Two guards to replace departed graduate students Jarrett Patterson and Josh Lugg need to emerge. Rudolph won't play favorites. "You'd be selling the group short if you weren't trying to find the best five," Rudolph said. "You have to do that with some vision of how the whole group fits together. There might be someone who's competing their tail off, and they might back up Joe or back up Zeke. "That's what I shared with them. I want to be smooth, I want to see guys at their best spot and where they feel that is. We'll always find a way to get the best five on the field." That's been the magnum opus at Notre Dame for years now. ✦ Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's projection for how Notre Dame's 2023 scholarship depth chart looks after observing a couple spring practices. OFFENSE Quarterback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 10 Sam Hartman 6-1 1 ⁄8 210 Gr./1 12 Tyler Buchner 6-1 215 Jr./3 18 Steve Angeli 6-2 3 ⁄8 211 So./4 8 Kenny Minchey* 6-1 5 ⁄8 215 Fr./4 Running Back No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 7 Audric Estimé 5-11½ 227 Jr./2 3 Logan Diggs 6-0 214 Jr./2 13 Gi'Bran Payne 5-9 1 ⁄8 204 So./4 20 Jadarian Price^ 5-10 3 ⁄8 203 So./4 — Jeremiyah Love 6-1 195 Fr./4 Boundary Receiver (W) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 0 Deion Colzie 6-4¾ 211 Jr./2 80 Kaleb Smith 6-2 222 Gr./1 14 Braylon James* 6-2 1 ⁄8 195 Fr./4 Field Receiver (X) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 5 Tobias Merriweather 6-4 205 So./3 4 Lorenzo Styles 6-1 1 ⁄8 192 Jr./2 19 Jaden Greathouse* 6-1 213 Fr./4 Slot Receiver (Y) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 83 Jayden Thomas 6-0 1 ⁄8 220 Jr./3 2 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 192 Sr./2 17 Rico Flores Jr.* 6-0 1 ⁄8 198 Fr./4 29 Matt Salerno 6-0 5 ⁄8 195 Gr./1 — Kaleb Smith 5-11 170 Fr./4 * Early enrollee; ^ coming off an injury Tight End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 88 Mitchell Evans 6-5 1 ⁄8 260 Jr./2 84 Kevin Bauman^ 6-4½ 252 Sr./3 85 Holden Staes 6-4¼ 226 So./3 9 Eli Raridon^ 6-6¾ 249 So./3 38 Davis Sherwood 6-3 240 Jr./2 — Cooper Flanagan 6-5 239 Fr./4 Left Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 76 Joe Alt 6-7 5 ⁄8 315 Jr./2 79 Tosh Baker 6-8 310 Sr./3 77 Ty Chan 6-5 310 So./4 Left Guard No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 74 Billy Schrauth 6-4½ 304 So./4 68 Michael Carmody 6-5½ 280 Sr./2 — Chris Terek 6-4 295 Fr./4 Center No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 52 Zeke Correll 6-3 300 Gr./2 78 Pat Coogan 6-5 1 ⁄8 309 Jr./3 70 Ashton Craig 6-4¼ 296 So./4 Right Guard No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 73 Andrew Kristofic 6-5¼ 305 Gr./2 50 Rocco Spindler 6-4 5 ⁄8 325 Jr./3 72 Sam Pendleton* 6-4 1 ⁄8 300 Fr./4 — Joe Otting 6-5 271 Fr./4 Right Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 54 Blake Fisher 6-6 310 Jr./3 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 278 So./4 — Sullivan Absher 6-7 305 Fr./4 — Charles Jagusah 6-6 300 Fr./4 Spring 2023 Offense Depth Chart Junior tight end Mitchell Evans could be the heir to Michael Mayer as Notre Dame's top tight end. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER