Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 JUNE/JULY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Junior Mitchell Evans did not play because of an undisclosed injury, and senior Kevin Bauman and sophomore Eli Raridon won't be fully healthy com- ing back from torn ACLs until sometime in the summer. Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Gerad Parker will essentially have four weeks in the late summer to get the Notre Dame tight ends ready to roll for the season opener Aug. 26. Through the spring, it was a group led by Evans in a big elbow brace that was walking on eggshells. BRINGING THE PAYNE Each passing day in the spring brought more and more clarity to Notre Dame's running back room. Ju- nior Logan Diggs' April 27 departure announcement into the transfer portal came as a surprise. Junior Audric Estimé is still the alpha male, however, sopho- more Gi'Bran Payne is a more than ca- pable option when Notre Dame needs to give Estimé a rest. Payne served as Estimé's sidekick for much of the spring with Diggs battling a lower-body injury. He kept the offense afloat, which is exactly what position coach Deland McCullough is looking for from him. McCullough said he wanted to see a player in Payne who did not dip in effectiveness, attention to detail, dis- cipline and dependability as opposed to when Estimé is on the field. Payne delivered. He was the leading rusher in the Blue- Gold Game with 11 carries for 51 yards. He also caught 2 passes for 14 yards. That didn't surprise Estimé, who had 5 carries for 20 yards. "Gi'Bran is balling," Estimé said. "He's been getting better every day, ev- ery week, every year. Gi'Bran is a guy who's going to come in and push you. We all got ballers in the room. "Iron sharpens iron. Gi'Bran is iron. He's definitely making me better, and I'm definitely making him better." MEN IN THE MIDDLE Notre Dame's offensive success will be based largely on how the Irish offen- sive line fares. When it keeps Hartman upright in the pocket, he can dissect a defense like he did in the spring game. When Hartman is pressured, he can turn the ball over at an alarming rate. Hartman has 10 career multi-intercep- tion games, and in half of those he threw at least 3 interceptions. Hartman also fumbled three times versus Louisville last year and twice against Syracuse. He's not immune to poor play at times. But when he made mistakes at Wake Forest, it was usually tied to poor protection up front. There is comfort for the Irish in knowing three of the five projected starters along the offensive line — ju- nior tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher and graduate student center Zeke Correll — are trustworthy. Graduate student Andrew Kristofic and sophomore Billy Schrauth weren't tremendous in the Blue-Gold Game, though. Notre Dame lost graduate student guards Jarrett Patterson and Josh Lugg from last season. There are two voids in the middle of the line as a result. Guard play could make or break the 2023 sea- son, as drastic as that sounds. New of- fensive line coach Joe Rudolph is under a bit of a microscope in his first season with the program because of that reality. He's not going to play favorites, that's for sure. "You want to identify who could be ready," Rudolph said. "Ready can mean different things. There's a physical- ity. There's the ability to execute with technique. There's the ability to be con- sistent with technique and physical- ity. There's a mental side. Do you know what to do and how to do it? "You want to identify who could be ready. Ready can mean different things. There's a physicality. There's the ability to execute with technique. There's the ability to be consistent with technique and physicality. There's a mental side. Do you know what to do and how to do it?" ✦ Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's projection for how Notre Dame's 2023 scholarship depth chart looks coming out of spring practice. Quarterback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 10 Sam Hartman 6-1 1 ⁄8 210 Gr./1 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 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 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 17 Rico Flores Jr. 6-0 1 ⁄8 198 Fr./4 29 Matt Salerno 6-0 5 ⁄8 195 Gr./1 Slot Receiver (Y) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 83 Jayden Thomas 6-0 1 ⁄8 220 Jr./3 19 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 213 Fr./4 2 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 192 Sr./2 — Kaleb Smith 5-11 170 Fr./4 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 POST-SPRING 2023 OFFENSE DEPTH CHART