Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2023 27 Fisher is healthy, in great playing shape and out to prove he can also be the face of the Notre Dame offensive line like he was expected to be before a knee injury held him out of all but six quarters of his fresh- man season in 2021. The starting center is a graduate student in Zeke Correll who through two weeks was having the best fall camp of his ca- reer. He's calling the shots like someone who feels firm in his position. Correll will be flanked by two new starters at both guard positions, and those battles still weren't settled through two weeks of camp, but the suitors for the spots are solid. Notre Dame loves what it has in left guard frontrunner Billy Schrauth, a sophomore with starting po- tential for years to come. Graduate stu- dent Andrew Kristofic and junior Rocco Spindler are competing to start at right guard. Kristofic has eight starts in 34 ap- pearances, and Spindler was the second- highest-rated recruit behind Fisher in Notre Dame's class of 2021. This is Notre Dame. The offensive line competitions should be tight, and they should yield a well-deserved, com- pletely capable victor. Fisher believes that will be the case. "It's a battle every day and it's about who's going to be the most consistent, who's going to come to work and who's going to get the job done," Fisher said. "We have a lot of great options. I love playing next to everybody." Fisher also loves blocking for Notre Dame's five scholarship running backs. Led by junior Audric Estimé, Parker and position coach Deland McCullough will be hard-pressed to get everybody in the room playing time. It's probably not going to happen. There is only one football, after all, and there is still Hart- man standing there, ready to throw it on every down if you'd let him. Estimé is going to get his. Who else is going to get theirs? RB2 could be any- one from sophomore Jadarian Price, who looked exceptional in camp coming off an Achilles injury suffered in the summer of 2022, to fellow sophomore Gi'Bran Payne to Penn State gradu- ate transfer Devyn Ford and even true freshman Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame's second-highest-rated recruit in the class of 2023 behind only On3 five-star offensive lineman Charles Jagusah. Like your favorite ice cream shop, the Irish's running back hierarchy could be dictated by a flavor-of-the-day principle. "Certainly the first indicator of suc- Notre Dame junior running back Audric Estimé (7) will carry the load as the Irish's No. 1 tailback, and whe is supported by a strong cast of reserves. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER "I'm going to make mistakes. I do every day. But I promise you this; we're not going to get outworked. And our guys are not going to feel like we went distant in believing in them. We will have strong belief in our players and our staff." NOTRE DAME OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR GERAD PARKER