Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM AUGUST 2024 29 lished superstar — does not need them. Junior Jaden Mickey and sophomore Christian Gray, who are competing to start alongside Morrison, do. "If we could have designed, 'Mick, Christian, all you other corners, we're going to hold Ben out and you're going to get better. And then he's going to get well, and then we're going to be that much better,'" Golden said. "And that's what's happening right now." Morrison will not be fully cleared for the start of fall camp, according to Free- man. He will be a "partial participant" in early August. The Irish do not know exactly when Morrison will return to full strength, but they believe it will be shortly before Notre Dame's Week 1 matchup at Texas A&M. Assuming that happens, only one of Mickey and Gray can take the field for the first play. The "loser" of this compe- tition will still be involved; as the third cornerback in 2023, Mickey totaled 253 snaps. But that paled in comparison to Morrison's 621 and Cam Hart's 572. "Obviously, somebody has to become a starter, but you're going to see them both play," Freeman said after Notre Dame's first spring practice March 7. "You have to be able to rotate some cor- ners to keep fresh guys in there. They'll make each other better." Both Gray and Mickey looked excellent in spring ball. The former allowed next to nothing in coverage whenever reporters were present, and the latter jumped a route for a pick six during Notre Dame's "jersey scrimmage" April 13. "Those two guys are ultra-competi- tive," Freeman said. "Their skill sets can be different at certain times, but they both have that competitive spirit. I think it's going to be a great competition." COMPETITION AT SAFETY The Irish brought in Northwestern transfer Rod Heard II to start at safety. The smart bet would still be that he does. But sophomore Adon Shuler might have turned it into a competition this spring. "He's a football guy," Golden said. "He hangs around the office. He asks questions. You can talk football with him all day." Even watching Shuler warm up in spring practice, he just looked different. And not just because he switched from No. 21 to No. 8. He looked bigger, stronger and faster as a sophomore than he did as a freshman, more so than normal. Golden added that Shuler's funda- mentals, leadership and confidence have all grown significantly as well. "He's made himself into a guy that's going to contribute a lot for us," Golden said. The Irish loved to run their three- safety "spear" personnel package on passing downs, so both players will matter to the 2024 defense. Heard's po- sitional flexibility — he can play both safety and nickel back — makes him es- pecially important. He could prevent a significant drop-off if Clark goes down. Not only did Heard have his best sea- son as a tackler and in coverage in 2023, but he also helped lead a stunning turn- around for Northwestern. The Wildcats were a 1-11 team that fired their head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, amid a hazing scandal in July. They finished 8-5, with a strong defense as the catalyst. "Every single year since I've been in college football, I've taken a step," Heard said. "That's why I came to Notre Dame. I wanted to continue on that same process and maintain that same trajectory." ✦ Vyper No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 12 Jordan Botelho 6-3 258 Gr./1 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 246 Jr./3 or 5 Boubacar Traore 6-4 240 So./4 10 Loghan Thomas 6-4 224 Fr./4 Nose Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 56 Howard Cross III 6-1 288 Gr./1 97 Gabriel Rubio 6-5 316 Sr./2 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 274 Jr./3 59 Sean Sevillano Jr. 6-1 320 Fr./4 98 Devan Houstan 6-4 292 So./4 Defensive Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 295 Gr./1 47 Jason Onye 6-5 289 Sr./2 42 Cole Mullins 6-4 259 Fr./4 17 Brenan Vernon 6-5 262 So./4 88 Armel Mukam 6-3 302 So./4 Field End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 9 RJ Oben 6-3 262 Gr./1 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 247 Jr./3 30 Bryce Young 6-7 258 Fr./4 Will Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 231 Gr./1 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 222 Jr./2 25 Preston Zinter 6-2 235 So./4 36 Bodie Kahoun 6-3 221 Fr./4 Mike Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 239 So./3 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr./4 43 Kahanu Kia 6-2 230 So./3 Rover No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 222 Jr./2 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So./4 35 Teddy Rezac 6-3 199 Fr./4 Boundary Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 20 Benjamin Morrison^ 6-0 190 Jr./2 18 Chance Tucker 6-0 189 Sr./2 15 Leonard Moore 6-1 187 Fr./4 Field Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 7 Jaden Mickey 6-0 178 Jr./2 or 29 Christian Gray 6-0 187 So./3 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 184 Fr./4 Slot Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 1 Jordan Clark 5-10 181 Gr./1 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So./4 Strong Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 2 Rod Heard II 5-11 195 Gr./1 or 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 200 So./4 23 Kennedy Urlacher 5-11 196 Fr./4 31 T. Bennie-Powell 6-1 177 Fr./4 Free Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 0 Xavier Watts 6-0 203 Gr./1 28 Luke Talich 6-4 208 So./3 13 Ben Minich 6-0 192 So./4 16 Tae Johnson 6-2 175 Fr./4 ^ Currently injured Summer 2024 Notre Dame Scholarship Depth Chart Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's projection for how Notre Dame's 2024 defense scholarship depth chart looked this summer.