Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 PRESEASON 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA M ost of Notre Dame's start- ing positions on both sides of the ball are set in stone — even if head coach Marcus Freeman won't say as much about some of them. Heck, he won't even de- finitively declare a starter at the most important position of them all. Not yet anyway. Freeman was asked about his timeline for naming a starting quarterback after the Fighting Irish's first fall camp practice of the year July 31. He made it clear Duke transfer Riley Leonard is working with the ones while junior Steve Angeli is running with the twos. A whole horde of local South Bend media mem- bers in attendance for the en- tirety of the practice session could attest to that. What about the pair's respec- tive performances, though? That's what will ultimately de- termine which signal-caller leads the Notre Dame offense out Aug. 31 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. "I was pleased with both of them," Freeman said. "They both made some good plays in those last two periods. Again, this is Day 1, and I'm sure there's a lot of learning, but I'm excited for what they're doing." It'll likely be Leonard who's named QB1. How could it not be? He has 21 times as many collegiate starts as An- geli. If Freeman had a press conference after Notre Dame's second practice and told reporters, "Scratch what I said yes- terday. I have enough evidence to name Leonard our starting quarterback," nobody in the room would have ques- tioned him. That's how much of a fore- gone conclusion the "competition" is. There are other position battles tak- ing place during Notre Dame's fall camp, though, that are going to need more surveillance. Freeman is ap- proaching those with equally keen and patient treatment as he's applying to the quarterback situation. Appropriately. The following cases are close. Should junior Jaden Mickey start at the cornerback spot on the other side of the field from Benjamin Morrison or should it be sophomore Christian Gray? Is Pat Coogan the Irish's starting left guard or is it fellow senior Rocco Spindler? Is junior Aamil Wagner a better right tackle starter than graduate student Tosh Baker? We'll start with the last of those. Wagner had the upper hand on Baker July 31. The younger of the two took all of the starter's share of the snaps. Free- man said what Wagner did in 15 spring practices was enough for Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph to set the depth chart in his favor. Notre Dame's hand is going to be forced as a result of the Charles Jagusah injury news that was made public Aug. 5. One of Baker or Wagner will likely take the place of Jagusah, who was firmly entrenched as the projected starter at left tackle until he tore his right pectoral muscle Aug. 3 — an injury that will keep him out all season. But that'll likely open up chances for freshmen Anthonie Knapp, Styles Prescod and Guerby Lambert to earn trust of their own with increased reps as reserves. Coogan versus Spindler is far less clear cut than Wagner and Baker's battle pre-Jagusah ail- ment. Freeman and Rudolph are looking for something in partic- ular in that head-to-head bout. "We have to be able to run the ball," Freeman said. "And one of the challenges we've had for our offensive line is to create a new line of scrimmage. We want to play football on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage. "That's what I want to see more than anything. Can we get move- ment against our D-line? I feel like if we have the ability to do that, we'll have the ability to get move- ment on any defensive line we play." It might be difficult to decipher which of Coogan or Spindler is better in the run game over the next month. Coogan logged a 2023 Pro Football Focus run grade of 65.2. Spindler was right behind him at 63.4. They ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, among 50 Notre Dame players who were assigned a PFF run- blocking grade for logging at least one run-blocking snap. As a quick aside, Wagner's run- blocking grade of 83.6 was the third best of any Notre Dame player last year behind Joe Alt and Deion Colzie. Baker, meanwhile, came in 49th at 45.2. Irish coaches aren't using third-party metrics to make start or sit decisions, but it's very possible for them to come to the same conclusions in their own manner. If PFF perceived that much of a dispar- ity in the run-blocking abilities of Wag- ner and Baker, odds are the ones pulling UNDER THE DOME BUILDING TRUST Marcus Freeman is using the final month before kickoff to shape his starting rosters on both sides of the ball Freeman has made it clear what he's looking for in players who will earn starting positions in fall camp. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER