Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ready has lined up at right tackle and was the starting left guard during one practice when fifth-year senior Chris Watt was not in pads. He might have the least playing time among this list of top five freshmen, but just the fact that he could have a role as "the sixth man" on the line either at guard or tackle merits plaudits. "Steve Elmer can play anywhere other than center right now," said Kelly of the 6-5½, 317-pound rookie. "He can play any of the guard or tackle positions. We've got great flexibility. He's more comfortable at left tackle, but if we had to play him at any of the guard positions or tackle positions, we could put him in and he could play." Special Role? We expect three others to be regulars on at least special teams: wide receiver James Onwualu, safety Max Redfield and defensive end Isaac Rochell. Onwualu hasn't been the conspicuous figure Robinson is, but he's been a regular with the second unit and he is more physically primed (6-1 and a stout 215 pounds) than Robinson, with an appetite for contact. Kelly mentioned even prior to spring that he believes Onwualu will be on all four special teams units. The safety slots are pretty crowded even with Nicky Baratti's season-ending injury, and with Luke at nickel and the savvy senior Austin Collinsworth at dime, Redfield seeing early action with his position group is a little less likely — for now. According to Kelly, Longo believes Redfield has "special" skills, so some role is bound to be found. Defensive end Isaac Rochell stood out for his size (6-4, 280 pounds) during the first two weeks of his career at Notre Dame, and he might get a chance to play as a rookie. photo by joe raymond One other rookie has been staking a claim to more playing time while regularly lining up with the second team. Back in February, we had Rochell a lock to be redshirted. Then, some surprises and setbacks occurred. First, this summer it was revealed that Rochell bench-pressed 26 reps of 225 pounds. (Florida State's 2013 firstround defensive end Bjoern Werner had 25 reps at the NFL Combine.) Then, the attrition of the last five months along the defensive line — Chase Hounshell (out in '13 with a shoulder), Eddie Vanderdoes (backing out of his signed National Letter of Intent) and now Tony Springmann (knee injury) — puts Rochell in a position where he might have to be part of the rotation.