Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/296331
what we've really worked hard on this spring," Kelly said of his backs after the Blue-Gold Game. Last year no back caught more than seven passes — with Atkinson's 51 yards the most. That's a far cry from Riddick's 36 for 370 yards in 2012, and Kelly said there is no one currently in his category. Folston did grab five passes in the spring game for 54 yards, highlighted by diving for a 17-yard completion. McDaniel also snared a 16-yard bullet over a defender. "What we're looking for from [Folston] is probably a little bit more in pass protection," Kelly said. "We're ask- ing all of our backs for that this year." RECEIVERS: A YEAR AWAY? At receiver, the prime issue has been achieving timing with a green corps that has no one with more than the 17 career catches by junior Chris Brown. The expected return of the academi- cally exiled DaVaris Daniels (80 career catches for 1,235 yards) this summer is much anticipated, although his atten- tion to detail has also been called into question the past two seasons. There is not an aircraft carrier figure in the arsenal as there consistently has been the past five years with Golden Tate (2009), Michael Floyd (2010- 11), Tyler Eifert (2012) and TJ Jones (2013). If readmitted, Daniels has the best chance to be, although this spring tight end Ben Koyack has become a "when in doubt, look for him" option and maybe the best bet to catch 40-50 passes this season, according to Kelly. Five-receiver sets, especially with the quarterback now a threat to run in empty backfield formations, could be seen a little more, including the tight end and running back split wide. LEFT GUARD THE WILD CARD Four of the five starting positions along the offensive line are clear. Ron- nie Stanley, the best athlete at the posi- tion, is at left tackle after manning the right side all 13 games last season. Two of the others — center Nick Martin and right guard Christian Lombard — are ensconced despite their absence in spring ball while recovering from injuries. Lombard's 20 career starts are the most on offense. Steve Elmer is definitely a fourth starter. He worked at left guard all spring next to Stanley, because get- ting the left side stabilized without the duo of the graduated Zack Martin (tackle) and Chris Watt (guard) was a priority for offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. Finding the fifth best lineman is the next agenda. If it's sophomore Mike McGlinchey, the No. 1 right tackle all spring, then it remains status quo. However, seniors Conor Hanratty and Matt Hegarty have starting experi- ence, and if one of the two is the fifth best, then he will be the left guard and Elmer the right tackle. Hegarty was the top center this spring because of Martin's absence, but he was given an audition later at left guard because of his progress. "We want to give him a chance to compete at left guard," Kelly said of Hegarty. "So if that's the case, are we better with Elmer at right tackle, or Elmer at left guard and McGlinchey at right tackle?" To be continued in August. ✦