Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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games in 2012 — to form an impos‑ ing interior of the line to be comple‑ mented by a younger group of defen‑ sive ends. PROJECTED STARTERS: Along with Day and Jones on the inside, sophomore Isaac Rochell will start at strongside defensive end. Look for freshman An‑ drew Trumbetti to share time with Romeo Okwara on the depth chart at weakside defensive end. LINEBACKER TOP TOPIC: Where does Notre Dame fit all the pieces? Schmidt will not practice this spring while recovering from the ankle injury, so Kelly, Van‑ Gorder and Co. have time to consider their options. Freshmen Nyles Mor‑ gan and Greer Martini stepped in dur‑ ing the November slide, and Morgan in particular will likely be a mainstay somewhere in the linebacking corps this fall. Adding to the intrigue is the pos‑ sible return of Grace, a fifth‑year candidate. Kelly expressed optimism that he is getting closer to full health (though it should be noted similar op‑ timism was expressed last year before he sat out the season), which would make for a deeper linebacking corps. Sophomore Jaylon Smith returns for what could be his final season in South Bend, and classmate James On‑ wualu is back as well. P R OJ E C T E D S TA R T E R S : T h e I r i s h have four starters for three spots in Schmidt, Morgan, Smith and On‑ wualu. The smart money is on either Smith or Morgan moving outside to Sam linebacker with the other starting at Will and Schmidt at Mike. CORNERBACK TOP TOPIC: Cody Riggs is off to the NFL after his one‑year stint with the Irish following a transfer from Florida. That loss would be made up — and then some — by the return of Rus‑ sell to the defensive backfield. Russell would immediately return to the start‑ ing lineup and provide the shutdown skills he displayed during 2012 and 2013. On the other side, sophomore Cole Luke is a safe bet to start after he made significant improvements in 2014. His classmate, Devin Butler, benefited from increased playing time due to injuries in November. Fifth‑year candidate Matthias Farley became a vital figure as the nickel back in 2014. The Irish hope freshman Nick Watkins will also take the next step in his second season. PROJECTED STARTERS: Luke will start and be joined by Russell pending his reinstatement. Otherwise, Butler is the favorite to create an all‑junior duo. SAFETY TOP TOPIC: Can former Rivals.com five‑star Max Redfield finally make the strides in his game to lead the unit? Notre Dame benefited from his ath‑ leticism at times the past two seasons, but some difficulties in VanGorder 's scheme led to his being pulled from the lineup last November. When playing to their abilities, Redfield and junior Elijah Shumate are a dangerous combination. Cal transfer Avery Sebastian will join the program this summer and at the very least will help with depth, though his value might be most apparent in stopping the run. Tranquill is recovering from an ACL tear and eventually could