BY LOU SOMOGYI
A
fter each recruiting season, Blue
& Gold Illustrated categorizes the
incoming freshman class usu-
ally into three tiers. It is subject
to change at the end of spring drills and
then after a couple of weeks of practice
in August.
Among the 106 freshmen recruited
under head coach Brian Kelly who re-
ported to preseason camp in August, 50
saw sparse to extensive playing time as
freshmen (47.2 percent).
Using that average as a gauge, about
11 of the 24 recruits signed this February
will see action this season. Upon closer
inspection, it also would appear that
with 20 starters returning from Notre
Dame's Music City Bowl victory versus
LSU and numerous players from the
last two seasons in the two-deep, there
is not such an urgency for immediate
freshman aid in 2015.
It's also preferable to not burn a year
of eligibility on a freshman in mop-up
duty. The Irish head coach has his "100
plays" rule.
"You can benefit from about 100
plays," Kelly said of using a freshman.
"Anything less than that, there may
be some question as to whether you
benefit enough from that. You'd want
them to be impactful, those 100. They
would have to be some kind of situ-
ational need, offensively, defensively
and special teams."
With that in mind, our first thoughts
are as follows:
A Time To Bide
Freshmen might not be needed
to help as much in 2015
Four-star recruit Aliz'e Jones has the talent and
the opportunity to carve out a role as a flex tight
end in the fall.
PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM
