Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/514677
Daniel Cage, Grant Blankenship and Jay Hayes, and sophomore Jacob Ma- tuska — should benefit from the expe- rience enough to not be overtaken by the three other incoming rookies who won't be needed right away the way last year's group was. Yet another redshirt freshman in Jonathan Bonner was making inroads at strongside end this spring prior to turf toe surgery. Unless a deluge of in- juries comparable to 2014 occur, Tillery is the only one we anticipate seeing action in what new line coach Keith Gilmore anticipates will be an eight- man rotation, with a maximum of 10. LINEBACKER Freshmen: Josh Barajas, Asmar Bilal and Te'Von Coney Need In 2015: This area received a boost when fifth-year senior Jarrett Grace, whose football career was jeop- ardized because of a major leg injury in October 2013, returned to contribute this spring. That gives the unit veteran depth to complement Nyles Morgan at Mike, provides the luxury to use No. 1 Mike and 2014 team MVP Joe Schmidt at Will if needed and also utilizes Will linebacker Jaylon Smith's skill sets on the outside at Sam in certain align- ments or schemes to counter an of- fense. Our guess is the starting three will be Schmidt (Mike), Smith (Will) and junior James Onwualu (Sam), with Grace, Morgan and sophomore Greer Martini — whose future could still be on the inside if classmate and cur- rent safety Drue Tranquill eventually downshifts to Sam in the future. An X-factor is the mobility of Schmidt and Grace after overcoming surgeries on their legs. If the defense is nearly as complex as last year, early enrollee Coney probably will be the lone frosh to take snaps at linebacker. Early enrollee Te'Von Coney worked behind All-America candidate Jaylon Smith at Will linebacker during spring practice. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA