Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/542018
numbers crunch entering August. It beats the alternative that has often occurred in the last decade when the numbers were under 80 and even in the lower 70s entering fall practice. That is a prime reason why Notre Dame is a popular preseason top 10 pick, and the Associated Press even projects it playing Auburn in one semifinal of the four-team College Football Playoff (with the Tigers even- tually meeting Ohio State in the cham- pionship). "As long as we continue to recruit the way we've recruited, and develop our players, we'll be in this position every year," said Kelly of this season's Top 10 projections (where the Irish have finished only twice in the last 21 years). "Now — you have to win some close games and a couple things have to go your way." That's not to say there aren't poten- tial pitfalls in the lineup. There will be a new kicker (freshman Justin Yoon) and punter (sophomore Tyler New- some), there is still much to prove on defense after yielding a school record 29.15 points per game last year, losing junior running back Greg Bryant for the first four games because of team rule violations is a setback, injuries will inevitably occur … and of course, the quarterback remains green. Junior Malik Zaire has only one ca- reer start under center and has yet to play a full game. His backups, sopho- more DeShone Kizer and freshman Brandon Wimbush, have yet to take a collegiate snap, and Kizer received minimal reps in the spring while Gol- son was with the team. However, holes or concerns along the depth chart happen even at the best of programs. Notre Dame landed four straight No. 1-ranked recruiting classes from 1987-90 and had one of its most talented rosters in the last 60 years during the 1990 campaign. Yet sophomore Rick Mirer had never started a game at quarterback, and his backups were freshmen Kevin Mc- Dougal and B.J. Hawkins. Every roster can be fragile in certain areas. Fortunately for Notre Dame in 2015, most areas seem better insured. ✦ QUARTERBACK No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 8 Malik Zaire 6-0 222 Jr./3 14 DeShone Kizer 6-4½ 230 So./4 4 M. VanGorder 6-0¼ 215 So./4 12 Brandon Wimbush 6-2 212 Fr./4 RUNNING BACK No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 25 Tarean Folston 5-9½ 214 Jr./2 20 C.J. Prosise 6-0½ 220 Sr./2 1 Greg Bryant 5-10 205 Jr./3 33 Josh Adams 6-2 210 Fr./4 34 Dexter Williams 6-0 200 Fr./4 Walk-Ons: Josh Anderson (46), Austin Ross (28) and Bailey Ross (49). Note: Senior slot receiver C.J. Prosise practiced mostly at running back this spring after playing slot last year. BGI 2015 Summer Depth Chart