Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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one a little heavy he's still clearing most of his kicks with great ease. A re- ally solid kicker. Very consistent." 6. TE DURHAM SMYTHE Anthony Fasano to John Carlson to Kyle Rudolph to Tyler Eifert to Dur- ham Smythe? Notre Dame's track record of producing some of the top tight ends in the country could con- tinue with the Belton, Texas, native in 2015. Last season, Ben Koyack (now with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars) was steady but not a standout. When he fell to the seventh round of the Notre Dame hopes junior Durham Smythe can develop into the next great Notre Dame tight end. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA draft, it snapped the streak of con- secutive starting Irish tight ends to be drafted in the first two rounds at four straight products. As the backup to Koyack in 2014, Smythe caught just one pass the entire season. That total could be eclipsed in the first quarter alone against Texas Sept. 5. 7. RB C.J. PROSISE Notre Dame's experiment of moving senior C.J. Prosise from wide receiver to running back has been an encourag- ing development for the Irish faithful. With former five-star recruit Greg Bryant unable to put it together in South Bend and now away due to a season-long academic suspension, Prosise becomes that much more im- portant in the Irish offense. Only returning starter Tarean Folston has prior experience at the po- sition heading into the season. Along with Folston and Prosise, the Irish welcomed freshmen Josh Adams and Dexter Williams to the program this summer. Kelly is also giving Justin Brent a shot at running back because he was buried on the depth chart at wide receiver and had success as a ball carrier as a high school senior. Prosise missed some time in August with a hip flexor, but Notre Dame was confident it would not linger. He caught 29 passes for 516 yards and two touchdowns in 2014 and dazzled with his 50-yard touchdown run against LSU. "We moved C.J. Prosise, who we think has a home run kind of abil- ity at that position, where now he'll get an opportunity to get a lot of car-