Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Elijah Shumate By Andrew Owens With the Irish hosting Wake Forest on senior day in many players' final game at Notre Dame Sta- dium, the fact that a class of seniors will soon need to be replaced becomes real for the Irish faithful. There are a number of athletes on this veteran- laden squad that head coach Brian Kelly and his staff will have a difficult time replacing next sea- son, beginning with safety Elijah Shumate. As recently as Septem- ber, it would have seemed ridiculous to propose that the Irish would miss Shu- mate more than defensive lineman Sheldon Day or left tackle Ronnie Stanley, but that 's where Notre Dame stands in November. Safety depth heading into the offseason will be a grave concern after Shumate and fifth-year senior Matthias Farley depart at the end of 2015. Junior Max Redfield will return, but who will start alongside him? There are a number of safeties with concerns attached to their respective names — senior Nicky Baratti (injuries), Avery Sebastian (injuries) if he returns for a sixth season, freshman Mykelti Wil- liams (inexperience) — and no clear solutions for the Irish secondary. Notre Dame could move junior cornerback Devin Butler to safety or even pursue a graduate transfer like it did this past offseason with Sebastian, but it's unlikely to find a player that can match the production and knowledge of coordinator Brian VanGorder's schemes that Shumate possessed. That's why there's no single senior on the roster that will be more difficult to replace than him. Sheldon Day By Bryan Driskell Notre Dame will certainly have quality candi- dates to replace Sheldon Day at the three-tech- nique position next season. When senior Jarron Jones returns to health, the Irish coaches could slide freshman Jerry Tillery to the position. Junior defensive end Isaac Rochell could move inside to make way for one of the young players behind him. Former standout recruit Jay Hayes, now a sopho- more, will have another year of grooming under his belt as well, giving the Irish staff plenty of players to choose from. The question is whether or not any one of those players is capable of re- placing the production that Day has put forth this season. Through just eight games, Day had already racked up a team-leading 10.5 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hurries. He was also second on the team with three sacks. It remains to be seen if any of the potential replacements for Day have the talent to put up those kinds of numbers. Replacing Day goes beyond just his production. Notre Dame's 2015 opponents are forced to game plan around him. Day facing constant double teams — or at least attempts at double teams — puts his teammates in more one-on-one situa- tions. He also provides outstanding leadership for the defense, both on and off the field. That all-around impact is going to be extremely difficult to replace next season. Notre Dame could very well find itself in a situation where multiple players will need to be used to get the same level of production. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH CURRENT SENIOR WILL THE IRISH MISS THE MOST IN 2016? DAY SHUMATE