Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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CHALK TALK BRYAN DRISKELL safety, where he would replace the 50 career starts of seniors Elijah Shumate and Matthias Farley. The two most experienced players behind Redfield are sophomore Drue Tranquill and fifth-year senior Avery Sebastian, who will likely apply for a sixth year of eligibility. Those two have missed chunks of two seasons with significant injuries, making their ability to stay healthy and play at a high level a question mark. Notre Dame has a talented group of freshmen coming in, led by early enrollee Devin Studstill and Virginia athlete Jalen Elliott. The Irish also re- turn talented freshman Mykelti Wil- liams. What they lack is experience, so moving Butler to safety makes a lot of sense. Butler is a capable tackler with good instincts and intelligence. He is not a natural coverage player on the outside, making a possible move to free safety one that could enhance his ability to make an impact. The Irish have a number of talented young cornerbacks that could com- pete to replace KeiVarae Russell, who is unlikely to return. Sophomore Nick Watkins, and freshmen Nick Coleman, Shaun Crawford and Ashton White are prepared to push for time in the spring. If the staff feels good about their ability to compete, moving But- ler could certainly happen. Freshman Jerry Tillery, nose guard to defensive tackle — Someone along the line is go- ing to be tasked with replacing de- fensive tackle Sheldon Day, a captain and USA Today first-team All-Ameri- can. No one on the current roster can replicate Day's leadership, but the freshman Tillery could find himself attempting to his production and fill his role as the starting three-technique. A season-ending injury to senior Jar- ron Jones forced Tillery to stay at nose guard, but his best position might be defensive tackle. Tillery is an athletic player that is better suited to penetrate than he is to anchor and take on dou- ble teams all game. Tillery's combina- tion of athleticism with elite length and advanced technique could allow him to make a smooth transition. Sophomore Greer Martini, Sam linebacker to Mike or Will linebacker —Sophomore Martini and junior James Onwualu formed a capable pair at Sam linebacker this season. When Onwualu went down with a knee injury late in the season, Martini filled the role admirably. De- spite his solid play, Martini is better suited for either inside linebacker po- sition, and Notre Dame has an open- ing at both spots. Martini played Will linebacker as a freshman and started a game at Mike linebacker in the 2014 regular-season finale against USC. Notre Dame could choose to move him to Mike, where he would battle with classmate Nyles Morgan for the starting spot. Martini could also move back to Will, where he would compete with talented fresh- men Te'Von Coney and Josh Barajas for the right to replace Smith. ✦ Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com.