Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Equanimeous St. Brown By Andrew Owens With wide receiver Will Fuller off to the NFL following a two-season stretch that produced 29 touchdown receptions, Notre Dame clearly has a void to fill at the position. Equanimeous St. Brown is primed to succeed Fuller, and teammates and coaches have raved about the 6-4, 205-pound product of Anaheim, Calif. "I think he would start for a number of Power Five teams," head coach Brian Kelly said midway t h ro u g h S t . B ro w n 's freshman season. "He's ready to play right now. I'm just not taking Will off the field unless I have to. "[St. Brown] does it in practice, he's a really good football player and capable of playing right now." St. Brown suffered a shoulder injury late in the season that took away valuable practice reps, but he remains the favorite to replace Fuller. It seems likely that Fuller's production will be distributed among a talented — yet mostly unproven — Irish receiving corps that also includes sophomore tight end Alizé Jones. However, the same was said prior to Fuller's breakout 2014 season when Notre Dame was tasked with replacing TJ Jones, Troy Niklas and DaVaris Daniels from the offense. The quarterback competition between DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire will receive the vast amount of attention leading up to the season opener at Texas, but the development of rising players — with few as important as St. Brown — is a critical offseason topic for the Irish. Nyles Morgan By Bryan Driskell From the moment he signed with Notre Dame in February 2014, linebacker Nyles Morgan has intrigued Irish faithful. When Joe Schmidt went down with a season-ending knee surgery that fall, Morgan replaced him and went on to earn Foot- ball Writers Association of America and Sporting News Freshman All-America honors. Schmidt returned to the lineup in 2015, but the fifth-year senior cap- tain struggled to produce and the run defense suf- fered because of it. De- spite immense physical talent, Morgan could not supplant Schmidt in the starting lineup, finishing with just 17 tackles af- ter tallying 47 stops as a rookie. With Schmidt exhausting his eligibility, Morgan is now the leader in the clubhouse to replace him. He will provide the defense with a boost in size, power and athleticism. The Crete, Ill., native is an elite athlete and when he arrives at ball carriers with conviction he can deliver severe punishment. Now that he is going into his third season in the program, Morgan should start developing a firmer grasp of the defense, which has held him back. If he gets a handle on the schemes and checks — and provides some leadership — Morgan could give Notre Dame its best production at the posi- tion since Manti Te'o left for the NFL. A season like that would not only be a breakout for Morgan, it would also provide defensive co- ordinator Brian VanGorder with a much-needed weapon against opposing rushing attacks. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH NOTRE DAME PLAYER WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST BREAKOUT SEASON IN 2016? ST. BROWN MORGAN