Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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can linebacker and the 2015 Butkus Award winner. Offensively, junior wide receiver Corey Holmes will get his chance to live up to his prep billing. Ranked the nation's No. 94 overall player by ESPN, Holmes has yet to play a sig‑ nificant snap at Notre Dame. He showed strong signs in the off‑ season, running a 4.39 in the 40‑yard dash during winter testing and mak‑ ing a number of plays during spring practice. Now he has to carry that over onto Saturdays — and one Sun‑ day — to provide the Irish with a legitimate threat from the slot. TIGHT ENDS WILL GET THEIR SHOT Sophomore tight end Alizé Jones could be a breakout star for Notre Dame in 2016, and senior Durham Smythe is the most complete player on the unit. Neither, however, earned the most playing time in 2015. That honor belonged to junior Nic Weishar, who led the Irish tight ends with 286 snaps. Weishar 's forte is catching passes, but keeping Jones off the field could prove difficult. Junior Tyler Luatua has yet to catch a pass during his career, but he has had moments where his blocking has been outstanding. Arguably his best game of the season was last Septem‑ ber during a 30‑22 victory over Geor‑ gia Tech. Concussion problems soon followed, and Luatua never matched that level of play before ultimately deciding to transfer to Brigham Young. Prior to the end of the spring se‑ mester, Luatua reversed course and opted to remain at Notre Dame. His return should help bolster the run game. If the junior class does its part in 2016 of fulfilling its capabilities, the result could be the Fighting Irish get‑ ting over the hump and turning its "almost there" losses into "we've ar‑ rived" victories. ✦ Junior safety Drue Tranquill is being counted on to make plays this fall, despite missing most of 2015 and part of 2014 with two separate knee injuries. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS