Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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sophomores Chase Hounshell and Tony Springmann sidelined this spring with injuries, Day seized the opportunity and positioned himself well to be a regular in the rotation. "They're all going to have to play With Lynch out of the mix, and at some point, just like you saw last year," Elston said. "… Sheldon is just a solid, solid player right now. He still has a lot to learn and a lot to get better at … but he's way ahead of where we thought he'd be." Dame's roster tested out better "com- bine-wise" than Daniels, whose feats included a 38-inch vertical jump. He did not see game action last 8. WR DAVARIS DANIELS No skill position player on Notre fall while concentrating on studying the playbook, and a hamstring injury sidelined him two weeks this spring. But the week before the Blue-Gold Game during a two-minute drill, one superb catch led to another, and an- other, and another … and he's ba- sically the co-starter with junior TJ Jones at X receiver on the wide side of the field. "It's confidence in a lot of things," said Daniels, who would like to add about 10 more pounds to his 6-2, 190-pound frame. "Learning defenses, knowing the right routes, what plays work against a specific coverage, where the quarterback is going to be looking, everything just kind of ties in. "In high school I was in a wing-T. We probably had about 15 plays. So just learning all the concepts, learn- ing all the plays, that was probably my biggest setback. "I can just rely on my playmak- Junior safety Austin Collinsworth, Notre Dame's 2011 Special Teams Player of the Year, could open a bevy of options for the Irish secondary if he's ready to play next fall. has allowed the defense's most ver- satile player, Slaughter, to take some snaps at field corner in case an emer- gency situation develops at that inex- perienced position. "He's a werewolf, man," Diaco PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND be his initial work, but he espe- cially could help against Navy in the opener because of his acumen against the option. "He's going to be a hard guy to keep ing skills and natural ability to do certain things instead of thinking about stuff and going through all kind of processes in my head before the play goes on. It's a lot more fluid this year." as a dime back) during the 2011 regu- lar season was 78 (6.5 per game), but he succeeded Jackson as the team's Special Teams Player of The Year with his intensity, toughness and production (18 tackles, 12 of them solo). Like Jackson, he also moved from 9. S AUSTIN COLLINSWORTH His snap count on defense (mainly www.BLUEANDGOLD.com said of Collinsworth. "That guy's hard not to like. He's all energy. He's a high-collision player; he's fast when he steps on the gas pedal. He's got some things obviously that he needs to work on, but he's one of the more entertaining players to watch and be around. "If your energy bucket is a little empty, hang around Austin a little bit, and it will be filled back up in a hurry." tion in 2011 to preserve a fifth year of eligibility, Grace made the team bus on some road trips because of his production in practice. It became even more conspicu- 10. ILB JARRETT GRACE Despite getting withheld from ac- receiver to the defensive backfield last spring, and his progress at safety off the field," Diaco said. "There are a lot of jobs to do. Manti has shown there are times when he doesn't need to be in there or can't be in there, so those opportunities would be a time when Grace will go in." HONORABLE MENTION: JOHN GOODMAN yards) were probably as disappoint- ing to him as Jonas Gray's 20 carries as a third-team junior running back in 2010. With Robert Hughes and Armando His seven catches in 2011 (for 65 ous this spring while positioning himself as the potential heir to Te'o from 2013-15. Special teams should Allen both graduated, Gray exploded in 2011 prior to his knee injury on Se- nior Day … and the coaching staff believes Goodman has that type of capability in 2012 with Michael Floyd now out of the picture. That's a main reason why he shared captain du- ties with Schwenke in the Blue-Gold Game. ✦ MAY 2012 23