Notre Dame Depth Chart Finalized Ahead Of Texas A&M Game

IB Nation welcome back to another edition of the Irish breakdown podcast and y'all it is Monday August 26 and it's game week it's game week it is finally here this was such a weird summer you know it's it's kind of like the summer just took forever to go by initially we had all types of stuff going on and then we get into this last week this last couple weeks and it just flew by and now we are here it is game week we are now 5 days away really so Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday five days away from Notre Dame taking on Texas A&M in a season opener with a lot on the line gonna lay out this week's schedule for you guys we're going to go we're going to do a Monday mailbag this week um during the season my expectation is is that as we kind of get into normal game weeks Beyond this that we are going to do mailbags on Friday but with my travel schedule this week heading down to Texas you know flying down to cover the game it's going to be hard to do a full mailbag I would have to cut it short so I'm going to do a different type of of what to expect and what to look for type of show on Friday so we're going to move the mailbag to Monday tomorrow Tuesday we will do our Texas A&M preview I'll be joined by Trevor uh Trowbridge we're going to dive into Texas A&M and tell you guys everything you need to know about the Aggies and what's at stake in this game and you know what Notre Dame has to prove and all that good stuff about this game matchups to watch for we'll do our stats breakdown all that kind of fun stuff Wednesday I'm going to do a midweek rundown that's going to be our Norm that's going to be our normal Tuesday will'll be the breakdown of the opponent Wednesday will be sort of a midweek rundown with a a biso hold at the end of it Thursday we'll do predictions so we're going to do our keys to victory for Notre Dame and then also do prediction for the show for the noted aim game and then I will be joined every tues every Thursday by Bill Bender Sporting News to go over sort of the big games of the weekend and obviously this weekend we'll talk Clemson Georgia we'll talk LSU USC and some other games that are going to get played this weekend so we're going to have some fun with that as well um G to be a really fun week obviously Friday I'll do the sort of what to expect what to look for type of show uh Saturday we'll have a postgame show we'll go live about 5 to 10 minutes after the game is over uh we'll go live Vince will go live with the team and then Saturday Sunday night we are not going to do the upon further review this Sunday because of travel I am going to be we'll be do we're just going to move it to Monday night so Vince and I'll go live Monday night as we had mentioned last week so I'm excited about it Matt Lee asked a question I'll kind of it's an early mailbag answer because we're not going to get into that just yet but this will be my first visit to co to College Station it'll be my first visit to Kyle Field so I'm very much looking forward to that I have never been it's one of those places I've always wanted to go and now I'm going to get a chance to to do that so I'm very very much looking forward to that going to be a fun fun experience fun environment I am sure uh very much looking forward to seeing what this what this season what this team is going to be all about and I know you guys are too we're GNA begin with just an overview of the depth chart and then I will dive into the mail the Monday mailbag you guys can ask whatever you guys want uh related to the Notre Dame Texas A&M game the Notre Dame team recruiting questions college football questions anything college football related you guys want this doesn't have to just be noted aim questions I know there's a super chat in there about the Georgia Tech Florida State game we can talk about that as well whatever you guys want to talk about it's a season kickoff mailbag so we're gonna have some fun with that and uh and going to rock and roll to begin before we really dive into everything we're going to talk about the Notre name chart that was released today and I'm going to give you guys my annual warning some of you will listen to me some of you won't the depth charts are informative there's no doubt there's value to be taken from them but these are not gospels according to Notre Dame okay there's always things that are listed in the depth chart that ended up not end up not being how things play out in games whether that be you know who starts or doesn't start there's all types of things to go into to it they may list the current starting lineup at receiver for example as what it is but what if Mike Den Brock decides he wants to start off uh in the uh in the 12 Personnel package right I mean those are obviously things that um you know are going to factor into what the depth chart's going to look like on the actual first play of the game so there's going to be all types of different things to go into there so those are different things that we're going to that we're going to dive into here a little bit but I do I did think it was fascinating and honestly like to to be to be straight with you guys it was actually a little bit more forthcoming than I anticipated so Props to not to a for that one but I when I went into um when I went into the the breakdown of of this particular game I was honestly anticipating them maybe playing a little bit of Mind Games with Texas A&M and and putting veteran in starting spots that we think a younger guy might play you know I thought that maybe they would still list Pat kougan as the number one left guard and not you know give Texas A&M the satisfaction of knowing that um you know that uh you're you're going to start a true freshman and a red Shir freshman on the left side of the line I mean teams do that stuff all the time but Notre Dame put their starting offensive line in there and I would imagine that a big part of the reason that they did that is because um he knew is going to get asked a bunch of questions about it and you can't really you don't you don't want to spend an entire show talking about something that you just know or an entire podcast talk or podcast entire press conference talking about things that you know aren't going to necessarily be be true so I was actually pleased by that but honestly I really was expecting some different things in there I'm curious to see what happens at safety they obviously have a Don Schuler listed as the starting boundary safety Rod herd is the backup field safety Rod herd is going to play both spots he's been playing boundary safety from what we've seen in the spring the practice is of we've been available to but we also haven't been to a show I mean a show we haven't been to a game in their practice in the last two weeks either so obviously things can change from what we saw at the most recent practices so there's all types of things you know there's other aspects of it that I look at for example you've got Carson Hobbs listed as the number two Nickelback my understanding is is that if they have a number two Nickelback it won't be Carson Hobs going in the game it'll either be Jay gbury they'll use the Rover it might be Rod herd actually we have a super chat about that from Brandon plinner I just saw that come up if is Hodge truly the back of nicolar do you think we'll see herd there but we see Mickey Morrison and gray on the field at the same time you think I don't know about that last part Brandon I don't know if we will see all three of those guys on the field together for some reason the Notre D staff has not felt great about putting Jaden Mickey in the slot and I have to think there's a reason for it doesn't mean they haven't started cross trainining him the last two weeks I don't know if they have or haven't we haven't been at those practices and and honestly this has been one of the most secretive like not wanting to talk specifics that I've seen from Notre Dame in a very long time in in these last couple weeks I I I will say this this is a very confident coaching staff and a very confident program what how exactly that shakes out uh you know we we'll kind of see how that plays out but it's a very very confident group and there's going to be some things that that shake out and as coach Freeman said I was really appreciated that he said this to begin told us players just I think they some like 39 different players started at times last year so this depth chart is is may not even last to start the first game but certainly won't be what we see throughout the season but just a couple observations that I saw from uh just going through the depth chart as I was putting it together first of all obviously quarterback running back pretty much what I expected to see thought we might see kedon young listed in there not not overly concerned that he's not receiver they have Jordan Faison listed as the number one at the field safety position we'll see if that sticks or not Chris Mitchell's number two you got great house or Harrison at slot Bo Collins or Jane Thomas at the other receiver the reality is it really doesn't matter who starts they're all going to play we'll also probably see KK Smith I'm surprised they didn't go three deep at some of those spots because I mean they're they're again they're going to they're going to play they're going to play multiple guys um at receiver we're gonna see a very deep depth chart there and Marcus Freeman I think it was was it it was Marcus Freeman or it was Mike Den brck I forget which coach said it I think it was coach Freeman that said they wanted to go seven eight deep at receiver in games now we'll see if they do that in the open or not we we'll see listed three tight ends they did list Roco spinler as the number two left guard they listed Pat kougan is the number two Center which I thought was interesting and uh which tells me if if the depth chart holds true then um you're going to see a situation where if Pendleton falters it tells me that Roco Spindler would be the next guy in at left guard and not Pat kugan if the depth chart holds up now that may not practically be how it plays out but that is kind of how I read that situation and and seeing how how that's going to play out a little bit but suvin absur is the backup Right Guard a gerby as the backup right tackle couple notes that I noticed as I was going through the offensive depth chart you look at um obviously you got starting offensive line I'm I'm G to hold off talking about the offensive line because I do know that there are some questions about it and I'll get to those as well but there's three freshmen in the in the depth chart at on offense two that are in the two deep that's obviously Anthony nap starting at left tackle gerby Lambert as the number two right T tackle and then you also have anas Williams as the number three as the number three uh running back so there's three true freshmen and then there's uh there's another excuse me two more red shirt freshman in the two deep you have obviously Sam Pendleton starting at left guard and then Selvin Abshire as the Right Guard so you have a very young group of players in the two deep you have see one two three three four five six guys in the starting lineup listed with sophomore eligibility Jeremiah Love Jordan fison Jaden great house are all true sophomores at the skill positions you also have a Ashton Craig Billy schr Amil Wagner are all considered red shirt sophmores in that situation then of course you have a true freshman Anthony knp at left guard your veterans your seniors in the starting lineup obviously Riley Leonard's out of Eligibility Bo Collins Mitchell Evans are out of Eligibility that's it I mean you've got a very very young depth chart even in backups you got a sophomore uh sophomore and then two freshman eligibility guys a quarterback you have a sophomore eligibility as your or running back and then you're a freshman after that you do have the veterans at receiver that we've talked about it's a very young offense very young offense and it leads it has me thinking kind of what we've talked about this summer which is we're going to find out if Marcus Freeman recruiting and Chad bowden's recruiting and this staff's recruiting is as good as we think it is and as we hope it is because they're starting a lot of Marcus Freeman guys in this lineup a lot of Marcus Freeman guys and when I mean Marcus Freeman guys one thing Marcus Freeman is coach Freeman has never done as a coach ever he never did the whole Brian Kelly my guys versus the you know Charlie's guys it's always been my team my team my team that's that that's not the I'm not trying to separate the two I'm simply saying there's a lot of there's a lot of the influence of his recruiting on this depth chart and if his recruiting is is good then this is going to be a fun year if it's not then they're just going to be a team with good talent that's very young as opposed to a team that's very young with exceptional Talent so we're going to find the answers to that and then on defense as well you know I had a an interesting bold prediction yesterday that that Vince kind of was was a little taken taken aback by and my bold prediction was that Notre Dame would have two freshman all-americans well then you look at the depth chart and you kind of see you know kind of why I think that may happen you obviously you have bright you have five true freshmen in the in the on the depth chart on defense you have Bryce Young on the defensive line you've got Kingston vama Assa at middle linebacker backing up Drake Bowen you got Carson Hobbs is the nickel you have Kennedy eracer is uh the listed as the or on the as the backup boundary safety and of course you have Leonard Moore as the backup at the boundary corner position behind Benjamin Morrison and then you have couple other sophomore eligibility guys in the starting lineup as well you have Drake Bowen who's a true sophomore Jaylen sneeds listed as a starting Rover he is a a red shirt sophomore you have a Don Schuler listed as starter he's a red shirt freshman Luke talich is a true sophomore he's the number two player at at boundary safety and then Christian Gray starting at field corner is a true sophomore so again very young football team but a very talented football team saw jadeen Alsbury listed up listed as the backup will and the backup Rover and then as I mentioned Christian Gray getting the start at the field position and then finally kind of looking at the Special Teams obviously Mitch Jeter is listed as the place kicker and the kickoff specialist I thought was interesting I thought there was a shot that Zach Yoko might get that job back Jaden Harrison is listed as a starting kick returner but there's an orb with him and with him Jeremiah Love and jarian price there's an or listed with Jordan fison as a starting punt returner or Jaden great house they did a Long Snapper and a short Snapper so there's actually two Snappers according to the depth chart this year we'll see how that goes the long Snappers Andrew cross and he is a a red shirt freshman walk-on player was what considered one of the best Snappers in his class in the 2023 class and then Reno monforte is the listed as the starting short Snapper and then Andrew is his backup short Snapper and then Reno is the backup Long Snapper and then the starting holder is Chris solo and I honestly thought thought that it was Tyler Buckner as the SN as the holder all camp and I got that completely wrong so it looks like it was chrisa who also wears number 26 so that's my bad I really thought that it was Tyler Buckner back there holding on and we we were talking about as media people we're talking about like oh Tyler Buckner holding so looks like I got that one wrong I apologize it looks like it's Chris solo that is the starting holder for Notre Dame who wears the same number uh is um as Tyler Buckner so I do apologize for getting that wrong so that's just a quick look at the nerd a dep chart not not a ton of surprises on there I did I I I did have Carson Hobs listed as the number two nickel when I started writing it so I'm not surprised he's listed there but again just because you're listed is the number two doesn't mean that you're going to be the number two so that's kind of where we're at so again I I look at this roster and it just hammers home the idea that we're going to find out real fast what kind of recruiter Marcus Freeman and Chad Bowden this staff are because this lineup and the one big difference between Brian Kelly and and and Marcus Freeman and this isn't a a criticism of either coach it's just an observation is that there is a much heavier brought into the program by Marcus Freeman on his lineup than there was for Brian Kelly in his lineup couple reasons why you know you had a lot of the Weiss guys that were playing as very young players for coach Kelly when he took over in 2010 a lot of freshman red shirt freshman red shirt sophomores so a lot of those guys came back in 2012 and then the other reason is you know Brian Kelly didn't have the portal the way that Marcus Freeman does and so when you're Brian Kelly you're you have to fill fill spots with guys that are you're recruiting you can't go out and get a transfer cornerback because Low Wood got hurt in the spring youve got to move cavari Russell over there and play him where you look at Marcus Freeman you've got Riley Leonard as your starting quarterback if he's not if he's not the quarterback who Who's the I mean who's the starter you've got all these Faison great house Bo I mean excuse me um Mitchell Harrison and Collins at receiver that are that are portal guys that they W able to go out and get RJ obin's a portal guy obviously so you have a lot of these Jordan Clark Rod herd so that's going to naturally result in more of a funneling out of some of the players that you inherited that maybe don't fit what you're trying to do or don't have the talent that you're trying to do and and so again this isn't a a criticism of Brian Kelly it's not a praise of Marcus Freeman it's just an observation of how much times have changed because Brian Kelly could only rebuild that team through High School recruiting Marcus Freeman has high school recruiting and the portal which is going to lead to which has led I don't say I don't know if it has to but but it has led to a little bit of a faster overhaul of the roster than what coach Kelly was able to experience without having the the ability to go to the portal the way that that they're able to now so it's very fascinating to kind of look through that and and evaluate that and see how it goes so um again just going through it actually before we get started I'm just going to go and bring up the uh the depth chart here real quick so you guys can just so those so those of you who haven't seen it can kind of get a glimpse of it here real quick and we'll just uh and then we'll go ahead and get started with uh with our mailbag so just going to pull this up here real quick this is over at Irish breakdown. comom so you're going to be able to see that but you guys can see the depth chart and it's uh it's going to be very interesting to see exactly who gets on the field so um there's the defensive depth chart very veteran group there six years two six-year seniors two fifth year seniors in the starting lineup and I find it very interesting the dichotomy between I've talked before this summer about the dichotomy between the really older players and then the really younger players and I don't know that that's any more evident than on the defensive line where you have a sixe senior at at Big end you have a sixe senior at nose you have a fifth year senior D tackle you have a fifth year senior at Viper and then the primary backups are a red shirt sophomore a true freshman a red shirt sophomore a TR a red shirt Junior a red shirt freshman a red shirt freshman and then excuse me actually Junior TOA should be listed as a a red shirt sophomore uh so it's a very young group same thing a linebacker you know you have a 60-year senior and Jack Kaiser and then your starters next to him are a true sophomore and a red shirt sophomore and your backups are a true freshman and a red shirt freshman so it is very interesting to see kind of that dichotomy in old and young on this football team a little bit more of a balance in the secondary because you have a couple Juniors that are playing a lot Morrison and Mickey but you do see a very unique um breakdown there between veteran players at Notre Dame and younger players and that's why I get to that point about there's going there's a lot of Youth on this football team but also a lot of experience and I'm very curious to see how that blend of those two things goes together so that's a little bit of a rundown of the dep chart next we're going to dive into the mailbag so get those questions ready I've got 36 of them starred so far um go ahead and throw some more in there you just put a mail bag emoji or MB on there either one I'll try and see those obviously if you have super chats I'll I'll do my best to bring those to the top of the list and dive into those first but we're going to get into mailbag next but before we do folks hit that like button hit the Subscribe button hit the notification Bell share this podcast give us a five star review and as always sign up for the message board at boards breakdown. comom I'm going to announce uh on there today a little bit about some of the things that we're going to have coming once we get the first game going and it's also going to explain why we're not going to have a Monday show every every week and why the Monday shows are going to be uh less prominent this year for the Big Show we'll still have IB Nation Sports Talk they're going to go live Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and then Friday night we're going to post the countdown to kickoff now Friday night as opposed to Saturday morning uh so that'll be published there and then I'm gonna have a couple other things that I'll record and put out during the week Monday will be one of the days we do something like that and then I'll go live for sure every week Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Friday at one o'clock uh every week so going to have a lot going on but there's some things that I'm going to be doing on the message board that are going to be detailed and require a lot of time to break these things down and so we're going to move the Monday show be more intermittent from now on and so that's kind of where we're at with that so I'll break it all down on the message board at boards. arbre down.com 499 a month or $4.99 $49.99 for a year I'd somebody sign up for the blue club they're in the show so I will get him or her I haven't looked at who it is yet a email saying hey you're in the blue clubs you get free IB Club mug just got to let me know to send it if you 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