With the trip to Culver complete, Notre Dame enters the dog days of training camp. More than a week in, there are no restrictions on the football team, so this week featured two-a-days, full pads, and some intense competition as the depth chart begins to shake out.
Brian Kelly caught up with the media after practice on Thursday, and from his comments, it sounds like we can start to make some assumptions.
C.J. Prosise and Tarean Folston are legitimately battling for No. 1 reps.
All that flowery talk about C.J. Prosise this spring? Sounds like it’s legit. Notre Dame’s converted wide receiver is giving incumbent Tarean Folston a run for his money, taking first-team reps and making it appear that there’s a legit competition for the starting job. So much so that Kelly has all but thrown out the depth chart.
“I think we’re going to keep that as a very competitive situation and keep pushing them both. There’s no depth chart there right now,” Kelly explained. “You get a good practice on you and you’ve worked hard, you’re taking first-team reps. If you have a subpar practice based on the standards we’ve set, you’re not taking first-team reps.
“It’s a very competitive situation, very fluid in that sense. It’s going to be competitive each and every week.”
For those who are skeptical that Kelly would be willing to make a move like that so quickly into Prosise’s tenure at running back, just look back to 2012. Converted wide receiver Theo Riddick usurped Cierre Wood as the team’s go-to tailback, even if statistically it didn’t make a ton of sense.
Of course, there’s a lot of time between now and Texas. And with just two legitimate options at tailback, both guys are going to play. So while I still think this is Folston’s job, it appears that Prosise is every bit as good as advertised.
So far, so good for Justin Yoon.
Wondering how freshman kicker Justin Yoon is acclimating to life in college football? Perfectly. Literally, the young kicker hasn’t missed a field goal attempt yet.
“Charting right now he’s 18-for-18 on kicks. He’s 9-for-9 between the 30-and 39- (yard line). We’re going to stretch him out a little bit tomorrow. He’s 4-for-4 from 40 to 49. He hasn’t missed a kick yet. His operation is outstanding.”
Of course, none of that will matter when he jogs onto the field against Texas needing to put points on the board. But Kelly praised two very important pieces of the puzzle when talking about his young kicker. First, his operation speed. Yoon gets to the ball quickly, very important when you’re dealing with block attempts. Second, he praised his technique—Yoon’s got a relatively simple stroke that allows him to still make a kick, even if he slightly mishits it.
Both Yoon and redshirt freshman Tyler Newsome have been kicking the ball “off the charts” so far in camp. It doesn’t mean anything when it comes to success on Saturday, but you’d certainly rather have positive data points with your young specialists than balls shanking left and right.
Greg Bryant? Kelly has no idea what’s happening either.
The bad news? Greg Bryant hasn’t talked with his head coach about the decision to head to junior college and play football this fall. The good news? Kelly hasn’t closed any door on Bryant returning to South Bend, even if he spends a year in Florida attending junior college.
“I want Greg back here if he wants a Notre Dame degree and if he is committed to a Notre Dame education,” Kelly said. “Obviously from what I’m hearing, that’s not what he’s interested. I think he’s interested in playing football. At Notre Dame you have to do both and you have to be committed to an education and playing football.”
That alone sounds pretty declarative, but then again—Kelly hasn’t spoken with Bryant. (Per an Irish Illustrated tweet from Pete Sampson, his father had no clue Greg was going to junior college until an ESPN reporter called him.)
But the current decision-making that Bryant is displaying doesn’t necessarily mean his former head coach has given up on him.
“I love Greg. He’s a great kid. It seems like from what I’m hearing is that he’s choosing to go,” Kelly said. “But I have not spoken to Greg. It’s purely the speculative version of it.”
The arrow is pointing up for Nic Weishar.
Another day, another glowing report for rising sophomore tight end Nic Weishar. With Durham Smythe nursing a hamstring injury and Alize Jones slowed for a day or two more, Weishar was the beneficiary of extra reps, and the 6-foot-4, 241-pounder showed some of the ball skills that made him a record-setting pass catcher in high school.
Kelly talked about the improvements Weishar made over the past calendar year, and what’s changed since his redshirt season.
“We knew he was a pass catcher. He was prolific in high school. He caught everything. I think in the state championship game he had a breakout, record-setting performance. We knew his ability to catch the football was there,” Kelly explained. “It was in-line blocking that was going to be the question and whether he could put on the weight necessary to compete right away. He had a terrific offseason and putting on weight and getting stronger in the weight room. He’s still got a ways to go, but that coupled with the toughness and resolve, he’s put himself right in the mix there to play a lot of snaps.”
Weishar looks like a viable red zone target, and that’s where he showed best, according to multiple reports from practice. Kelly even mentioned holding Weishar back on a few drills, if only to protect him from doing too much with the depth chart down to just two guys right now.
Jaylon Smith isn’t bad, either.
This seems to be a good sign that Jaylon Smith is taking things to the next level during fall camp.
“Jaylon Smith is remarkable in terms of what he’s doing on the field. He is on his game,” Kelly said. “It’s just remarkable the things he’s doing right now.”
Kelly described in detail Smith’s superior athleticism, talking about Smith’s ability to play close to the line of scrimmage, then diagnose a bootleg pass. Smith went from being aggressive in run support to getting underneath a wide receiver nearly 20 yards down field, taking away a key pass route.
Those are some of the things that make NFL scouts drool. And you’ve got to think Smith is benefitting from the return of Joe Schmidt, but also the relentless competitive energy that KeiVarae Russell shows.
Isaac Rochell going into Beast Mode.
We heard Brian Kelly call Isaac Rochell a beast last training camp, seemingly the only guy who wasn’t worried about the young player’s ability to step in for Ishaq Williams at defensive end. Kelly doubled down on those comments yesterday, and it’s hard not to get excited about the prospect of Rochell doing even more in 2015.
“Isaac Rochell is a beast. He is a beast. If he continues to play at this level, he’s virtually unblockable on a 1-on-1 situation,” Kelly said. “Our guys have a very difficult time blocking him. He’s faster, stronger. He’s just an outstanding player.”