As Notre Dame approaches the quietest official National Signing Day in its history, the Irish depth chart currently sits at 86 expected scholarship players in the fall, with two more on scholarship through the spring and ready to extend into the season if space becomes available.
Notre Dame’s offense contains 41 of those scholarships, though both of those already on-board possibilities are also on that side of the ball, along with three scholarships on special teams. To give the appropriate idea of that breakdown, below is a tentative depth chart that should hold steady not only past Wednesday’s silent Signing Day, but also into spring practices.
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QUARTERBACKS — 3
Ian Book — A fifth-year in 2020, last year of eligibility
Brendon Clark — Sophomore in 2020, four years of eligibility remaining
Drew Pyne — Early-enrolled freshman, likely to spend 2020 on the scout team.
Where Notre Dame was, is & will be: Quarterbacks
RUNNING BACKS — 6 OR 7
Jafar Armstrong — Senior in 2020 with two years of eligibility remaining
Jahmir Smith — Junior with three years remaining
or C’Bo Flemister — Junior with three years remaining
or Kyren Williams — Sophomore with four years remaining
Avery Davis — Senior converted quarterback/defensive back/receiver, and he could spend the season at any of those latter two positions, frankly. If he does not find a way to contribute in 2020, he will likely spend his final season of eligibility elsewhere.
Chris Tyree — Incoming freshman
Mick Assaf — A senior currently on scholarship through the spring, a luxury not guaranteed past then, though with Notre Dame at 86 scholarships currently, it would not be a reach to expect one to be available for the then fifth-year in the fall.
Where Notre Dame was, is & will be: Running backs
RECEIVERS — 12
Boundary, the position most recently turned into a starring role by Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool.
Kevin Austin — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining thanks to his 2019 suspension.
Bennett Skowronek — The Northwestern graduate transfer is in his final season and may challenge Austin if the latter does not establish consistency quickly.
Jordan Johnson — Incoming freshman
Isaiah Robertson — Senior with two years of eligibility remaining; it is always notable when a player does not play his junior season after appearing in six games as a sophomore.
Xavier Watts — Early-enrolled freshman.
Where Notre Dame was, is & will be: Receivers
Field, where Michael Young was once expected to star, a place for a receiver equally adept with speed as he is in hand-to-hand coverage.
Braden Lenzy — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining
Javon McKinley — A fifth-year in 2020 in his final season, a chance not yet assured by the Notre Dame academic committee that handles the graduate student decisions.
Jay Brunelle — Early-enrolled freshman who may be banged up this spring, best known for his speed.
Slot, wholly open for competition with Chris Finke’s departure.
Lawrence Keys — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining
Joe Wilkins — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining.
Micah Jones — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining, though he spent much of 2019 on the scout team and appeared only in the New Mexico, Bowling Green and Navy blowouts, as well as the Virginia Tech game on special teams
Kendall Abdur-Rahman — Sophomore with four years of eligibility remaining, always expected to have a slow growth curve after coming in as a high school quarterback.
Where Notre Dame was, is & will be: Tight ends
TIGHT END — 5
Tommy Tremble — Junior with three seasons of eligibility remaining
Brock Wright — Senior in his final season
Michael Mayer — Incoming freshman and possibly a day-one contributor
George Takacs — Junior with three seasons of eligibility remaining
Kevin Bauman — Incoming freshman.
OFFENSIVE LINE — 15 OR 16, with 114 returning starts
Left tackle
Liam Eichenberg — A fifth-year with 26 career starts in his last season to prove enough to continue the streak of Irish head coach Brian Kelly only starting first-round NFL draft picks at left tackle.
Andrew Kristofic — Sophomore with four years of eligibility remaining; appeared in four games as a freshman in mop-up duty.
Cole Mabry — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining; played in just one game in 2019.
Left guard
Aaron Banks — Senior with two years of eligibility remaining with 19 career starts.
Dillon Gibbons — Senior with two years of eligibility remaining
John Olmstead — Sophomore with four years of eligibility remaining.
Where Notre Dame was, is & will be: Offensive line
Center
Jarrett Patterson — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining with 13 career starts.
Colin Grunhard — A la Assaf, a walk-on senior currently on scholarship through the spring, a gig that may or may not await him in the fall, though it seems exceptionally likely given Grunhard is solidly within the two-deep.
Zeke Correll — Sophomore with four years of eligibility remaining who could also dabble at either guard position, given Patterson is rather well-entrenched at the pivot.
Right guard
Tommy Kraemer — A fifth-year with 29 career starts.
John Dirksen — Junior with three years of eligibility remaining
Michael Carmody — Incoming freshman.
Right tackle
Robert Hainsey — A senior, the rare four-year starter along the offensive line, let alone one to do so from the outset of his career, with 22 career starts.
Josh Lugg — A senior with two years of eligibility remaining; started five games in place of Hainsey last season after Hainsey broke his ankle. Lugg played well enough to deserve starting, but it is hard to figure whom he would supplant along this unit in 2020.
Quinn Carroll — Sophomore with four years of eligibility remaining; still recovering from an ACL torn in August.
Tosh Baker — Incoming freshman.
Punter: Sophomore Jay Bramblett, three years of eligibility remaining.
Kicker: Senior Jonathan Doerer, one year of eligibility remaining.
Long snapper: Alex Peitsch, an incoming freshman.
