What Spring Practice will tell us about Running Backs

At the running back position, it is pretty clear that Cierre Wood will be the premier back this season with help from running back to receiver back to running back, Theo Riddick.  The question is what young players will get the early nod to get meaningful practice reps that could lead to game reps.  Safe money is on George Atkinson III to be the next man in at the running back position, if he is not moved to wide receiver.  After that, there are still a couple of guys chomping at the bit to show what they can do.  Cam McDaniel, who blew a year of eligibility on three carries for nine yards, will be in his second year in South Bend and should be eager to put to rest the concerns about his size. Looking back on his high school highlight videos, his tough running along with his quickness and agility, he should not have to worry.   Cam Roberson will look to bounce back from injury to add a power running game to Kelly’s spread offense.  Roberson is probably my biggest question mark in the backfield and also the player we may get the most answers about during spring practice.

What Spring Practice will tell us about Early Enrollees

What will spring practice do for and tell fans?  We all know that spring practice is ideal for conditioning and for young players to become more familiar with the playbook, but let’s look deeper.  It will give us our first look at our early enrollees for their baptism into college level football.  This year’s early crew of new comers, including defensive lineman Sheldon Day, cornerback Tee Shepard and of course, highly recruited quarterback Gunner Kiel, could all be fighting for playing time during their freshman season.  The extra practices could give them that extra exposure coaches need to make those decisions.  It should be all or nothing for Gunner, as he has some people ahead of him that could get the job done and there’s no need to burn a year of eligibility on mop up duty.  Sheldon is talented, smart and mature, but he also has a line of talent and experience in front of him.  Tee, on the other hand, is coming to a team that has a number of questions and even concerns in the defensive backfield.  He could play, and thanks to extra early enrollment practice time, may even start.

The Next Man In

Brian Kelly and his staff got their second verbal commitment for the Class of 2013.  The Irish landed 6’5” 240lb tight end / defensive end Jacob Matuska from Bishop Hartley high school out of Columbus Ohio.  Matuska also had offers from big time programs including Michigan, Oklahoma and Nebraska, Jacob has been times at 4.7 in the 40 yard dash. Although most of his recruitment has been as a tight end the Irish seem more interested in him on the defensive side of the ball.  If that ends up being the case he will have to add tome size, perhaps red shirting his first year to add bulk.  He has the frame to add enough weight so slide in and play defensive tackle and the word is he plays hard, real hard.  The film (limited) that I have watched shows an athletic tight end with good hands and a receiver that can split out a little to go down field.  He also looks like a solid blocker. Matuska attended Notre Dames Junior day which most likely made an impact on his decision.   Although Adam Breneman is still the gold standard for the class of 2013 tight end recruits landing a multi-talented “big skill” player like Matuska shows Kelly’s ability to get versatile players.  With offers from Cincinnati and Toledo along with interest from Ohio State this is a good snag from state of Ohio.  Adding a player from the class of 2013 like Matuska to players from the recruiting class of 2012 like Jaron Jones, Sheldon Day and Romeo Okwara along with current young players including Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, Chase Hounshell and Ishaq Williams the front seven should be very tough for the near future.