We know what to expect from players like Manti Te’o, Tyler Eifert, Braxton Cave and others who have already proven their excellence and worth to this Notre Dame program. We are hoping to see something come from true freshmen such as Sheldon Day, Gunner Kiel and Jarron Jones. We are expecting continued development from those redshirted last year who performed in practice but did not see the field. There is yet another group of players who have seen the field as freshmen and sophomores, even as juniors that need to go to the next step and have their “break out” year. Players who have had glimpse of on field greatness and came to South Bend with great expectations and now must fulfill their potential.
Although players like Chase Hounshell, StephonTuitt and George Atkinsin III could fit into this list, I am only going to talk about Juniors and Seniors with a year of eligibility left. Sophomores who have shown some potential as true freshmen should not be expected or needed to move up to their full potential yet., although I believe all three will.
First; offensive lineman (probably right tackle) Tate Nichols who, at 6’8” 320+lbs. should not have to worry about size, but will his skill measure up? Tate played tight end and defensive end in high school and spent his freshman year bulking up. As a sophomore, he learned from Zack Martin and Taylor Dever but has not seen any game action as of yet. Although he has not shown anything in game action, his size and athletic ability have created a lot of anticipation and he needs to break out right away. Fans will not give this third year a break.
At wide receiver there are several players who need to step up, but with two years and 24 games of experience, junior T.J. Jones is expected to lead the way in the wake of Floyd’s departure to the NFL. With his godfather being none other than Raghib “The Rocket” Ismail, the level of expectation has been high since day one in South Bend. Jones has played well and could continue at his current pace and be considered a decent contributor to the Notre Dame Football Program. However, the Irish need a break out receiver and T.J. could and should be that guy.
On the defensive side of the ball, Kona Schwenke is in a great position to step up and control his legacy in South Bend. With Aaron Lynch departing for the comfort of home,the opportunities at defensive end have opened up. At 6’4”, 286 lbs., Kona has the size, and with appearances in eight games, is not an undersized freshman stepping into a need along the line. Schwenke had a solid spring and is being pushed by some younger talent like Chase Hounshell, Tony Springman, StephonTuitt, and even incoming freshmen, Day and Jones. With Kapron Lewis-Moore coming back, Schwenke will have to take it to the next level to get any sort of serious game time. Schwenke also split time last season at Nose Guard with Lewis Nix. Now that Nix has developed on and off (conditioning) the field that time may limited.
Many Irish fans would say that Prince Shembo has already had his breakout year last season, having played in 12 games and started eight, but I think that his ceiling is so high I would liken him to Lawrence Taylor (and yes, I know that is a very tall order). I think Shembo will impose his will along with his freakish athletic ability rushing the quarterback this season.
