Through four games, we have seen a number of true freshmen
play and make contributions to the team.
There are still others that have not and may be red-shirted to preserve
a year of eligibility. I know it can be
frustrating for a young man who has been a big fish in a little pond his whole
life to be sent to the scout team, but it can pay big dividends down the
road. Taking a year to learn the systems
(not only for football but for college life) and to work with the likes of Paul Longo
on strength and conditioning have worked out quite well for several Irish
players. As the season rolls on, Coach
Kelly and his staff will have to decide which players get on the field and
which to save for future seasons.
A lot goes into these decisions. First and foremost is whether or not the
player is ready. The coaching staff needs
to feel confident that the player is not only physically ready (no none wants
to see anyone hurt), but also mentally mature enough to play at the collegiate
level. I hear from almost every
freshman that the game is so much faster at the college level. Let’s face it - in high school, you may go up
against a handful of Division 1 players during your career, but when you step onto
the campus of a big time program like Notre Dame, you’re going up against guys
who were all-conference this or all- conference that in high school every day
in practice.
Another thing to take into consideration is if there is a
need for that athlete to play. If a team
is already three deep at a position with talented upperclassmen, how much
playing time is a freshman going to get?
Of course, injuries always come into play when making this decision and
that is the one factor you cannot foresee.
Let’s take a look at some of the players that Kelly will have to make
that decision about.
A good place to start is super recruit Gunner Kiel
who at 6’4” 210 lbs., has the size of an NFL quarterback right now. We realized from the beginning that there was
little chance Kiel would see the field this year. He would have had to have had one of, if not
the best spring any early enrollee ever had.
There are just too many guys with at least some collegiate experience in
front of him on the depth chart. He
would have had to be the clear cut starter coming onto the fall. It will be interesting to see how everything
shakes out for Gunner in South Bend over the next couple of years with Rees
having another year of eligibility, Hendrix still having two years, Golson with
three, and not to mention Malik Zaire coming in next year.
I’m sure that running back William Malone
may also feel a bit discouraged and frustrated by not being on the depth chart,
but he can rest assured that his time will come. Although no one has emerged as the leader at
the position, there are currently several players sharing time with some
success. The 5’10 211 lb. freshman from
Ohio can use this year to make sure he is fully recovered from an ankle injury
that kept him out of half of his senior season in high school, learn the
offense and begin raking up yards in 2013.
At 6’5” 299 lbs. (and I know he’ taller and after a few
months with Longo he’s added weight), it would be hard for a college coach to keep a player like Jarron Jones off the field, but most coaches don’t have the
depth and talent along the defensive line like Kelly has. The reasoning here is
simple - we don’t need him - this year.
With a good wingspan complementing his height, Jones has a great frame
for an offensive tackle. Coming out of
Western New York where Jones did not have the opportunity to match up against
top notch talent on a regular basis, and he needs to use this year to do so.
I realize that Amir
Carlisle is technically a sophomore, but he can qualify to redshirt this
year. Much like Malone, we already have
a crowded backfield and he is also coming back after an injury. There is a good chance Kelly will not play
Carlisle and keep him around another year.
Along those same linesm Chase
Hounshell has not played yet this year because he has been banged up, and
there is talk of redshirting him this season as they do not need another defensive
end right now.
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