Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game Predictions, Spring Surprises
Notre Dame is just two days away from its annual Blue-Gold Game, which concludes the spring period. It has been an entertaining and interesting spring for the Fighting Irish, and on Saturday we'll get our last chance to see this team in action before fall camp.
In our latest Irish Breakdown episode we had a little bit of fun making some predictions for the game. We go position by position and discuss the players we hope break out in the game, or at least shine. There are different reasons for each position.
That is followed by a breakdown of the biggest surprises from the spring practices, we discuss how we'd like to see the draft for the Blue and Gold teams be conducted, and then we have a quick recruiting update on standout wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr. prior to our mailbag.
The predictions weren't so much actually making predictions that we think will happen, but predictions on what we hope will happen, and we went position by position.
Quarterback - Ryan Roberts went with Tyler Buchner, who we didn't get to see last spring. Buchner is a great option, and we are all excited to see Sam Hartman in action. But the guy I want to see perform well is freshman Kenny Minchey.
Running Back - Notre Dame has had a depleted running back room this spring, so the options were limited. Ryan explains why he went with Audric Estime, but I want to see sophomore Gi'Bran Payne end the spring with a big performance.
Wide Receiver - There are plenty of wideouts to be excited about: Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas and the freshmen (Braylon James, Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores Jr.). Ryan talks about Colzie and Chris Tyree, while I want to see a breakout performance from Tobias Merriweather.
Tight End - Notre Dame is also a bit thin this spring at tight end. After discussing why Mitchell Evans already had his breakout in the bowl game, I explain why I really want to see sophomore Holden Staes shine in the spring game.
Offensive Line - This one was easy, we are both looking forward to seeing sophomore guard Billy Schrauth in his first action on the field at Notre Dame Stadium.
Next we talked about the defense.
Defensive End - At defensive end there are a lot of options. I went with sophomore Josh Burnham, who is an incredibly talented young player that is still learning the defensive end position. If he can finish the spring on a strong note it will be very good for him, and the Irish line. Ryan went with Jordan Botelho, who finished the 2022 season on a strong note.
Defensive Tackle - This one was another reason selection for us and we both went with junior Jason Onye, who had a big spring. Now we want to see him finish the spring off on a strong note.
Linebacker - We are both excited to see the sophomores - Nolan Ziegler and Jaylen Sneed - who are very talented players, and them finishing the spring off with a strong spring performance would be ideal. Ultimately Ziegler was my pick and freshman Drayk Bowen was Ryan's pick.
Cornerback - Ryan is looking forward to seeing a sophomore jump for preseason All-American Benjamin Morrison. I also want to see a sophomore have a strong spring game, but I went with Jaden Mickey.
Safety - This is another one we agreed on, and we are both wanting to see senior Ramon Henderson finish on a strong note.
Next we discussed the biggest surprises from the Irish this spring.
Offense - On offense we discussed running back turned wide receiver Chris Tyree, the breakout from Gi'Bran Payne and the spring impact of Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James.
Defense - On defense was talked a bit more about Ziegler, Onye and Javontae Jean-Baptiste, the transfer from Ohio State.
Lorenzo Styles - This one required a note of its own, and we discussed the surprise that Styles was playing both ways by the end of spring.
Our mailbag was broken into two sections because of how many great questions we received.
Part I (This included the update on Jason Robinson Jr.)
Part II of the mailbag:
You can watch the full show here:
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Gettr: @IrishBreakdown
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook
