Midweek Musings: Guard Development Is Essential For Notre Dame

Thoughts on Notre Dame football, Fighting Irish recruiting and college football

My latest Midweek Musings focuses on the importance of development at guard for Notre Dame, the biggest question marks for the Irish and their opponents and the offseason work being put in.

IMPROVEMENT AT GUARD IS A KEY FOR NOTRE DAME

Expectations should be high for the Notre Dame offensive line in 2022. The unit will be essential to the program taking another jump on offense, and they enter the offseason with a lot of questions and a new coach. The new coach - Harry Hiestand - provides a major upgrade, and there is plenty of talent coming back.

Notre Dame returns eight players with at least two career starts and five players with at least eight career starts. Center Jarrett Patterson leads the way with 34 career starts and Josh Lugg returns 21 career starts.

The return of talented rising sophomore Blake Fisher and Joe Alt has created a great deal of optimism for the tackle position next season, and Patterson returns as arguably the best center in the game. 

What happens between those players could ultimately be what determines whether this group is good, or if this group emerges as one of the best offensive lines in college football. Notre Dame's guard play was average at times and really bad at other times. When the guards don't play well it impacts the tackles and the center, and the poor play at guard kept Patterson from playing at a high level this past season. 

If Notre Dame is going to become a top line the guard play must get much, much better. Consistency is priority number one. The guards have to at least be able to do their job on a consistent basis. If they do that it will allow Patterson to focus more on doing his job at a high level and less of his focus on protecting the guards. It would also allow the tackles to be more dominant players.

If the guard play moves past just consistent and becomes consistently good it takes the line over the top and turns it into at least a Top 10 caliber group of blockers, one that could push to being one of the five best in the country. At that point its up to Patterson and the tackles to be at their best, and that ultimately determines if it will be a very good line, or an elite line capable of fueling a playoff caliber offense.

Andrew Kristofic returns after starting the final seven games of the 2021 season at left guard. Kristofic was at least consistent, so that's his baseline. The question for him in year two as a potential starter is can he become a blocker capable of playing at a higher level, especially in the run game. If Kristofic is just steady he could have a tough time keeping the job. If he becomes a more forceful player he'll go from being a solid, steady player and develop into a guy that moves left guard into the plus category.

Right guard was a problem area for Notre Dame in 2021, and it will have a new starter this season. I would expect sixth year senior Josh Lugg, who has 21 career starts at both right tackle, guard and center, to move inside this spring and get a chance to earn the starting role at right guard. Lugg's length and athletic skills project much better inside, and if he can remain healthy and be more consistent inside than he was outside he could greatly improve the play at right guard.

If there is any slip up at either guard spot we could see rising sophomore Rocco Spindler push them to the bench. Heck, with Spindler's talent and potential the older players could play good football and he still forces his way onto the field. I wouldn't be opposed to a situation where Spindler becomes a bit of a swing player at guard, much like we saw from Robert Hainsey at right tackle in 2017, the last year Hiestand coach the Irish line.

Rising junior Michael Carmody is another player who could make some noise at guard if the staff decided to move him inside. He has the demeanor of an interior player, and a move inside would give him the best chance to maximize his talent as well.

There are plenty of options, and I haven't even gotten into the talented freshman class. Hiestand will have the bodies, but now it's about creating a competitive environment and developing the players to tap more and more into their full potential. If he does that at guard the Notre Dame line in 2022 will be very, very good.

BIGGEST CONCERN FOR NOTRE DAME IN 2022

ESPN released an article looking at the biggest question mark for teams in their Way-Too-Early Top 25. No surprise, the biggest question mark for Notre Dame is the quarterback position.

"Who's the QB? With Jack Coan gone after one year as the starter, Tommy Rees' first year as playcaller without Brian Kelly will be defined by which of two seemingly stylistic opposites is taking snaps. Tyler Buchner ran designed runs on more than half his snaps and ripped off quite a few huge runs while completing 60% of his passes. He also threw three picks in just 35 passes. Drew Pyne, meanwhile, scrambled quite a bit but didn't attempt many actual rushes; he completed just 15 of 30 passes but at nearly 15 yards per completion with no picks. He was excellent while filling in for an injured Coan late against Wisconsin. The winner of the job will have veterans like tight end Michael Mayer and running back Chris Tyree around him, but will carry some pretty big expectations as well." - Bill Connelly, ESPN

I think the point is debatable, but there is no question that the quarterback position certainly deserves to be in the discussion about the team's biggest question mark.

BIGGEST QUESTIONS FOR ND OPPONENTS

When looking at Notre Dame's opponents for 2022 there are several in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25. Here is a look at their biggest question marks according to ESPN.

#11 Clemson - Passing Game

" .... But the bigger questions will once again revolve around the offense and quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who struggled in his first year replacing Trevor Lawrence. Uiagalelei seemed uncomfortable through large stretches of the season, and Clemson struggled to get any consistency and rhythm going in the passing game. Big, explosive plays down the field were pretty much nonexistent. Not only does Uiagalelei have to get better -- so do the receivers. Their growth and development is a huge key to watch." - Andrea Adelson, ESPN

#18 BYU - Running Back 

" .... Replacing running back Tyler Allgeier, however, won't be so straightforward. The former walk-on ran for over 2,700 yards over the last two seasons and how to replace his production is a worthwhile question. Christopher Brooks, an incoming transfer from Cal, is the most proven option, having run for 1,704 yards over the past four seasons, including a career-best 914 in 2019." - Kyle Bonagura, ESPN

#22 USC - Defense

" .... The defense, however, remains a question mark. Sure, the Trojans were able to pick up a few defensive transfers such as linebackers Shane Lee and Romello Height from SEC programs, but they also lost standout linebacker Drake Jackson, among others, to the NFL. New defensive coordinator Alex Grinch will need to work wonders on that side of the ball -- after all, this was a unit that former interim head coach Donte Williams referred to as "disgusting" last season. No matter how shiny the new offense might look, the defense will need to step up for USC to compete for the conference title this season." - Paolo Uggetti

2023 DREAM CLASS - OFFENSIVE LINE EDITION

Recently in a podcast and on the Irish Breakdown Premium Message Board we engaged in a fun discussion about the "dream class" for Notre Dame on the 2023 recruiting trail.

At positions like wide receiver, linebacker and to a degree the secondary, hitting on all the dream class players will be very, very difficult. There are some positions, however, where landing the dream class is more realistic. Defensive line is one, and offensive line is another. Since today's main team topic was about the offensive line I figured it would be the perfect time to discuss the "dream class" for the offensive line.

Here's my list.

Samson Okunlola - The Massachusetts standout has special, special talent. Some will compare him to former Irish great Ronnie Stanley, but Okunlola is far more advanced than Stanley was at the same age. Okunlola has a tremendous frame with great length. He is explosive off the ball, he can play in space and he has tremendous natural power. It makes for a fun highlight tape, has he's matched up against far, far inferior talent and he just toys with them. The scary thing is he's still quite raw, but if he plays for someone like Harry Hiestand in college he'll have a chance to develop into an All-American, Top 10 NFL Draft pick type of talent. He's the guy I'm least confident in Notre Dame landing among this group, but they are in the game with him.

Monroe Freeling - The South Carolina standout grades out as a Top 100 recruit on my board. He's a tall, long blocker with great natural size. He's listed at 285 now and he still plays basketball. Once he becomes a one-sport guy you'll see him easily blow past 300 pounds. On top of being big and long, Freeling is also pretty nimble and agile and he's a pure offensive tackle. Freeling competes in the run game and once he gets into a college weight room his power will take off and he'll become an even more dominant all-around player. The Carolina teams and the SEC programs will make things interesting, but Freeling already has very strong interest in Notre Dame, so Hiestand needs to close this one out.

Charles Jagusah - Covid decisions in Illinois kept Jagusah from playing much as a sophomore, so right now he's still quite raw and behind from a development standpoint. The talent he possesses is outstanding, however, and he has the potential of a Top 50 caliber player. Jagusah has the size Hiestand covets and his ability to thrive at tackle or guard is also right in line with what Hiestand loves to recruit. Jagusah is a wrestler, and you can tell on film. He's a mauler and very strong, but he is an athletic player as well. When I talk about him potentially moving to guard it's more about his demeanor and tenacity, but athletically he can certainly stick at tackle. Notre Dame is in great early position, but Iowa will be a factor as well.

There are other talented players on the board line Chase Bisontis, Sullivan Absher and Austin Siereveld, among others. If Notre Dame pairs any of those four with the three I broke down it would be a great class. If they somehow add Absher and Bisontis to make it another five-man group it could go down as the best Notre Dame offensive line class of the last decade, which is saying something.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Notre Dame players are putting in the work this offseason.

😤#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/cZDlayIXCq

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) February 9, 2022

FILM OF THE WEEK

On Monday we talked about George Takacs leaving the program, but the fun part of the show was when IB Recruiting Director Ryan Roberts and I broke down our "Dream Class" for Notre Dame on the 2023 recruiting trail.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule

Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board

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