Notre Dame Loses Starting Left Tackle for Season

Notre Dame football suffers a huge loss early in camp

Notre Dames Charles Jagusah stretches during practice at the SAC on Dec. 26, 2023, as they prepare for the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl against Oregon State. / Alberto Silva Fernandez/ El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Fall camp isn't even a week old for Notre Dame and already the injuries are taking their toll.

At the first practice it was rotational defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio breaking his foot, which will cost him significant time.

Over the weekend it is being reported that offensive tackle Charles Jagusah suffered an upper body injury in practice over the weekend and is expected to miss the entire year. Jagusah was projected to be the starting left tackle for Notre Dame when it opens the season at Texas A&M on Aug. 31.

During practice on Saturday, Aug 3, OL Charles Jagusah injured his shoulder, tearing his right pectoralis muscle, & DB/special teams player Marty Auer injured his left knee, tearing his ACL. Surgery is upcoming for both Jagusah & Auer, & both are expected to miss the 2024 season.

— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) August 5, 2024

What Now for Notre Dame at Left Tackle?

Jagusah felt like a pretty safe pick to start at left tackle for Notre Dame when the Irish travel to Texas A&M. There are plenty of position battles going on across the offensive line but left tackle appeared to be a pretty sure-thing for Jagusah to man.

The battle for a tackle spot has been going on at right tackle where Marcus Freeman announced last Wednesday that Aamil Wagner was entering camp as atop the depth chart over veteran Tosh Baker.

Does Wagner, who has been running with the one's, move over to the left tackle position?

Or with Wagner seemingly playing well at the right tackle position do you keep him there for the time being and move Baker over to the left side?

Or is does it become that much younger of a position group with true freshman Guerby Lambert, who didn't enroll early, being projected by many to be the most talented offensive lineman on Notre Dame's roster?

Perhaps Wagner moves over to the left side and Lambert and Baker then battle for the right tackle position?

No Alt or Fisher to be Found

Notre Dame was already entering 2024 a bit behind the eight-ball at offensive tackle with Joe Alt and Blake Fisher both taking off for the NFL.

Alt was as good as there was in the college game the last two seasons and was an easy choice for the Los Angeles Chargers to take fifth-overall this past April.

Blake Fisher was frustrating at times during his junior season but at the end of the day was still talented enough to be a second round draft pick of the Houston Texans in this last NFL draft.

Those players simply don't currently exist on this Notre Dame offensive tackle depth chart.

That's not to say that Aamil Wagner won't continue to develop and eventually turn into a star. It's also not a knock Jagusah, who just got hurt, or on freshman Guerby Lambert. It's instead just noting that that level of offensive tackle is simply nowhere to found on this current Notre Dame roster.

An already concerning part of Notre Dame's lineup for 2024 just got that much more concerning.

—Enjoy free coverage of the Irish from Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI —

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