The unsettling information Monday that red-shirt freshman offensive sort out Charles Jagusah will likely be misplaced for the season following a pectoralis damage shortly was changed by the truth of reshaping the unit in preparation for the opener at Texas A&M.
How will Notre Dame reconfigure the offensive line that had Jagusah at left sort out, Ashton Craig at heart, Billy Schrauth at proper guard, and Aamil Wagner at proper sort out with a trio of gamers – Pat Coogan, Rocco Spindler and Sullivan Absher — vying for enjoying time at left guard?
Listed below are some choices:
- Tosh Baker/Aamil Wagner at sort out: Many have questioned why the lighter and extra agile Wagner hasn’t been stationed at left sort out with Jagusah on the suitable facet. That is offensive line coach Joe Rudolph’s prerogative.
When requested in Might if the Irish would take into account the extra conventional alignment of the lighter-in-weight Wagner at left sort out and the behemoth Baker at proper sort out, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was perplexed by the query. No, he mentioned, that wasn’t a consideration.
Whichever facet Wagner finally ends up on, Baker could be the “veteran” transfer as a 6-foot-9, 320-pound graduate pupil who arrived at Notre Dame all the best way again within the 2020 COVID season. His performances up to now – together with some shaky moments are current because the spring of ’24 – go away questions and considerations. However at the least he must be well-versed within the nuances of five-playing-as-one up entrance.
- Sullivan Absher/Aamil Wagner at sort out: Absher has garnered consideration since his rise within the spring because the No. 2 left sort out behind Jagusah. The 6-foot-7, 321-pound red-shirt freshman was moved to left guard in an try and a) stability out the two-deep alongside the whole offensive line and b) give a robust have a look at the gifted Belmont, N.C. product in competitors with Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler.
With Jagusah now out, the Irish have some flexibility with Absher, who acquired a spring’s value of reps at left sort out and every week’s value at guard this August along with his work throughout June-July.
Do the Irish go younger and attempt to construct for the current/future? Because it stands for the time being, Absher seems to be an interesting option to enter the beginning lineup as a result of he’s seemingly extra cell than Baker and has 4 years of eligibility coming into the 2024 season in comparison with Baker’s one. Absher would wish nerves of metal to deal with his first begin at Texas A&M.
- Guerby Lambert/Aamil Wagner at sort out: The fast rise of Joe Alt and Blake Fisher just a few years in the past has raised consciousness to the potential of different true freshman offensive linemen rising out of the chute.
It is uncommon, nevertheless, to search out somebody only a few months faraway from the prep degree to emerge as one of many 5 finest offensive linemen, notably one that did not arrive till June. A scarcity of energy in comparison with the in-the-trenches behemoths alongside opposing defensive strains – plus the on-the-move chemistry concerned of faculty offensive line play – often journeys up an untested freshman.
However Lambert is not any bizarre freshman. The 6-foot-7, 318-pounder out of Boston, Mass. arrived this summer season as a possible choice. Had he been an early-entry freshman, he clearly could be in a greater place to switch Jagusah.
The phrase from Notre Dame’s camp additionally signifies that they’d prefer to put a 12 months’s layer of energy and conditioning onto his body earlier than throwing him to the wolves, notably with Texas A&M’s staunch defensive position up first.
This is able to appear to be a lesser choice behind some mixture of Wagner, Baker and Sullivan.
- Shift a guard to sort out: Contemplating the Irish have 4 frontline choices at guard – Billy Schrauth, Pat Coogan, Rocco Spindler and Sullivan Absher – Rudolph might shift somebody just like the gifted Schrauth to proper sort out with Wagner on the left facet.
However this could seemingly be a lesser choice for the Irish since you’re taking your finest guard – Schrauth — and shifting him to a place he hasn’t even sniffed throughout his time at Notre Dame. Plus, Wagner seemingly would shift from the suitable to the left facet, which might be one other unsettling transfer.
On the optimistic facet, a Coogan-Spindler guard pairing could be a continuation of final 12 months’s configuration when Coogan began all 13 video games at left guard and Spindler began 10 at proper guard earlier than a season-ending knee damage.
Disturbing Schrauth’s evolution at his most pure place is a frequent suggestion from the skin. On the within, such a shift is taken into account a little bit of a seismic transfer inside the offensive line teaching fraternity.
- Insert an early-entry freshman into the lineup at sort out: Notre Dame was impressed by the presence of early-entry freshman Anthonie Knapp after his arrival within the spring. Knapp, the 6-foot-4, 291-pounder, bought a have a look at guard earlier than locking in at left sort out. He has a bonus over Lambert with the early indoctrination to school offensive line play in March/April.
Once more, nevertheless, there are extra high-percentage choices, notably with red-shirt freshman Sullivan Absher starting his second 12 months in this system. They will definitely take a look at Knapp all through the rest of pre-season camp. However Absher’s place flexibility would appear to preclude this button from being pushed.
- What Notre Dame is almost certainly to decide on: First issues first. The Irish have a go to to Texas A&M to open the 2024 season. The best-percentage transfer seemingly is to insert Baker into the lineup – both the left or proper facet – together with his 36 video games performed and a handful of begins. Baker must be extra emotionally-equipped to deal with the Texas A&M surroundings.
And but glimpses of Baker within the spring and this previous week don’t portend long-term success, not to mention short-term productiveness with the Aggies’ Nic Scourton and Co. coming off the sting in School Station.
Is Absher’s information of the sport/system and central nervous system wired in such a method that his second sport in a Notre Dame uniform is a beginning task at Kyle Discipline? Possibly however maybe not. The next-percentage transfer could be to start out Baker at Texas A&M and have Absher prepared for insertion if the pace of the Aggies’ defensive entrance is an excessive amount of for Baker’s footspeed.
Regardless of the Irish resolve for the opener, the workers must be open-minded sufficient to contemplate different choices as Notre Dame strikes on to Recreation 2 and past. Any additional shifts solely make the transition that rather more tough.
