Biggest takeaways from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish depth chart heading into the season opener against the Miami Hurricanes
Notre Dame has some interesting listings on their depth chart heading into the Miami game
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman held his press conference on Tuesday, discussing the upcoming battle against the Miami Hurricanes with the media in attendance. The Fighting Irish are set to travel down to Hard Rock Stadium Sunday night for a battle between two preseason top-10 teams. It promises to be an interesting challenge.
Of the many topics discussed, a good chunk of the conversation centered around the depth chart that was released just before the press conference began. There aren’t a ton of shocking listings on that depth chart, but there were still a few interesting tidbits to consider. Several talented Fighting Irish standouts are going to be in new positions, roles, and fans should be excited to see what it looks like in five days.
The first interesting listing to consider came at wide receiver. It was no surprise that Malachi Fields and Jordan Faison were listed as starters at the X and Z receiver spots. It also wasn’t a surprise at all to see Jaden Greathouse on top of the depth chart in the slot, but it was to see an “or” next to his name. Will Pauling was listed as the co-starter on the slot, and everyone expected the former Cincinnati and Wisconsin transfer to play a lot. Greathouse, however, is a favorite to be the top pass catcher for the Irish, so seeing that “or” was a bit interesting.
Guerby Lambert was listed as a “or” with Sullivan Absher at right guard. I expect to see Lambert take the first snap, but don’t be surprised if both players play against Miami. Either way, you are going to have a very large human being in at right guard.
On the defensive line, it was really fun to see a starting lineup of Bryce Young, Boubacar Traore, Donovan Hinish, and Jason Onye up front. There has been a lot of positive feedback on that group, and the Irish staff seems to be incredibly confident about their ability to dominate in the trenches. The top shelf talent has been questioned some, but the depth both inside and out could be the best we have seen in several years.
The lone surprise up front was seeing Cole Mullins as the third team at defensive tackle behind Onye and Gabriel Rubio. Mullins, who is listed at 6-5 and 275 pounds, has spent a lot of time at defensive end this offseason. The Georgia native did, however, spend the majority of the 2024 season inside on the defensive line. It will be interesting if he continues to build up his body, or if he becomes a bit of a swing player between multiple spots.
There was only one interesting observation in the secondary, and it came as the third team safety spot. At both the boundary and field spots, Ethan Long was listed as the main reserve. That means that fellow true freshman JaDon Blair wasn’t listed, who was a player that some expected to earn playing time this season. It appears it may be a developmental year for Blair, who is a physically impressive kid at 6-5 and 206 pounds.
Luke Talich has spent a lot of time at the fight safety position for Notre Dame this offseason, but he was also listed as a backup to Adon Shuler in the boundary. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t see Talich at two spots, but that does mean that former Virginia Tech safety Jalen Stroman is the starter to the field. Regardless, we will see all of those three safeties along with redshirt freshman Tae Johnson.
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