Notre Dame Spring Preview: Running Back
It wasn't that long ago that running back was one of the biggest question marks on the Notre Dame football team, and losing a player as productive and effective as Audric Estime would be a tremendous cause for concern at Notre Dame.
Times certainly have changed in recent seasons. It began with Lance Taylor, but Deland McCullough has taken running back recruiting to a whole new level. Notre Dame is now in position where it can simply look to reload at running back.
There is a lot of talent returning at the position, but that doesn't mean there also aren't big questions that will need to be answered during the spring.
PROJECTED SPRING DEPTH CHART
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Jeremiyah Love - 71 att., 385 yards, 5.4 YPC, 1 TD / 8 catches, 77 yards, 1 TD
Jadarian Price - 47 att., 272 yards, 5.8 YPC, 3 TD / 5 catches, 65 yards, 1 TD
Gi'Bran Payne - 45 att., 168 yards, 3.7 YPC, 2 TD / 9 catches, 58 yards, 2 TD
Estime will be hard to replace after rushing for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns a season ago. The good news is Notre Dame's talented group of young backs got plenty of experience in 2023. Notre Dame's returning backs combined for 185 touches (carries + catches), 1,025 total yards (rushing + receiving) and 10 total touchdowns.
TWO HEADED MONSTER
Notre Dame likely won't try and replace Estime with just one player, and we got a glimpse of that in the bowl win over Oregon State. Then freshman Jeremiyah Love started the game, but sophomore Jadarian Price quickly got onto the field as well, and classmate Gi'Bran was a key figure as well.
Love rushed for 39 yards and caught a 13-yard touchdown pass, while Price led the offense with 106 rushing yards and added another score. The two backs combined for 158 total yards and two scores in the blowout Irish victory. Expect more of the same in 2024, as Love and Price are both extremely talented backs that are capable of doing special things.
Love is an explosive athlete that can impact the game in a lot of ways. He's a home run threat that showed impressive toughness as a between-the-tackles runner as a rookie. As he fills out and adds more strength his ability to thrive on inside zone and duo runs will be increased, but his home run speed makes him dangerous ripping through holes and as a perimeter runner.
Love is also a unique athlete that has pass catching skills and route running ability that you don't often find at running back. Using him only as a runner in 2023 was a missed opportunity, and that should change in 2024. Doing so would also create opportunities for the Irish staff to get two backs on the field at the same time in certain situations.
Price is also an explosive athlete, but his game is a bit different than Love's. Price is a home run threat every time he touches the ball, something he put on display the moment he arrived at Notre Dame. He is more of a one-cut runner that gets through the line in a hurry, and he's a well-built back that can run with more authority than you'd expect from a back that was barely over 200 pounds last fall.
Price can certainly do damage on the perimeter, but he's at his best running downhill on zones, counters and duo runs.
Both Love and Price have to learn to be a bit more patient as runners, but with more action that feel for the offense should come quickly. There is a lot that McCullough and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock can do with this pair, and the spring should give us a little bit of a glimpse into how the offense will look in the post-Estime era.
FIGHTING FOR A ROLE
While Love and Price are expected to be a dynamic 1A/1B pair, the backfield is very talented behind them. Rising junior Gi'Bran Payne has every down back ability as well, and he was a key third-down and red zone weapon for the offense in 2023.
Payne actually had five of the 11 touchdowns this group returns in 2024. He's a physical player that is a pure between-the-tackles runner. Payne shows good patience, and when he sees the hole he puts his pads down and drives vertically with force, which makes him an effective short-yardage runner.
Payne also showed the potential to be a strong pass blocker, and he's capable of doing good work on check downs and quick routes out of the backfield, which we saw in his impressive touchdown catch against USC. He'll need to be more consistent in protection, but if he can don't be surprised if Payne once again establishes himself as the team's third-down back to go with some short-yardage duties.
FRESHMAN COMPETITION
Notre Dame's backfield would be outstanding if it was just the returners, but the arrival of Kedren Young and Aneyas Williams gives the Irish staff ludicrous depth at the position. If there came a time this upcoming season where this duo had to be the 1A/1B at running back the Irish offense would be just fine.
Being early enrollees is important for both Young and Williams. They'll have a lot of catching up to do from a knowledge of the offense and technical standpoint in order to push the older players. The spring will be about them getting this mental part of the game down, and once they do they'll get a chance to push.
Young is the biggest back on the roster, already checking in at 217 pounds, and he'll likely be over 220 pounds by the fall. He shows impressive power as a runner, but that's not what made him a Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. Young has exceptional balance and agility, and his vision as a runner is top notch. Young is one of the best pure runners that Notre Dame has signed in years.
Williams is one of the best dual-threat backs that Notre Dame has signed in recent seasons. He rushed for over 4,000 yards and had over 3,000 yards receiving during his prep career. I'm curious to see if Williams can take to pass blocking as a rookie. If he can I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a factor on third-down.
This duo gives the Irish tremendous depth, but the veterans will need to stay locked in all spring, otherwise both Young and Williams could have a chance to make a hard charge up the depth chart.
BIGGEST SPRING QUESTIONS
Here are my biggest questions at running back heading into the spring:
1. Will Love and Price take the needed jump - While Love and Price are extremely talented backs, both need to make big improvements if they are going to be the impact players I believe they can be. Love needs to improve technically and has to be more patient as a runner. Price has to show better timing hitting holes after missing the 2022 season and working back into form last fall.
Both need to be more efficient with their footwork as well.
The tools are there for them to be an elite duo, but they do need to put in the work and do more to focus on the finer points of playing the running back position.
2. Can the backs handle a bigger workload - Love and Price combined for 29 touches in the Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State, with Love carrying the ball 15 times (plus a catch) and Price carrying it 13 times. That's the kind of workload I expect to see regularly, but while I think they are capable of handling that workload, they need to prove they can handle it on a consistent basis.
While we won't completely learn that until the fall, being able to handle the spring workload and remaining healthy will be the first big test for both backs.
3. Will we see more pass game options for the backs - Love, Price, Payne and Williams all have very good pass catching skills. They go about doing damage as pass catchers in different ways, and the Irish staff needs to find a way to get the backs more involved in the pass game. Does the staff agree? Will they in fact find more ways to get the backs involved in the pass game? Will they find ways to get more than one back on the field together? I don't know, but if they are we'll get a taste of that this spring.
4. How does the rest of the backfield shake out - It would be a bit surprising if Love and Price aren't the top two backs, assuming they stay healthy. What happens behind them is a much bigger question, and it will be one of the more interesting battles to watch this spring.
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