Notre Dame Offense Has Several Key Questions Heading Into Spring Practice
Notre Dame kicks off its 2024 spring practice slate this week, and a lot of attention will be on the new look offense. The Fighting Irish have a new offensive coordinator (Mike Denbrock), a new wide receivers coach (Mike Brown), a new quarterback (Riley Leonard) and there are some big time shoes to fill with the departures of Joe Alt, Audric Estime, Blake Fisher and four wide receivers.
The spring will give us a first glance look at the offense, a unit that has a lot of questions that it must answer. Denbrock is coming off a season in which he led the nation's highest scoring offense, which was led by Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels. Can Denbrock work his magic with the Notre Dame offense, which hasn't had a championship caliber offense in quite some time.
Here are the biggest questions I have about the offense heading into the spring, and how well these questions get addressed will go a long way towards telling us how good this unit can be.
1. What Will Mike Denbrock's Notre Dame Offense Look Like - Denbrock certainly has a philosophy he believes in, but throughout his career he has shown an ability and willingness to adapt certain aspects of that philosophy to the personnel he has. He'll look at his team's strengths, areas where they aren't as good, and then mold the offense together.
I know what Denbrock liked to do at LSU, but how does he view the current Notre Dame roster? We will start to learn the answer to that this spring, and how he shapes the offense will fit around that answer. This isn't a question about good or bad, it's about knowledge. It's about learning how Denbrock plans to adapt his philosophy to fit his view of the personnel at Notre Dame.
So how will he build around Leonard, and the wide receiver corps at Notre Dame, what does he feel about the running back room, how much confidence does he have in the line? We'll start to get a glimpse to all of this beginning this spring.
2. How Will Riley Leonard Adjust To The Irish Offense - One common theme throughout Denbrock's tenure as a play-caller has been success with dual-threat quarterbacks, and Leonard has the tools to be one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation. Denbrock will certainly tailor the offense to fit Leonard's skills, but how will Leonard handle the transition into the Notre Dame offense? For Jack Coan the adjustment was clean, but it wasn't as smooth for Sam Hartman. Now we get to see if Leonard's adjustment is enough for him to lead a championship caliber unit.
I have zero doubt that Leonard will be a playmaker in this offense, because the ability to make plays with your legs is the easiest thing to transition. Considering how much success Denbrock has had with mobile quarterbacks like Daniels, Desmond Ridder, DeShone Kizer, Malik Zaire and Everett Golson, there should be no doubt among Irish faithful that his ability to do damage as a scrambler and as a runner will continue.
Whether or not Leonard can be one of the nation's top quarterbacks, and whether or not he can lead Notre Dame to greater heights, will be how well he adjust in the pass game. Notre Dame is certainly going to focus on enhancing his technical consistency. Leonard has a lot of arm talent, but he'll be learning new scheme concepts, new read concepts and a brand new group of personnel around him. How quickly he picks these things up and masters them will largely determine how well he adjusts to this offense.
3. Can Notre Dame Handle The Loss of Joe Alt and Blake Fisher - Watching Joe Alt dominate at the NFL Scouting Combine was enjoyable, but also a bit nerve wracking when you think about the 2024 Irish football team. Blake Fisher never quite lived up to his lofty expectations, but he was still a quality player and had loads of experience. Notre Dame will need to find a way to replace both players and ensure that the Irish tackle position remains a strength.
The good news is that while the players stepping in don't have the experience that Alt and Fisher would have brought, there is still plenty of size and talent. The question, however, is whether or not that talent can emerge and provide the consistency needed to thrive on the edge.
Rising sophomore Charles Jagusah is a former five-star recruit that played well in the Sun Bowl, which was his first career start. Can Jagusah build on that success and become a sophomore sensation? Can Tosh Baker lock down the tackle job, or will talented younger blockers like Aamil Wagner and Sullivan Absher challenge him? There are loads of questions at tackle heading into the spring, but it's exciting to think about the talent, and the potential for the Irish to reload at tackle and not have to rebuild.
4. Will The Wide Receiving Corps Step Up - I have a surprising level of confidence that the wide receiver unit will be good for Notre Dame in 2024, but I've had that feeling in the past and the unit didn't perform up to its potential, or the standard needed for Notre Dame to have a pass game that threatened good defenses.
So will that change with the 2024 unit? I think it will, but this group is without question in "show me" mode.
Senior Jayden Thomas was expected to be "the guy" at wide receiver a year ago, but injuries once again derailed his season. Can he stay healthy, and can he become a difference maker? Can he stay healthy and at least be a steady, clutch presence at wide receiver? Notre Dame needs him to at least be one of those two players, but staying healthy is key. Classmate Deion Colzie has loads of potential, but will he be able to be this year's Miles Boykin breakout player, or will he always be known as the "what could have been" guy?
The answers to those questions are very, very important.
Sophomore Jaden Greathouse started his rookie season off with a bang, and classmate Jordan Faison finished his rookie season with a bang. Can that duo build on their freshman campaigns, or will they go through a sophomore slump? With Faison playing lacrosse we might not get as much of that answer this fall, but Greathouse should have plenty of opportunities to become a major weapon in this offense. Fellow sophomore KK Smith is finally healthy, so will he be able to become a factor in year two?
Then there are the transfers. Kris Mitchell was outstanding last season, racking up 64 catches, 1,118 yards and 6 touchdowns at Florida International. That included 6 catches for 157 yards on the road against Arkansas. How will he transition to this level after dominating Conference USA?
The same is true for Jayden Harrison, who was a first-team All-American kick returner for Marshall last season. Harrison also caught 28 passes for 410 yards in the slot. He's an explosive athlete, but does his big play ability translate to offense, or will he be primarily return game threat? Considering the cornerbacks they'll have to face, we'll learn very early if Mitchell and Harrison have what it takes to thrive at this level.
If that wasn't enough, freshman Cam Williams shows up as arguably the most physically gifted player on the roster. He has the kind of size (6-2) and speed to be an immediate factor. Micah Gilbert is also showing up early, and he's another talented player that helps make this is the deepest and most talented Irish receiving corps in quite some time.
There is so much talent in this group, but how will this group come together? Who steps up as "the guy", or maybe "the guys" out of this group? Will the outside position provide more production after two down seasons? Will this group be able to win more at the line, and become more big plays weapons? Talent is good, but production is the key, and this group has to prove it can consistently produce in a Notre Dame uniform.
5. Who Separates At Running Back - It's hard to imagine losing a player as good and productive as Audric Estime and still feeling great about the running back depth chart, but that's where Notre Dame is. The Irish have six talented scholarship running backs on the roster this spring, and that group is going to battle to replace Estime, and each player is going to fight for his place in the depth chart.
So who separates?
Will it be one back emerging as "the guy" at running back, like Estime did in 2023, or will we see more of a two-man rotation like we saw with Estime and Logan Diggs in 2022. What about a third player forcing his way into the rotation? Those are all questions that must be answered this spring.
If I had to lodge a prediction, it would be that sophomore Jeremiyah Love and junior Jadarian Price are the separators and form a really dynamic, explosive and fun to watch one-two punch, with the rest of the backfield fighting for roles in situational packages. If those two players play as well as I think they will this position group will remain a strength.
6. Does A Youth Movement Happen - Notre Dame has some talented veteran players, but I'm of the belief that if this unit is going to reach its full potential it will need a youth movement. That's the 2022-24 classes making a big impact. That's Jagusah, Billy Schrauth and Ashton Craig emerging as standouts up front .... at the very least. It's about Love and Price being the dynamic forces at running back we know they can be. It's about the young wideouts like Greathouse, Faison, Smith, Williams and Gilbert pushing the veterans and forcing their way onto the field. It's about Eli Raridon and Cooper Flanagan holding things down at tight end until Mitchell Evans returns.
Notre Dame needs a youth movement on offense, and we are going to see this spring if that's going to happen.
7. What Leaders Will Emerge - Talent will only take this unit so far. Notre Dame also needs to build a championship culture on offense, and that requires leadership to emerge and show the way forward. But who will that be? Can Leonard quickly establish himself as a leader? Is Thomas ready to take on that kind of role at wide receiver? How about the line? We need to see leaders emerge this spring.
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