Zeke Correll's Breakout Spring Performance Creates Options For Notre Dame
For the second offseason in a row, there is a possibility that Notre Dame veteran center Jarrett Patterson could end up moving out of the middle of the line, but this time it's for completely different reasons.
A year ago there was talk that Notre Dame was considering moving Patterson out to tackle due to so many questions existing on the outside. Heading into the 2022 season the reasons for possibly moving Patterson aren't about concerns, but rather are about the excellent spring that Zeke Correll had while Patterson was out.
You'll remember that Correll replaced Patterson for a pair of games in 2020 when the veteran was injured. Correll performed well in a road victory over North Carolina and again started in the Rose Bowl against Alabama.
Correll moved to guard in 2021, starting the first six games of the season. The Cincinnati native never looked comfortable at guard, struggling in his starts and not looking like the player who flashed as a center the year prior.
Patterson missed the spring with a pectoral injury, which resulted in Correll moving back to center, and the move got the talented interior blocker back on track. Correll was a spring standout, both in practices and in the spring game. Correll has taken well to the coaching of Harry Hiestand, and his emergence gives Notre Dame options.
Rising sophomores Joe Alt and Blake Fisher are entrenched as starters at tackle, so the edge is taken care of. With Patterson set to return at center the Irish seemed steady up the middle as well, but the guard position was a bigger question mark.
According to sources, Correll played like a starter during the spring, and it has shaken things up. If he is clearly one of the best five blockers it puts Notre Dame in a situation where it must make one of two tough decisions. One is to move Correll away from center, where he has played the best during his Notre Dame career and move him to guard, where he struggled.
The other decision is to leave Correll at center and move Patterson. While it might seem like an easy decision to some, moving a player going into his fourth season as a starter at a position, and a position as important as center, is not an easy call.
For Notre Dame it's about figuring out which group of five players is the best, and where to play them all. Our sources indicate that Notre Dame is leaning towards moving Patterson to guard, which would open up Correll emerging as a starter at the position where he has performed the best during his career.
If Patterson is comfortable in that role - and I have no doubt he'll be every bit as good at guard as he has been at center - then it could make the line even more formidable. Correll, when he is on, has been really good at Notre Dame. If he can stay healthy, continue to develop and reach his potential he has a chance to not only lock in a starting role, but to become a standout.
The question now is will Patterson move to left guard or right guard. That will then open up a battle at the other guard spot between a pair of players who started a lot of games last season, Joshua Lugg and Andrew Kristofic. Expect talented sophomore Rocco Spindler to be part of that battle as well.
Correll breaking out this spring has created some questions in some areas, but it has created even more certainty with the line in others. All in all, his emergence puts Notre Dame one step closer to figuring out exactly what its 2022 line will look like.
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