Notre Dame heads into the bye week at 7-0 and ranked #4 in the country in both polls. The Irish have already achieved a start to the season that few thought possible, but now bigger things are in their sights. The Irish have a great chance to win out and make the playoffs for the first time. To do that, however, Notre Dame will need to continue to improve and build upon their strong start. Six players in particular can help fuel a run to the playoffs over the second half of the year.
This list by the way is meant to identify players who can improve to make a difference for the Irish so someone like Ian Book isn’t listed since that is pretty obvious.
Chase Claypool
Miles Boykin has had a nice three week stretch 348 yards on 23 receptions for four touchdowns. He’s clearly defined himself as Notre Dame’s top wide receiver. What the Irish now need is a clear #2 threat. Chase Claypool can be that receiver and we are seeing some signs of that happening. He got off to a slow start, but he now has scored a touchdown in three of the last four games – all Ian Book starts. Last week against Pitt he had a season high 61 yards. A modest total, but it was encouraging to see his usage increase as Ian Book gets more snaps.
In the pre-season, I thought Claypool had the chance to have a breakout year and end up leading Notre Dame in receiving yards. It seems pretty clear that will not happen – he is currently 3rd behind Boykin and Chris Finke. If Claypool and Book can build on the connection they had on the slant route against Pitt though, Claypool could help this offense take another step forward over the final five games of the year.
Tommy Kraemer
The Notre Dame offensive line has had its ups and downs this year. Saturday was one of the downs. Pitt decided to take away the run from Notre Dame and they did just that. Part of that was Pitt committing extra defenders in the box, but part of it was some missed and blown assignments from the Irish offensive line. Junior Tommy Kraemer specifically had a rough game and he’s had a rough season to date. He’s been banged up a bit at times, but also came out earlier in the year for non-injury reasons.
Kraemer has a lot of talent and has the size to be a monster at guard for the Irish, but has struggled to date. Last year he was unable to hold off then freshman Robert Hainsey at right tackle and ended up splitting time with him. This year he moved to right guard and hasn’t quite found his stride yet. If he can find it over the last five games, the Notre Dame offensive line has a chance to be very good. As is, the line is still a work in progress.
Aaron Banks
When Notre Dame lost Alex Bars for the season against Stanford the short term solution was easy – plug in Trevor Ruhland who had already been playing some for Tommy Kraemer. Long term though, Ruhland is more natural center as a smaller, quicker lineman. He is not exactly a natural guard – especially against teams with strong defensive lines. That is why Notre Dame has been inserting sophomore Aaron Banks into the mix as well.
Looking down the road a bit, if Notre Dame does indeed make the playoffs, they are going to need Banks to develop a lot over these next five games and be ready for even more playing time. Should Notre Dame face a defensive front from the likes Alabama, Clemson, or Ohio State; they are going to need Banks’s size. Remember what happened when Notre Dame went into the National Title game with some undersized linemen like Mike Golic Jr? It wasn’t pretty.
Of all the players on the Notre Dame roster, Banks’s development over the last five games of the year is probably the most pivotal should the Irish reach the playoffs.
Jafar Armstrong
Coming off a knee injury after the bye, it will be interesting to see how much he gets used right away, but it is clear Notre Dame could use Jafar Armstrong. With Tony Jones Jr still hobbled by his balky ankle, Armstrong will immediately be thrown back in the mix with Dexter Williams. Armstrong was just starting to get comfortable as a running back before his injury so hopefully he will be able to just pick right back up where he left off.
Through four games Armstrong ran for 245 yards on 47 carries (5.2 ypc average) with five touchdowns. Getting his production back in the backfield will be a boost to a Notre Dame running game that struggled to get anything going against Pitt. Armstrong can also have a positive impact on the passing game over the final five games. Williams isn’t a huge receiving threat and with Jones banged up, he hasn’t been involved in the passing game. Armstrong, the former receiver, will help there as well.
Jonathan Bonner
If you don’t recall hearing Jonathan Bonner’s name much this year, you are not alone. It’s been a quiet start to the season for Notre Dame’s starting nose tackle. Bonner has just 12 tackles through seven games with none coming for a loss and just one quarterback hurry. Part of that comes with the territory of being a nose tackle in this defense, but Notre Dame could use more production out of the position. Some of Bonner’s snaps have been going to sophomore Kurt Hinish though he Pittsburgh native himself has just seven tackles on the season.
In reality, Notre Dame is not going to get huge production out of Bonner or Hinish this year and they really don’t need to. With Jerry Tillery racking up sacks and the Notre Dame pass rush coming in waves, they need Bonner and Hinish to primarily be space eaters this year. They are doing that fine for now, but if Notre Dame wants to get to the playoffs and maybe make some noise, they will need some more production out of this position.
Alize Mack
Another player who can help move the Notre Dame offense forward even more is Alize Mack. We all know Chip Long loved utilizing the tight end in previous coaching stops, but it has not become a weapon for the Irish. At least not in the fashion that we all became accustomed to when Notre Dame was busy producing high draft pick after high draft pick at the position.
Alize Mack came to Notre Dame as the #1 tight end in his class and reportedly has impressed every spring and summer to the point that Brian Kelly raved about him being uncoverable last spring. Being uncoverable in practice, however, has produced just two career touchdowns – one of which came in garbage time last year in Miami.
Mack has, however, shown positive signs of improvement since Ian Book has taken over the quarterback position. He’s hauled in six catches in three of the four games that Book started after catching just six passes in the three games Brandon Wimbush started in total. What has been missing though is yards after the catch. Mack and Book have not developed a strong chemistry yet where Book has been able to get Mack the ball in the open field where Mack can make some noise after the catch. Last week Mack caught six passes but averaged just 5.2 yards per reception with a long of 9 yards.
If Mack and Book can continue to build on what they’ve started here, Notre Dame could have another weapon in the passing game which in turn will help open things up for the Irish ground game that stalled this past weekend.
I love the whole lot of these guys! All 85 of them. The greatest gift they could give the ND community is to go 12-0 and slap the NCAA Committee on Revisions RIGHT IN THEIR FACES!!! I’m still predicting 11-1, as I have since August, but if the team reaches its own goal, always 12-0, I think BK and Father Jenkins should have a special dinner for that well needed, long overdue public response to that bunch…and Golic should be the MC.
That will be my last post until we lose a game, if ever. My job here is done.
BGC ’77 ’82
Hip, hip, hooray for Bruce Gregory Curme the Greatest peacemaker this site has ever had. Whenever a fight would break out there would be BGC to make light of the matter, diffuse it. After all we’re Fighting Irish fans and are never at peace with ourselves unless in the middle of a fight. And your makes sense commentary will be sorely missed. I’ll hoist up the remaining WINS for you and you can make an unexpected encore for lucky thirteen. We will miss you Bruce, but, We know you will be watching the Irish March to Victory.
AND A GREAT JOB ALL YEAR B G C !! BEST OF HEALTH MY FRIEND!!! GO IRISH!!!
Frank is commenting that Claypool can certainly provide more production on offense and having him stated here is definitely a good call. Claypool has been underutilized by an inaccurate Wimbush and a questionable play calling Chip Long. I still think Claypool has the best talent level of all our receivers but his strengths haven’t exactly been used which is his speed and big body to go get a ball in the air. How many fades have been thrown to Claypool? How many short slants where he uses his body to shield off the DB? Last week we saw slants finally being called for him and he scored on one and damn near scored on the other if there wasn’t a TD saving trip up tackle from behind. This guy has all the tools Boykin does, we just haven’t called his number as often as I’d like to see.
And honestly, if I’m Kelly, I bench flip-flop Mack and Kmet right now going into the 2nd half. Let’s be honest. Mack is not good. He has less than average hands, he doesn’t separate well from defenders on his routes, he gets tackled by the first guy every time (maybe due to no separation), and has scored 2, yes, 2 TDs in his entire ND career. One as Frank pointed out in garbage time at Miami and another due to one of the worst broken coverages (although I’ll give Long credit on a great play call) I’ve seen. I mean any one of us could have scored on that play. This is all PROVEN in three years of Mack playing but we all know how Kelly seems to be loyal to his upperclassmen. I disagree and would rather see an upcoming Kmet who I think is our next great TE. With that being said, I would have put Kmet on this list.
I’m not sure how to define “production” on the part of a nose tackle, beyond eating up space. Bonner seems to be doing a great job of that.
More then the players, the coaching staff needs to stick with plays, players, and trying crap that isn’t working. Part of every game this year has been things that they pull someone that’s hot or doing something cute. Stop that… If it works keep doing it till it doesn’t. Offense line is going to kill us if they don’t protect Book. They are the binder that protects the pages. And for the love of God stop holding back talented freshman. Are we the only ones that do that?. Go IRISH
I disagree with the Claypool, Bonner and Mack picks. Claypool is already a legimate #2 receiver as is. Bonner’s job is to eat up space, not to rush the passer and Mack is just fine (as are all the TE’s). I would have included some of the young DB’s like Griffith and Bracy along with Bilal and Simon from the LB corp.
Agree. I expected to see those names, not underperforming starters. So, I would say the list just got longer than six.
Claypool is not clearly the #2 receiver, if he was he’d at least have more receptions than Finke. He is physically capable of being #2 but he needs to be more of a presence in the passing game.
And I wholeheartedly agree with Frank about Mack. A big, physical TE he is not. Constantly tackled single handedly by smaller defensive backs is frustrating to watch. I will say he is better at catching the ball, he hasn’t dropped as many easy catches this year.
Claypool has 261 yards in 7 games this year. That is not an established #2 receiver. He’s got the talent to provide the Irish offense a lot more. If he starts to, the offense takes a step towards the next level.
Same with Mack. In 7 games he has 240 yards and 1 total TD this year. They need a lot more out of the TE position if they want to be a legit playoff team.
Last year when Tillery and Bonner were flip flopped, Tillery had a much larger impact on the defense than what ND is getting out of Bonner now.
None of them are bad. If Notre Dame wants to be a legit playoff team though (ie one that actually does something once there not like MSU three years ago), then they need these starters to produce more.
Your right FRANK , CLAYPOOL has been a major disappointment at WR I expected ALOT more from him this year!! Although his special teams play has been exceptional!! MACK still hasn’t come close to living up to his expectations , and in some ways a big disappointment!! FRANK whats your opinion of lining up ARMSTRONG in the slot? I know Finke has played well at times but I like the idea of getting ARMSTRONGS speed and shiftiness into the slot? IM not abandoning the idea of ARMSTRONG as a RB but just once in a while.
I agree on these guys need to step it up some..be
honest think they all do..but tailback sometimes
need 3 4 yrd gains 20 to 25 carries pick up some
tuff yrds when needed..dont think any guys on roster
can do that n that can be problematic down the
stretch specially with the line not seeming to get enough
push late in tight games..got to pick up 3rd n 2 in 4th qtr
n not seeing it happening..not sure enough time in the
day to get that done..oline has played well but not consistant
and almost cost me Irish agianst Pitt..go irish n finish tuff n strong..!