Notre Dame 2024 Football Season: Expectations & Insights with Kyle Kelly

we're talking Notre Dame football on the Arad football network the Arad football YouTube channel and when we talk Notre Dame football we're gonna bring in this man Kyle Kelly who is with the Onre Network matter of fact you can check it out at at on three recruits on X uh the football recruiting reporter for the iris how's it going Kyle going good as always I'm pumped to do this this is the uh third year in a row I've been on with you before the season so it's always good to uh talk a little bit about the Notre Dame uh Fighting Irish jog my memory a little bit before the season starts and hopefully give some viewers uh some insight into uh this year's roster yeah because there are some things that uh quite interesting regarding the depth chart that I I want to pick your brain and find out just before this big Texas A&M game uh kicks off the with the season and definitely one of the top three to five games of the weekend no question about it so it's going to be a huge game and and really schedule Wise Wise Kyle it's not really that bad a schedule for Notre Dame it's pretty manageable once you get past Texas A&M and that's how big this game is uh boy if they can beat Texas A&M that schedule is looking awfully nice and I'd have a hard time believing that they would not end up making the 12 team playoff uh they could still win it they still do it even if they lose to Texas A&M but I I I just think it's that much more easy even if they lose one game that they'd get in because they won on the road against an SEC team yeah an 11 and one Notre Dame team this year especially with a win at Texas A&M is absolutely a slam dunk college football playoff team probably a team that's also GNA host a uh college football playoff home game and one thing important to note about Notre Dame is unlike um the top four seated or I think maybe five Conference champions you know they're not guaranteed a byee or anything like that so the highest Notre Dame can be ranked is number five in the nation so um the great thing about Notre Dame though is they don't have to play a conference Championship game so they have an extra week to um rest up compared to some of the other schools like those top SEC and Big 10 programs honestly all the power four conferences you know obviously they're going to have an extra game on their slate um and that I think is just a an advantage for Notre Dame it's why the former athletic director Jack schwarber kind of help orchestrated the uh playoff this way you know obviously Notre Dame doesn't um you know get guaranteed home field advantage and everything like that they gota win you know win for it but um yeah it sets up nicely for Notre Dame especially this season uh as you mentioned the schedule is very manageable especially after how Florida State looked in week zero over in Ireland um that that was shaping up to be Notre Dame's second toughest game and their their most difficult home matchup but now I think there's uh you know some people may be feeling a little bit better about that seminal team that's going to be coming to South Bend in November um yeah but yeah it's uh it's looking like uh Notre Dame's really got to go 11 and one this year to to crash the party and you know two losses could really make this season uh a little bit dicey if they want to keep things uh intact and have a chance to compete for a championship before we get into the depth chart uh there has been uh one uh significant change on the staff so Notre Dame has themselves a new offensive coordinator talk a little bit about uh Mike Den Brock what he brings to the table from uh Brian Kelly staff yeah this is a guy that uh coming to South Bend for I I like to call it his third tour at Notre Dame he was there back in the early 2000s I think again in the the mid to late 2000s um and he you kind of bounc around a little bit after his last Notre Dame tenure ended up at uh Cincinnati as the offensive coordinator that's where he cross pass with Marcus Freeman when Freeman was the defensive coordinator with the Bearcats then when Brian Kelly went to LSU he ended up picking up Den Brock to run the offense and in year two um everyone knows jayen Daniels Heisman Trophy winner LSU top offense in college football I mean their yards per game and points per game were like signicantly better than uh who whoever the like second best team was like that that LSU offense was fantastic last season and now uh you know Notre Dame loses her offensive coordinator from last year and Jared Parker who uh took the head coaching gig at uh Troy just before the end of the uh well after the regular season right before the Bull game and right away Freeman zeroed in on the guy that he wanted and that was Den Brock and den Brock's kind of called this his last stop you know he's not a young CH spring chicken or whatever you want to call it anymore you know he's he's a veteran in this industry and he's a guy that has a lot of passion for Notre Dame his family loves Notre Dame he's from Michigan so I think he feels pretty comfortable about um where he's at to to potentially finish his college football career and ultimately kind of reinvigorate this Notre Dame offense I think over the last two seasons under Marcus Freeman you know both years have been uh pretty mediocre offensively um so they yeah they're really looking for some new life some new energy they got a lot of new players in order to do that and uh yeah hopefully um you know the future of the Notre Dame offense is going to look a lot better than years's past yeah we'll start uh with the Rad's Notre Dame depth chart and uh if you see any corrections please let us know we'll get right to updating them but starting on offense and and and to tell you the truth I am gonna go straight to the offensive line because that seems to be the big story uh with the fact that just looking at the step chart if it's correct it says that there are no upper classmen on the on the offensive line for the Irish is that is that accurate yeah it is um I'm looking through things there I mean Billy shra Ashton Craig and Emil Wagner the starting center to right tackle I mean all those guys are true Juniors yeah but um yeah I mean the the big storyline entering Texas S&M is only six combined starts and the big sat that uh are um beat reporters at blue and gold oncover this week because I'm pretty sure like Notre Dame only has like starters um listed in their media guide or they it's really only readily available back until like 1987 so we're talking about 40 years and within those 40 years Notre Dame has never started the season without a uh senior on their offensive line so definitely a very young offensive line here in year three under Marcus Freeman uh Joe wall and Blake fiser both going to the NFL have a lot to do with that and then um you know pretty much from there all the young guys just emerged uh they had two guards last season Roco Spindler and uh Pat kugan who started on the interior of that old line but uh they got beat out um Billy stra dating back to last year once uh Roco Spindler got injured shal kind of took over for him and then uh Sam Pendleton the uh sophomore true sophomore red shirt freshman um beat out I mean technically Spindler and cougan they were all battling for that left guard position with shal kind of winning it um coming out of last season he had that position cemented pretty easily uh pretty comfortably entering Spring ball in the season this year so it was really a well honestly it was like a two-man competition at left guard between um you know Rocko and Pat hugan and then Sam Pendleton really emerged this summer and then the other um storyline there in terms of the Youth of the offensive line uh the starting right tackle Emil Wagner uh true Jun Junior rard sophomore he beat out um fifth or sixth year guy graduate student uh Tosh Baker and when Charles jog you saw the starting left tackle went down um towards the beginning of fall Camp they slotted Tosh Baker then on the left side but then only took a handful of days for Anthony nap the true freshman to beat him out so wow that's a that's a really really long way and uh probably much more detailed than necessary but uh probably a good way to break down how they got there and you know where they're at heading into college station in week one so that's even big too that Notre Dame is gonna be starting a true freshman at left tackle uh at College Station on opening day that mad house throw in the fact that correct before I'm wrong but Lambert was a higher recruit than nap is that is that correct yeah no that is um I so like we kind of knew the Notre Dame you know offensive line there would be some spots to fill um this season and I kind of projected like gerby Lambert is one of those guys that could come crash a party and um on three our scouting and rankings team considered him a five star so and he's a really good football player but uh he he enrolled in June it was evident pretty early that he just wasn't as up to speed as Anthony nap which is no surprise since nap um en rolling in the spring but I mean the fascinating thing about nap is you know he's like 6 foot4 315 pounds you don't really or supposedly around 315 I think he's listed on the roster a little bit like L but um you know nap's not really your prototypical left tackle but he was the one that really emerged and you know he was a consensus I think low fourstar high three star I don't have it right in front of me a lot of the the industry did not rank um Anthony nap as high as what we did at on3 on3 is a top 100 Prospect and a fourstar recruit Swan 3 really liked him but the the consensus in the industry here was not on high as high on nap but um all the reviews coming out of spring camp or sorry uh preseason camp are extremely encouraging he's locked down that left side of the line I mean pretty much beat out a a graduate guy yeah in a few practices so yeah even though Lambert was a highly rated guy a guy that I thought um would probably get get a knot at some point this season and he very well still could be sure it's really been nap as the one to emerge okay then uh two more things in the offensive line before we go where's the biggest concern you do you think they have with the line just because we haven't seen Anthony nap like play against College competition like you know he's playing Spring ball in practice and everything like that but even in Spring ball he was working at Center a lot so he didn't really transition full to a full-time left tackle until this preseason so I think the biggest concern is on that left side where they're going to have two firsttime starters both guys that are are super young too um it there's a real debate that I think offensive line is the um weakest part on this team and uh that that is entering this year and a lot of is just because of the inexperience so that's uh one one position group and the side of the ball I'm going to be uh or side of the offensive line that I'm going to be watching closest College Station is that left side with uh two guys that have you know hardly have any college football snaps let starts freshman and red shirt wow it Notre a uh okay so then give me I mean would Napp be it or Lambert give me the one guy that you believe or a couple of them that you believe have have the biggest uh upside overall on the line the biggest upside um Emil Wagner and gerby Lambert are probably the two that I I'm thinking I mean both those guys were five-star guys you know Wagner has really had a lot of trouble keeping on weight which kind of held him out from playing uh you know at Notre Dame he was a former High School wide receiver uh early on his high school career before he made the swits offensive line so uh now he's really going to be able to to put some film out there for the NFL eval evaluators to see how he holds up he's a great athlete he was like a three- sport guy in high school he was a phenomenal track and field athlete now he's going to get his chance to play and kind of work him into the conversation to be an NFL draft choice obviously G gerby Lambert just got there so um you know it's any all potential with him you know we really haven't seen a whole lot but the honestly the guy that is probably got the highest ceiling and has the chance to go the furthest is Charles jagus saww who is unfortunately out for the year with a torn pectoral injury and required surgery and you know we won't be seeing him till next season but he's a guy that was already on the radar of NFL teams another former five-star recruit uh so it's gonna be it's even going to be more fascinating next season what happens especially if Anthony knap plays plays well at left tackle and I mean because all these guys are relatively young guys I mean there's a chance we could be seeing the same starting offensive line coming out of this season going into next and uh jagas saww what happened what was the injury uh pectoral injury okay all right now let's take a look at the rest of the offense and Riley Leonard of course he's playing quarterback at in order to aim big position and couple of uh AC quarterbacks over the last couple of years transfers Hartman didn't really go as planned now it's Riley Leonard's uh opportunity of course Leonard brings a little bit more in the ground game a little bit more uh type of well-rounded quarterback in that respect uh definitely uh you know one of those college quarterbacks that you know whether or not you want to call him a winner whatever you want to call him the kid just uh really elevates uh his team and has done that at Duke but now it's Notre Dame so Duke let me see what I could do to elevate these guys but now he's at Notre Dame where there's a lot of big guys uh how's he fitting in fitting in great I mean the uh the reviews have been phenomenal in terms of like the the leader and the personality and presence he gives in the locker room I mean all all these guys love Riley Leonard like when we've met with players um during our media availability I mean no one's going to have anything bad to say about the quarterback but you can tell like they J genuinely mean it like when they talk about Riley Leonard like he's just one of those guys that fits in well he was a a great addition and not only to what he brings on the field at Notre Dame but also just a cultural fit of Notre Dame I think Sam Hartman had some similar similar qualities but I think it just comes more natural to Riley I think right from the start when he got to South Ben uh he just jelled with those guys right away I mean it was uh pretty much a foregone conclusion once he entered the portal that he was going to end up inre Dame and uh you know he he's a Christian guy you know really you know leans into that aspect and you know also loves like the history and tradition part of Notre Dame so he he's been a great fit uh for what Notre Dames needed on and off the field and now the big thing now is just it's obviously already paid off off the field but I think we need to see it um on the okay and then now I see that they only have angelli as the backup so is is that the case is H if anything were to happen to either one of those guys does that mean they'd be in in in a lot of trouble and tell us a little bit of it about Angelie as the backup no I mean they have uh four scholarship quarterbacks on this roster which Notre Dame really hasn't been able to say in a long time okay and the thing is about these four scholarship quarterbacks are all pretty dang good um they have a very competitive room uh Steph jelly is the backup then behind him is a uh true sophomore red shirt freshman Kenny minie and then true freshman um who they signed out of the 20124 cycle CJ Carr highly recruited guy grandson of Lloyd Carr who had very outstanding spring um also followed that up with the great Camp Notre Dame at behind the scenes is very excited about what the potential of that program is going to look like when CJ Carr gets there and takes it over but yeah this was um pretty much a as soon as they got Riley Leonard you know they tried to dress it up as a quarterback competition but everyone knew that Leonard was GNA get the starting job but Stephen jelly like even though he never got maybe as um realistic of a shot to win that job as he probably should have uh he's still a pretty good quarterback in his own right he made his uh first start last year in the uh Oregon State game um and the Tony the Tiger sunbowl had a great great performance I mean Notre Dame laid laid down the beating on on the Beavers you know Oregon state was going through a transition with new head coach and everything like that so it was a it was a tough opponent for Oregon State at the end of the year but Stephen jelly came in he played extremely well um for for a guy that you know only played mop-up Duty for most of his Notre Dame career and I I think if you ask like most realistic Notre Dame fans like people wouldn't be surprised if Stephen jelly even started a game this year just because Riley lard is like I want to call him I don't think it's fair to see he's injury-prone but he puts himself In Harm's Way a little than he should have he's one of those guys like he's a quarterback but he has like a running back and linebacker mentality like he's going to take the hits he's going to run the football so um it wouldn't be surprised to see riy get banged up throughout the year but even if he does and I think Notre Dame feels confident enough in Stephen jelly that he can win him win them football games and if something crazy would happen where angelli um also was UN unable to play this year I think they're confident enough in what they have behind those guys and mchi and Carr that you know this season wouldn't necessarily go off the rails so right now angelli's the number two but what do you think will happen and again not we have no idea what'll happen this year let's say Riley plays every game next year and jelly comes back with Carr who's the leader to start next year yeah I mean as of right now um angelly minchi and Carr you know will all have the chance to uh compete for that start starting gig I think you it's only fair to put angelli in pull position just because he's a veteran guy um and has made a start at Notre Dame and you know he's really paid his dues but I wouldn't be surprised if he kind of sees the writing on the wall in the off season because CJ Carr is coming along and he's coming along fast and I think next season like you know we could have our first true quarterback competition at Notre Dame in quite some time like this past Year everyone knew it was Riley Leonard the year before everyone knew it was Sam partman and even the year before that they tried to you make it a Drew Pine Tyler Buckner battle but everyone knew that Tommy ree like Tyler Buckner was his guy so it it's been a while and even before that they had Jack con who they brought in as a transfer so I I'm sure I can keep my memory to go further back there but um yeah going into next off season I think it's only fair to give that starting position that they'll pull position Stephen jelly but I think he could have a pretty hard time um pulling off CJ Carr especially if he continues on this upward trajectory okay the back field no more estimate that's a big loss so uh love got some got his feet wet last year price as well uh is love clearly the number one guy I want to say clearly um you know Notre Dame I think lists them on their official depth chart which I'm going to reference here as um or so you know start Jeremiah Love or jarian price but I think coming out of Camp you know love is the lead back is how I would phrase it a GU that's going to play a lot of first and second down and love also wants to try and get in on the third down as well and take a shot in pass protection and also try to catch some passes he might even play out of the slot at times this year he's a really effective pass catcher but he is if there was a guy handful of guys I had to you know mention that had a fantastic off season he would be toward the top of the list he gained I think about 10 15 pounds um still has stayed as fast as he was before if not even faster and he's just he's ready to go I mean it's it's like takeoff time for Jeremiah love like when alud guess was a sophomore was kind of the same way you know he got his feet wet as a freshman and then in uh 20 22 it was sort of go time uh just the one thing is is you who how is that offensive line going to hold up in front of them um at at the start of the year because that the test that they have week one against that Texas A&M defensive line is a very very tall task I I did some deep dives into like you know the type of talent they have on that D line and it's a lot of former five-star guys and a lot of potential NFL draft which is not a uh coincidence that it ends up that way so we might not see Jeremiah Love break off for a big game and he might have some trouble um moving the chains against Texas A&M in week one but I think as a season goes on since this is a young group they're going to only continue to get better and you're just going to see Jeremiah Love continue to ascend I think jarian price is a guy that they still really like he he came in as a freshman had a great spring but Tores Achilles in the fall was out for the season he got back into the fold last year and had some really nice plays so he's a great compliment to Jeremiah love and you know behind that those two it's kind of a drop off so I expect those two guys to get the bulk of the carries and you know they're all they're both going to bring a a different dimension to the Irish offense okay and uh the receiving room is uh definitely in flux but let's talk about Mitchell Evans first uh because we know he's looked at as one of the top tight end prospects in college football and this is Notre Dame and he's a tight end so he's gonna get a there be a lot of Scouts checking out what he could do this season so what what's the how's how's he looking how's he feeling yeah coming off a torn ACL that he suffered in week nine on October 28th against Pittsburgh and from all indication um he's had no setbacks and he's going to be full steam ahead going into college station at week one he's starting to take some contact and practice he's without a brace now I'm a little bit skeptical to see how much runway they give him in week one but from everything they're saying is that he should really have you know no he shouldn't no he shouldn't be held back at all um in in addition to being our recruiting reporter at blue and gold during the off season I kind of get involved in some of the NFL Draft coverage just because I enjoy that sort of thing and uh you know I I've noticed a lot there's like these three tight ends this year um in college football that are like the top three guys I think lovelin from Michigan is one I know Georgia Oscar Delp is a pretty good ball player and then there's Mitchell Evans and um based on some of my research earlier this week I think Evans has a chance to be a day two NFL draft pick now a lot of that's going to depend on how he looks coming off this 20 but Notre Dame's passing offense was borderline inept last season like they struggled and Evans was a big bright spot he was probably the one of the singular reasons they beat Duke and escaped Durham with a victory on the road last season and uh his stretch mid year before he got hurt was was pretty impressive you starting to come along like no drop off to Michael Mayer which I think if you would have told us that before the season we would have been pretty surprised so if you could stay healthy he's a guy that has a chance to win that um I think it's the Macky award is that the one for the tight ends yeah win the Mackie um be a candidate for that and uh yeah another guy that you know once again coming in uh coming down the pipeline from Notre Dame and the great tight ends okay at wide receiver uh there are some transfers coming in and this is good news especially with Chris Mitchell so talk as Mitchell is he the one that really has a chance uh just to be like the main guy just based on what he did last year even though it was at a lower level it's group of five it wasn't you know didn't play the big boys each week but still very productive Collins comes in from Clemson so uh it looks like a a pretty nice room but again it's uh you know you got some young guys you got some transfers yeah they took uh three transfers this offseason the wide receiver position you know they're not they weren't messing around like they knew their dep chart was way too thin last season like the best receiver on that roster last year ended up being a walk-on uh lacrosse player Jordan Faison who really came on towards the end of last season and it was pretty evident coming out of that year that they needed some top guys and guys that could give them depth and Bo Collins and uh uh Chris Mitchell and Jane Harrison the three transfers were the guys they they targeted now Harrison's more of an elite like kick returner and he's really come on as a slot receiver at Notre Dame but in terms of the guys who have maybe the chance to be that number one wide receiver for Notre Dame like the guy I think you look at Chris Mell I think you look at Bo Collins both those guys um you know been talked about you know as as you know the guys that can emerge to be be that top pass catcher in this offense uh another one is um Jane Thomas to be like that number one like that big body guy that you think of as a a true number one wide receiver but the other guy that I'm really going to be watching is Jaden greous he looks really really good um after uh dealing with a hamstring injury uh from most of the last season which really slowed what was a great start for him he had two touchdowns and the first game of the season and he just looks faster more experienced and I think Notre Dame could have a real NFL player at wide receiver on their hands in great house which they probably really haven't been able to say in years past wow so it sounds like to me because this is a question I'm gonna ask you and I might as well ask you now on offense sounds like to me that if I asked you to to give me a breakout candidate or two you would say jeremi love and Jaden great house so with with these breakout question I'm always I'm a little bit more conservative because like in my mind like Jeremiah Love and Jane Greyhouse like they already broke out last year like they they they impacted Notre Dame's off so like in terms of guys that could really Elevate their game and like kind of take over and be the guys of the Notre Dame offense I think I would go with love I think I would would go with great house but if we had to go like a little bit deeper to be have a guy that could truly break out I would look to the tight end room where there's a guy named Cooper Flanigan um him and Eli raran are battling for the number two spot Flanigan's had a great Camp he's a true sophomore he's really impressed so I think that's another guy that we're going to be talking about in a couple years as that next great Notre Dame tight end awesome the more candidates the better okay defense now there's a lot of questions on offense but the defense this is how Notre Dame is going to win a National Championship uh this is one of the best defenses in the Co in in college football let's start with that back end because Benjamin Morrison boy this year we've already talked about on some of the other shows some of other scouting shows but this year I I don't think I'm gonna recall when I've seen three better cornerback candidates come out in the same year which is most likely going to happen uh that could all be top five top seven draft picks I mean these guys and Morrison obviously one of them and then watts of course at safety uh is is another big-time player so yeah talk about how good this secondary is well it's crazy to think that Notre Dame has the reigning Bronco nersy Award winner for the best defender in college football and not only is he not the best player on his defense but he's not the best player in his position group because that's Benjamin Morrison who is kind of a freak like Notre Dame has never been known to be a great school at developing cornerbacks I did some research on that um earlier this off season and think like cavari Russell was like the only top draft pick like in the 21st century I think maybe they had a couple other guys early on in the 2000s but um Benjamin Morrison is just on his own Island P pun in Ed because he's a guy that uh golden you know the defensive coordinator Al golden has no issues with playing on oneon-one he can lock down his side um by no mistake was a freshman All-American uh kind of leveled out a little bit last year but like you look at the stats that Benjamin or sorry that Marvin Harrison Jr recorded against Ohio or against Notre Dame like he was pretty much a non-factor both years with Benjamin Morris on field and you also gotta give credit to cam Hart who ended up becoming a fourth round draft pick by the Chargers but Morrison is has been outstanding he has made pretty much every preseason All-American list had I've seen and as you said um you know he's going to be vying to be one of those top three quarterbacks taken and I think he's going to give a run um to will Johnson to be one of the potentially the the top guy coming off the board in the spring and uh as for Watts you know it's it's feels um pretty good to have that uh safety room shed up like you know some of the past years there's been a lot of question marks in that in the safety room and Xavier Watts a wide receiver recruit finally emerges late in his Notre Dame career I you know I had I think seven interceptions with which tied for the lead and all college football then they have a sof two sophomores in that secondary they're coming along nicely a Don Scher and Chris gray I think Christian Gray I maybe not the next Benjamin Morrison but is a guy that is has to be on NFL Radars in a couple years he is that good he's a guy that I think Notre Dame can feel similarly comfortable about leaving him oneon-one in coverage okay and AD Don Scher like even though he's a true sophomore didn't see a ton of snaps this year like he's he's another another one of those guys with Jeremiah love that's made a really um big jump from year one to year two and then I see Jordan Clark is here one of the transfers starting at nickel and I it was thought that herd would uh be in the starting uh rotation he still might I I don't know but did you've got three freshman there three true freshmen and two transfers so talk about uh Clark uh was that is that a surprise at all that he's starting no it was kind of fascinating the way Notre Dame did this in the portal because they went they went after Clark who um was right away GNA be that guy that they kind of like to replace Thomas Harper at the nickel position and then they added um Rod herd who's played a lot of spots on the secondary at Northwestern but he he was brought in to compete with a Don Schuler uh for that safety position that second safety opposite of Watts but scher's had such a nice off season that like Rod herd's kind of in this spot where it's like well Schuler's really won this thing so it's like how how many snaps is he gonna take away from Schuler is he going to I think he's even listed as Xavier Watts's backup and you know they they can't keep Jordan Clark out there every play as the nickel but then the backup nickel during Camp we've seen was Jay Ury a sophomore linebacker so it was um you know it's kind of fascinating where Rod herd sort of ends up you know he could play corner too so he's a guy that um Notre Dame really targeted uh for depth I would say like you know he can play a number of different positions in that secondary and I I don't I think like last year they also had a defensive back transfer from Rhode Island Antonio Carter who I think they thought would be a guy to like kind of fill some gaps but it never never really came together for him but I think there's enough confidence in Rod herd that if you need to put him in any of those positions a secondary he's a smart guy he's coming from Northwestern he goes Notre Dame obviously that you know he can hold it together and be a a serviceable part of that team uh which one of these freshmen might get some playing time Mo Hobbs or Locker it's Leonard Moore the guy that we're really looking at um he is right right from the get-go hit the ground running when he en rolled in the in the summer and you know behind uh Morrison and Christian Gray there's only one upper classman and uh Jaden Mickey besides that it's it's all the young guys and Benjamin Morrison even told reporters pretty canly this off seon um in Fall camp that he thinks that Leonard Moore could be better than what he was at Notre Dame now morison's maybe uh piping him up a little bit but uh I mean Leonard Mo has looked really good I think you know he's a guy that you can feel confident about going in to play there like I think he has the trust of the coaching staff which is really important as a freshman but it still this isn't to take anything away from Carson hobs or kened eracer because even though that both those guys are freshman as well know they both had had their own flashes during camp and I wouldn't be surprised towards the end of the year if they're putting the game in spots um to see some significant you know some meaning ful snaps for Notre Dame on this side of the ball the one question would be the linebacker uh crew of course Leo fou Gone berran Gone Kaiser's coming back so how does that look the newbies is taking over uh it's a work in progress It's a little bit different than um when they had Bertrand and and lefal there just because those guys were both veterans and I mean Leah I think he went on did late day two the NFL draft and uh bertran was a draft choice as well so obviously the NFL viewed those guys pretty highly so that just shows you how important they were to the Notre Dame defense but the guys that are replacing them um well Jack Kaiser is going to be you know he has a full-time role now he's a six-year guy there's a lot of confidence in what he can do when he played last year he was a playmaker I don't think anyone at Notre Dame is concerned about Jack Kaiser um playing linebacker he's he is the heart and soul of the defense he's going to be their Green Dot guy this year but then at the U middle linebacker position it's it's two highly touted recruits Drake bone and kingon Vilan Massa um you know I think we're we're still waiting for Drake bone to kind of take that next step he he's Drake Drake is in such an unfair position because he he's he has to be the guy to replace the guy like JD Bertram was a hard of the defense the previous two years and now it's like you know everyone wanted to replace Bertrand because like there were some things that they didn't like about him you know whether it be in the past game wasn't as Dynamic and you know now Drake Bowen is going to be that guy and I think a lot of Notre Dame fans are gonna realize how much her train meant to that defense but bow is still a really day and good football player um in his own right you know he's like he's only a true sophomore though so you know there's going to be some Growing Pains um you know I I wouldn't say that it's going to be uh you know even though I said like you know Notre Dame It's Gonna Miss JD beran I don't think it's gonna be you know like two or three steps back like I think Bowen's gonna be able to do enough to to make things look pretty normal and then coming in behind him is Kingston villea was a top 5050 recruit Rivals rated him a five star and he looks the part and he plays the part like it's because Kingston Ville yuam muasa that linebacker coach Max bua is really going to be rotating like six guys at linebacker this year along with Jaylen Sneed and Jay Ury who play like this Rover position those six guys are all going to play significant snaps this season you're going to see all them on the field different combinations at different times uh week one in college station and Sneed Jaylen Sneed he is the one that Notre everyone from Notre Dame is waiting to break out he was a another former five-star guy Notre Dame pulled out of Hilton Head South Carolina you know he's had some really high moments at Notre Dame but he's never really been able to piece it all together and it seems like in the spring it was starting to click for him and you know I can't really say a whole lot about what he did this summer I think he kind of just held steady and now everyone just waiting for it to green light to turn on for the light switch to to flip on game days and I think that step and you know makes this you know I think like when you talk about Notre Dame defense being like really good or great like Jaylen sne is one of those guys that could be the reason Notre Dame's defense is real is great or yeah makes sense okay up front this might be the best defensive line in the nation so uh talk well first start with Howard cross because that was such a big gift when cross decided to stay another season uh is he the leader up there you would think so but then Riley Mills was named the captain in the off season which kind of call me um uh a little off guard or I shouldn't say the I keep referring to the off SE I guess technically it's still the off season because we haven't started games yet but a lot of this has been preseason campers how Notre Dame calls it fall camp yeah they they named uh cross the or sorry they named Mills Captain um based on a player vote um about a week ago week and a half ago I thought it was gonna be cross uh some of my colleagues thought it was gonna be Mills Mills ended up becoming the guy but I think when people think about the face of the defensive line the leader I think it's Howard cross obviously second team preseason allamerican and I'm not going to compare him to Aaron Donald he's not Aaron Donald he can't make I don't think he's gonna make that type of impact or come close to at the pro level but he's similar in terms of he's a smaller guy and he's very effective Howard cross um was a big reason why Notre Dame was able to take that jump last year on defense obviously becoming a second team allamerican uh so he is the the face of that unit Riley Mills is another guy that has made Bruce Feldman's freaks list couple of the last uh few years um big body guy you know plays it he it like your prototypical three technique and who everyone was kind of similar to Jaylen Sneed this year like entering last year like you know Riley Mills had showed up in games from Notre Dame and like played well and everything but I think last year all started to finally come together for Riley Mills and instead of uh testing to see if you could get into the NFL um as a draft pick or maybe you know make his Mark as an unted free agent and go that direction he chose to run it back at Notre Dame so there's going to be you know a lot of Veteran experience on that the starting interior and the The Edge positions are the the same way defensive end with Jordan Batello and RJ Obin uh Botello plays that Viper position which if anyone remembers Isaiah fosi and Notre Dame that was the one they had uh played that for um a long time before Bell ended up replacing them last year and Bell's like he's fine like there's there's not a whole lot of knocks on this game like he's a pretty serviceable player that you can win football games with it's just like he doesn't make that impact that Isaiah fosy made now it's not really fair to compare patello to fosy since fosy ended up leaving Notre Dame is like one of the program's alltime sack leaders but I would just like to see Bell be a little bit more involved in on third down and pass rush and that's where I I think he can have that impact this year he's always been a great run Defender so that's what we're looking at with Jordan batell this year there's a lot of optimism um and ironically this is a very optimistic show because it's the preseason it always is this way we're always talking up by these talking up these guys before they start the season but I think uh batell is a guy that can it can really piece together as well and just finishing my thought on RJ Obin they brought him in from duke this season to play the strong side defensive end um a lot of people want to compare him to javante John Baptist who Notre Dame went the same direction with last year to bringing him in as a transfer from Ohio State play that strong side defensive end javante Bap or John Baptist was probably besides Xavier watts and even maybe Howard cross was the uh probably single biggest surprise on that defense last season where he kind of came in as like a guy like a veteran who had that potential and upside but he actually tapped into it made himself an NFL draft pick who um made a roster in Washington so um now they're they're looking for RJ Obin to kind of play the same role I don't think he's going to be as effective but he's another good piece on that Notre Dame defensive line so uh who do you think is going to end up is there a clear when the season's over a clear guy that you think will end up leading the team in sacks it's really hard really hard to guess because um our uh our beat writer Jack soel posed this question on our message board I think it was over the weekend and he gave a bunch of options and I didn't see Jaylen Sneed on there so I was just joking I threw J Jaylen sneed's name out um because they they've been known to line Jaylen Jaylen seed up off the edge to rush the passer so that's like pick to uh lead the team in sacks but it just it feels like anyone you pick is like a real sleeper pick because another guy that they like as a pass rusher is bubacar treor who backs up Jordan patello know like I said like Pell's never been known to be a real big ATT guy um maybe is this year that Riley Mills you know breaks through and makes a lot of those stops in that in the back field you know you don't really think of like interior deeman really being the ones to lead the team in sacks so I have a really hard time answering that question so I'm just gonna yeah I'm gonna give kind of have yeah so I that that is like one of the top three story lines this year for me is who's GNA and how the pass rush is going to turn out because it seems like last year was pretty evenly distributed is there uh lastly on defense is there someone up front that is like that next guy you mentioned one of them tayori yeah and um they've had a couple of guys come along in Camp Gabriel Rubio who's not listed on the dep chart because he's out with an injury he's been a um guy that's you know been uh stall War type player you know he's kind of come in there and held down the foundation uh and played a lot of meaningful snatch for Notre Dame but you know he's gonna be out for part of the year um Jason on is another veteran who I think everyone's hoping steps up plays well um when Howard cross and Riley Mills can't can't play but the the other young guy that's really merge and come along is arml mukum no one really saw that coming this summer he missed a spring with a shoulder injury but he's looked great in Fall camp and the last name I'll mention is Bryce young who's a freshman but he's a freaking nature he's like 6 foot s and probably right around 260 pounds right now and he's the son of former NFL Hall of Famer Bryant Young so he has a pedigree he looks the part he had a pretty tremendous Ascension as a high school senior so I I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year that we are starting to see Bryce Young play some snaps and uh I I can't end my conversation on defense assuming we're done talking about the defense without mentioning Josh Burnham another guy in that dline who is a junior but I think could be like similarly to offense like the guys that I pick it's like true breakout candidate like I think Burnham sort of um started to emerge last year but I think he's a guy that I wouldn't be surprised by the end of the year if when Notre Dame rolls out their first team defense if Burnham's getting the KN ahead of OB that's my bold prediction okay so Burnham is a is a breakout candidate yeah anymore on defense any other breakout candidates on defense besides Burnham well Christian Gray would be my other thought him and Jay nury both those guys um played snaps last year though so if you want to dig a little bit deeper I'd like Leonard more too I think like similar to Benjamin Morrison like when he was a freshman he started he played a lot of games for Notre Dame Christian Gray was more of a rotational guy and I think that's what Leonard Moore will be but I still think he'll be an impact player for Notre Dame this year and a guy that going into next year once Benjamin Morrison enters the draft that we'll be talking about uh Christian Gray and Leonard Moore being Notre Dame's top two corners still Notre Dame having one of the best corners back rooms in all college football how's the kicking game they got a new kicker right new place kicker yeah it's interesting because Mitch Jeter is uh I think he's only missed three career kicks in his college career he's a veteran came from South Carolina all three of those kicks were from 50 plus even if I don't have that St totally correct he he was pretty much on the money all of his college career one of the best kickers in all of last season in terms of percentage but in fall c i I wouldn't describe him as overly consistent I think he's had um his ups and downs so that's another one of those things that we're going to be uh really keeping a close close eye on this off SE or sorry this season is to see if he can kind of put it together and if he can be the guy that you know when Notre Dame got out of the portal that they sort of expected to you know once again sh up the the kicking game this season well there might be some big kicks that'll be needed so uh we'll see if uh if that happens if he can come through uh as a fan you don't want to see that but it may happen so especially who knows maybe it happens this week so give me a prediction what are you feeling last year 10 and three what do you feeling this year playoff team anything more than that I probably feel best I so in years past I'm always like optimistic and I end up being let down so I'm I try I'm like kind of focusing and maybe being a little bit more pessimistic and being surprised yeah okay but with that said I'll stick with my preseason prediction of 11 and one in Notre Dame to make the playoff host a home game but um I just like I'm really um intrigued to see how Notre Dame puts it together on the road this year going to Texas A&M and if you know even if they do lose to the Aggies week one can they still pie it all together yeah and win 11 games straight like that's still you know even though as e or as difficult as this schedule is like or sorry as easy as a schedule is like that's still a pretty difficult task especially when you're ending the year at USC um so you know no one knows what USC is gonna look like at the end of the year be a tough tough game I mean it all always is is rivalry game so I'm going to go with 11-1 I probably feel better about 10-2 like I said you know trying to play that role but um yeah I'm really buying into another aame this year I I named Marcus Freeman my uh you know coach of the year candidate and our uh or the yeah the my who I projected to win the coach of the year so I'm really leaning into to Marcus dreaman in this program taking the next step forward and pretty much the reason why is I think comes down to a veteran defense um in two experienced coordinators that they have now and I think that's going to be a really big difference in this season yeah again we we kicked off The Show by talking about that's why that Texas a&n game is so important uh win that game and then you don't have to run the table uh if you stub your toe you're still in the playoffs and then you go from there uh and we'll see what happens I mean Louisville is not going to be easy uh even Miami of Ohio the week before they might be the best Mac team not that Notre Dame typically has issues with M teams but uh you know I mean they've been some close ones had that Toledo game a few years ago yeah close I was wondering if you're going to mention that when you mention the close games so uh you never know especially I think the quarterback Gabbert I think is 25 years old yeah so and he might be the best quarterback in the Mac so yeah I mean going to Jeff Brams Purdue and you know Georgia Tech they're gonna be better I think than people think I don't think that win was a fluke so uh it is what it is but that's college football what's going to be so fun about it and sounds like at least talking to you this should be a real fun year covering the Irish especially because we have ourselves a as real as a playoff system as college football can can get we've waiting for this all our lives so uh we'll see how it works and uh I look forward to talking to you definitely during the season Kyle in the meantime just want to remind everybody again it's at on three recruits on X and um where do you want to send them as far as website to go check out blue and gold the blue and gold Onre uh recruiting service well yeah I would just go blueandgold.com you know that's our on3 Notre Dame website um you know we have 30 fan sites and on three you know we're the next big thing you know we're on three is really on The Cutting Edge here and uh we're really proud and excited about the staff we have across the whole network and uh good thing is is for depending on when you post it and who's viewing it um we have a uh great special going on 50% off and annual subscription uh for your first year so use that code kickoff 24 really get you hooked up with a lot of Insider access and all those features that we have over at blue and gold so really excited about the season really excited what we're building uh over at our Notre Dame site 50% off those are for new subscribers with the code kickoff 24 yep that's the way to do it excellent Kyle thank you enjoy the season and hopefully we'll talk uh before uh I don't know before the playoffs before no other name goes to the playoffs if all goes well hopefully we're talking about it absolutely