Despite key injuries, Marcus Freeman unleashes new opportunities for rising stars in Notre Dame's running back and linebacker corps.
Wednesday afternoon, head coach Marcus Freeman spoke about the outlook of the roster heading into spring practice. The team is farther along than what they were last season, but there are some injuries that have to be dealt with, specially in the running back room and the linebacking corp. Running backs Kedren Young and Javien Osborne will miss the spring with injuries. Projected No. 1 running back Aneyas Williams will be limited due to an elbow injury and will be 'non-contact'.
For the linebacking corps, captain Drayk Bowen will be limited throughout the spring along with rising sophomore Madden Faraimo. Fellow California linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is also out for the spring as he's still on the road to recovery from his knee injury suffered last season. Middle linebacker Kahanu Kia will also be limited this spring. The list of injuries isn't ideal for two of Notre Dame's most stout position groups, but Freeman is still confident with the players who remain.
"We had to add some depth there just to practice," Freeman explained about the Notre Dame running back room. "We had a couple walk-ons join the team. We had tryouts and they'll help us in terms of numbers. But those big guys up front and the wideouts blocking on the perimeter all contribute to success running the football."
"The guys that are healthy, they’ll get plenty of opportunities but we can’t kill them either," Freeman continued. "We can’t put too much of a workload on those guys that they have diminishing returns. We have to be able to spread the workload, and one of the important things for us to do is to get a couple guys to give us reps so we can practice and develop the depth of our team."
Freeman went on to say that they weren't going to add anyone to the linebacking room like they did with the running back room since their base defense only features a two-linebacker set. With the amount of players out, or limited, for this spring, it paves the way for several opportunities for a lot of promising young players.
On offense, running back Nolan James Jr. has the opportunity to make a splash in the running back rotation, especially once the pads are on. Yesterday, we only saw them in helmets, but that didn't stop James from making some impressive plays. This also creates an opening for freshman running back Jonaz Walton to creep up the dept chart and turn some heads along the way.
Defensively, we're going to see what Jaiden Ausberry looks like while taking reps at middle linebacker. Yesterday, we saw Ausberry take the first team reps at middle linebacker. We also saw Teddy Rezac and true freshman Thomas Davis Jr. in there as well. Spring practice is the perfect time in the offseason to make a strong impression on the position coaches as they quickly approach fall camp. Freeman is confident in the talent on the roster to step up where they're needed.
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!