Will Black is cementing his spot at left tackle, learning from veterans and embracing fierce competition. The Irish offensive line is finding its potent rhythm.
Earlier this offseason, there was some speculation around who would be playing where along the offensive line. There were some rumblings about moving Anthonie Knapp, a two-year starter at left tackle, to the interior to play left guard and letting rising redshirt freshman Will Black step in at left tackle. Up until the first day of spring practice, it was all just speculation. Now, the Irish are past the halfway point in spring training and Black has taken every left tackle rep with the first team offensive line.
The 6-7, 316-pound Ontario native is stepping into the spotlight as Notre Dame's starting left tackle after playing guard most of his freshman season behind some veteran leadership. Black took last year as a learning opportunity and is utilizing the lessons learned last season and applying them to this spring training session.
"Last year was all about just getting better," Black shared. "I was playing guard, so it was a completely new position. So I was trying to learn from Billy [Schrauth]. He taught me a lot. Honestly, I just got a lot better. I think guard really helped me understand the game better and helped me become more physical and gave me a better chance to improve my run game. Now that I'm sliding over to tackle, I've just got to clean up some things in the pass game."
Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph did what we had been hoping for the last couple of seasons: get people started out in the correct spots. Notre Dame's offensive line has been on the fringe of being a great to elite unit over the last two seasons, and moving Black to left tackle and Knapp inside to left guard gives the Irish the best opportunity they've had in quite some time to have an elite offensive line.
"It's awesome," Black answered when asked about what it's like playing alongside Anthonie Knapp. "He's obviously probably our most physical offensive lineman. So run blocking is really fun. He's able to set me up on the deuces and the tight zone and mid zone. We're just working on communicating better."
There's no shortage of elite competition in Notre Dame's practices and that's exceptionally true in the trenches. Day in and day out, Black at left tackle and Guerby Lambert at right tackle are going against a stout defensive end rotation including Bryce Young and Boubacar Traore who started for the Irish last season. Traore and Young have presented some great challenges for Black and it continues to make him better with every passing practice.
"I think it's an honor to be able to go against them, just because they're so good," Black explained. "Both of those guys give me a different look every day. Bryce is really fast from like a wide nine and Boubacar is really good with his hands. So I mean they give you definitely different looks. So just going up against them every day is awesome."
Notre Dame has lofty expectations this season. They're one of three teams, along with Ohio State and Texas, with the highest odds to win the National Championship. They're one of two teams projected to go undefeated. They have the best odds in the country to make the College Football Playoffs and they have a preseason Heisman hopeful returning at quarterback in CJ Carr.
The skilled talent on offense and defense in South Bend is tremendous, but the offensive line remains the No. 1 position group in terms of importance to their success this season. Black at left tackle will have his plate full, but he has the skillset and abilities to be an impactful starter on day one in a Fighting Irish uniform.
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