Irish special teams shine. Quarterback play shows mixed results, but Hebert impresses. Receivers need focus as key names emerge in position battles.
Notre Dame was back in action today as the Irish held another spring practice. We saw most of the first four periods of the practice. Here is my practice report.
After the stretch period, the Irish went through a period of special teams work. They worked on several different aspects, with punt block/return being the focus. One drill saw players working on splitting the up backs and working on technique to block the punt. Another group was working on blocking and block destruction on punt return.
There was also a group of returners. We saw Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, Bubba Frazier, Mylan Graham and Aneyas Williams.
After special teams they split into individual groups to get in position specific work for offense and defense.
At quarterback, overall I thought both CJ Carr and Noah Grubbs were a bit sloppy. Carr's footwork wasn't consistent today and he was slightly off target with throws. Grubbs had some really good throws but also a few where his feet weren't properly set to his target, which caused him to sail a couple of throws and drive a couple others low. This was the best I've seen Blake Hebert during drills. He was really clean with his footwork, his throwing motion wasn't as rushed (but he was still getting good zip on the ball) and he threw with a lot more confidence than I've seen from him so far at Notre Dame. This all resulted in Hebert being sharp and accurate both during individual periods and also when throwing routes. He hit Cooper Flanagan perfectly on a corner route, which is a throw he has struggled with in past practices. He was accurate driving the ball over the middle of the field and led receivers properly on both Out and Dig routes.
The wide receivers had a solid day, but they weren't as sharp in this practice as they have been in the past. There were a few more drops and routes weren't as sharp as we've seen in the last couple of practices. Position coach Mike Brown was well aware of this and was getting on his pass catchers to go through drills the right way. Just an overall lack of focus. This happens in the middle of spring and fall camp, so it's not abnormal and they got sharper as we got closer to leaving practice.
When they lined up in positions to go through RVA (Routes vs. Air), we saw Jordan Faison at X, Mylan Graham at Z and Micah Gilbert at W with the first group. We also saw Elijah Burress, Logan Saldate and Alex Whitman working at X. We saw Bubba Frazier, Kaydon Finley and Jaden Greathouse working at Z. It's clear that Greathouse still isn't fully mixed in based on what we saw today. Looked like he was moving well, but he was often last in drills, which tells me he is just starting to work into full action. At W we saw Cam Williams, Jerome Bettis Jr. and Devin Fitzgerald.
The two receivers that caught my eye the most during drills today was Micah Gilbert and Bubba Frazier. Gilbert is playing at a different gear than I've seen from him in the past. He has some urgency and confidence about him this spring, and he's playing with some juice as a route runner. Just seems to be moving a lot faster in every way that it means to work fast. Frazier looks way more confident right now than he did in the first couple of practices. He's sharper as a route runner and when he gets the ball in his hands he plays with really impressive speed and suddenness.
Had a chance to focus on a couple of tight ends during practice as well. James Flanigan is moving really well as a route runner and I was impressed with his vertical speed. He caught the ball well today and he's certainly improving as a route runner. He's a very long, rangy athlete that covers a lot of ground on vertical routes. You also can't help but be impressed with the speed that freshman Preston Fryzel shows. He really explodes off the ball and his acceleration after the catch really stands out in drills.
On defense, the nickels spent more time today working on route recognition while working against zones. Christian Gray and Jayden Sanders got the work at the nickel spot today. Gray covers a lot of ground in zone work thanks to his combination of length, quickness and speed. He's getting more and more comfortable with route work, both when to pass off a shorter route and then looking up and getting in front of deeper routes.
Also had a chance to focus on the defensive linemen a bit today. Really impressed with what I've seen this spring from Charlie Partridge as a coach. They were getting a lot of work today with block destruction, but more than just getting off to get to the ball. It was also about how to win vertically. Some really good, advanced stuff that the players are looking a lot more comfortable doing. He also focuses a lot on getting a really strong jump off the ball and closing well on the ball.
From a player standpoint, continue to be impressed with transfer Tionne Gray. He was nimble working through drills and his change of direction was noticeably impressive today. He's so massive and just towers over the other defensive tackles, and you can see he has good pop when working on the sled and with bags, but it's how well he moves that stands out. Also impressed with the athleticism that Cole Mullins showed during drills today. He received high praise from Partridge after multiple reps today. I was also very impressed with Armel Mukam. He was athletic working on the block destruction technique, but his power with his hands really popped today. This is the most impressive I've seen him athletically during a spring at Notre Dame.
On the edge, it's really impressive how athletic this group is. Notre Dame is loaded with long, athletic edge players that standout when going through drills. Bryce Young flashed a lot today, both during punt block drills and during the DL drills. His get off is really impressive and he was using his hands extremely well during the drills today. He was a bit too high at times coming off the ball, but for the most part he was explosive and powerful working through drills. Keon Keeley is also looking more and more comfortable. He worked with good angles and used his hands well getting off blocks. The freshmen edge players - Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade - were explosive during drills today. Dunham still looks more comfortable with the technique he's being asked to employ, but Ewetade is really coming along and his explosiveness as an athlete is impossible to miss.
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