speaker-0: Charlie Partridge and the hire of Charlie Partridge, I think it's going to be looked back on as one of the best position or just general coaching hires that Marcus Freeman has ever had. We're seeing that jump in the recruiting trail. We're also seeing that and hearing about that in the development of certain players. The defensive line is, in my opinion, and maybe I'm a little bit biased, is the most important position group. in college football. I think it's the most important position group in football, period. You're tuning in to the First and Gold podcast, your Notre Dame football coverage. Presented by This time it's different. It seems as if Irish fans are confronted with this feeling every year, but to no avail. Only this time around, there are factors at play that back it up. It's been building through a culmination of returning championship level experience, a large chip on the program's shoulder, recruiting classes that have closed the talent gap entirely, a program culture five years in the making, only bolstered by Notre Dame missing the playoffs in gut-wrenching fashion the year prior. And a returning quarterback who is the current Heisman Trophy favorite. I'm your host, Clayton Stoller, along with my co-host Connor Reagan, and our producer backstage Cole Krueger. We welcome you to the First and Gold podcast presented by the Irish Tribune, where we take you beyond the goal line with independent Notre Dame football coverage. Please like and subscribe to our channel. It helps us out a lot. And don't forget to follow us on social media at the handles listed below.

speaker-1: All right, everybody, well we've got plenty to cover today as fall camp approaches. We'll be touching on our first thoughts, the vibe going into camp, what's at stake in the bigger picture, and getting into what could potentially be the most talented and deepest roster in the country. Beyond that, we'll cover causes for concern, a defensive staff that has some new faces, and we'll leave you with our gold takes heading into the season.

speaker-0: Well, Connor, I mean, obviously you cannot have the conversation going into this year without talking about last season and how it ended. And it's kind of an interesting thing, right? Obviously we ⁓ we are left with a very bitter taste in our mouths, one that we've had to taste for basically the entirety of December all the way up until July. And so we find ourselves in this position where it was quite literally the longest off season that we have endured and encountered in quite some time. if not our entire lives, certainly our entire adult lives. Yes. ⁓ but that leads us to now. Notre Dame, they were faced with like a fundamental choice, right? They could feel sorry for themselves, play victim for an entire offseason, or they could use it as fuel. What we've seen as evidence shows and points to that Notre Dame is using this as fuel. And you know, a lot of teams they have to kind of Dig for what their mantra is gonna be going into a season. Notre Dame didn't have to dig at all. It is the leave no doubt mindset. And we are left with a just trail of evidence and l of what that might look like. And that's showing itself in the recruiting trail. As we record this right now, Notre Dame just landed another five-star edge. In Darien Prescott out of the Chicagoland area. An area in which, in my opinion, was a little bit neglected over time, but they have completely tapped back into that pipeline. And what you were left with is Notre Dame just absolutely running the show in Chicagoland. Darian Prescott being the latest of a slew of Chicagoland commitments. David Fulleranchu.

speaker-1: He was number one in the state, right?

speaker-0: He's number one in the state. And to be honest with you, man, over time, what what might end up getting revealed is he might be the number one in the country, not just at his position, but as an overall player. You look at his film, which by the way, his highlight tape is 18 minutes long. There's not a lot of sophomores that are out there that are gonna have an 18-minute highlight tape. you could literally just look at his playoff tape and it's four minutes long, and it'll stand out to you even then. But this is just the latest example of what Notre Dame is doing along the D line, which we are going to be talking way, way more about. The whole point of me opening up this way is saying. Notre Dame isn't making excuses. Notre Dame is not making ⁓ themselves to be the victim here. Al although the national narrative will always point to the Top Tart bowl and them not playing in it as as as an example of it. All you got to do is look at the example that Notre Dame has set right now on the trail with Charlie Partridge. The the defensive line recruiting is just one position group in which the talent gap has completely closed. And this is a conversation that we had. With Marcus Freeman when he came in originally, were they gonna be able to change and close that talent gap amongst the nation's elite? That that question has been answered emphatically and it leaves us into now.

speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, ⁓ you know, we talked about this a bit before recording, but we're finally reaching that that next talent level that we've been waiting on, specifically on the defensive line, size-wise. You know, talent necessarily hasn't been the issue, but it's pairing the two, size and talent. And then the thing that Marcus Freeman knocked out first, which was depth. ⁓ he he built depth on the defensive line that gave us enough bodies and enough versatility. To absorb some pretty some pretty substantial injuries up front. ⁓ and now we're kind of seeing that talent level raise up with the depth ⁓ that that Freeman really, really cemented earlier on. ⁓ and and like you said, I mean, this is this is probably, I mean, ⁓ almost objectively the best off our defensive line has been ⁓ during Marcus Freeman's tenure.

speaker-0: Off that the defensive line has been through the Marcus Freeman tenure, and you you could absolutely make the case that it's the best really wave of defensive line classes that Notre Dame has produced over any stretch or period ⁓ ever. Like this is truly the gold standard ⁓ on the recruiting trail and what they've been able to produce along the D line is just gonna be one example of what we're gonna be talking about today. And it's it really is going into fall camp here. And the interesting thing about fall camp, Connor. Especially this year, is that you have a lot of potential storylines going into this, but don't expect any intel really to come out in the way that it has in the past. This is gonna be a little bit of a different fall camp. The media only has one open practice, and it is the first practice of the year on August first. That is going to be a glorified warm-up that the media is gonna get access to.

speaker-1: Just sketches, you know. They're not getting the full picture.

speaker-0: It it ⁓ absolutely. And and so a lot of the intel that you're gonna get or that we're gonna have access to is gonna come through sources or secondary sources and kind of hearsay, like, hey, so-and-so player looks really good. We're gonna talk about what potential storylines might come out of Fall Camp given that information. ⁓ this isn't an indictment of Notre Dame's program. This is the way that the game is moving, and this is certainly the way that the program has been moving for some time now. ⁓ but needless to say. The some things to keep in mind as we go into the season is that this is really the first year that there is no residual of the Brian Kelly era. This is a complete and total Marcus Freeman roster built by his staff, all all while knowing that yes, his staff has been fluid, right? Yes. And there's a difference. ⁓ the evidence can be seen everywhere on the depth chart. And we're and we're gonna be touching on a lot of that today. Now it's kind of funny because I've said it since 2024. I would venture to say that you said the same thing, Connor. This is the most talented team that I've seen in my lifetime. And it's been true every year. 2024, 2025, and now 2026 is the most talented yet. Now people might be scratching their head real quick and saying, Well, you you don't have Jeremiah, you don't have Jadarian Price. And that's the whole point.

speaker-1: The scary part, y'all.

speaker-0: It's the whole point. And so I think that that's great and all, but we enter into a season where it is not only the most talented roster that Notre Dame has had in my lifetime, and potentially ever. I mean, this is not that far-fetched to say, but it's also true in the sense that it is the deepest roster that Notre Dame has had. And honestly, I don't think there's that much debate. And that goes for the rest of the country. I do believe that as we enter into fall camp, it is the deepest roster in the country, without a doubt.

speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, that's gonna buy you quite a bit of territory alone. We've had similar depth like across different positions, but you know, you're now marrying that with what you just said. This this elite level of talent that has both been homegrown prospects that were recruited full cycle, transfers, you know, a variety of different ways to get guys. ⁓ and The scariest part is not to get ahead of ourselves, but what is coming behind them too. So, like, yes, this is the most talented team that we've seen again, but ⁓ we're kind of in a position, an embarrassment of riches. Like I'm prepared to say this again next year and potentially the year after that. I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm not promising outcomes. I'm just saying what on paper is coming in here is looking, is looking really promising for. For Freeman and and the program. ⁓ but yeah, I mean, that depth, ⁓ that depth has already gotten us all the way to the, you know, through the college football playoff to the title game. ⁓ and then we saw a bit of that talent gap against Ohio State. So now we're bringing that talent gap. You know, we're we're ⁓ we're kind of getting rid of it here by by bringing in kind a different level of guy. I mean, I remember. All throughout Brian Kelly's tenure, not to throw any shade, but every time we would just get smoked when we weren't supposed to, or or lose the game that we had no business losing. My dad, like clockwork, would say to me, We're playing one B against one A. Like we just, there's this step that we haven't taken yet. And, you know, the outcome hasn't been a national championship yet, but I have felt confident that every year Marcus Freeman and his staff is taking that step.

speaker-0: Absolutely. And really the crux of the Marcus Freeman era is the month of September. We all know it. You you don't have to look far to kind of evaluate and and see where the Marcus Freeman teams have missed. It it it is in September. Don't get me wrong. There are examples that you could point to late in November, but we all know that your Novembers, your Octobers are made more difficult by a bad September. I mean, you've got NIU, Marshall, Ohio State, Miami, and Texas AM of last year to point to and say if if that month of September just went a little bit better, if you could just win one of those games, the rest of your season is going to be in so much more of a comfortable spot. And that brings us to now, right? Obviously, from an outsider perspective, it would be easy to say that what the committee did was flawed. It was wrong. And that's being tied. What had went down was not okay. But don't tell Marcus Freeman in this Notre Dame staff and roster, because literally the day that Darien Press got committed, which wasn't yesterday as we're filming this, he'd say that I don't use the term. Snub. We didn't get snubbed from the playoffs. We missed the playoffs. And that tells you everything that you need to know about the mentality going into this fall camp, which is what we're going to be talking all about. You see, this is the culmination of all the efforts of the prior four years as we enter into it. And I want to be able to break down with you some of those emerging storylines that I expect to come out in fall camp. Make no mistake, this is not a prediction for the entire year. We'll have plenty of time to record and talk about. That's coming for the next episode, which you should like and subscribe to get notified when that comes. But this is this is more or less talking about some of the storylines that we think that are going to come out of Fall Camp, okay? ⁓ on both offense and defense. And I'm gonna I'm gonna kick things off if you don't mind, Connor, unless you have any other thoughts that you want to tie off on.

speaker-1: And Nah, kick us off, brother.

speaker-0: defensive line, I think that this is a a very it it's a critical position. There there's no other way to look at it. You look at the defensive lines that have won titles over the last, you know, just a modern playoff era. The defensive line is, in my opinion, and maybe I'm a little bit biased, it is the most important position group in college football. I think it's the most important position group in football, period. But I anticipate that a lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised by what comes out of Fall Camp. Charlie Partridge and the hire of Charlie Partridge, replacing Al Washington, I think it's going to be looked back on as one of the best position or just general coaching hires that Marcus Freeman has ever had or made. So far, we're seeing that jump in the recruiting trail. But we're also seeing that and hearing about that in the development of certain players. And for starters, we know that our known commodities are Bubakar Traori, Jason O'Neill, ⁓ Bryce Young. And I'm talking about homegrown on the Irish roster. And and and that's all good and well. ⁓ I look at those as three core pieces ⁓ that are within our defensive line group, both interior and on the edge. But I also want to talk about some of the transfer portal pieces that have come in too, because they were deliberately chosen by Charlie Partridge. And I think that that's something that, you know, we we really have to hone in on. The guys like Francis Bruce, Tion Grain, you know, Keon Keeley, who was one of my favorite prospects of all time when he committed to Alabama or flipped to Alabama. It was saving.

speaker-1: Yeah.

speaker-0: You now have that under one roof. And those are kind of your key pieces as you enter into fall camp. My take is, is that as much as I love Bryce Young, I think that there might be a legitimate battle between Keon Keeley and Bryce Young for that strong site defensive end position. I think it's a storyline that we're going to end up hearing more about coming out of Fall Camp.

speaker-1: Agreed. ⁓ yeah, I mean, I'm really I'm I'm really interested to see what Francis ⁓ is it Bru is it just Bru? I'm always terrified to pronounce his last name. Bru. Okay. Yeah, I'm I'm very interested to see what he brings to the table. ⁓ but and I mean, Jason Omee's back yet again. ⁓ and and from from what we've seen from him recently, I'm excited to have him back for conceivably a full season. ⁓ that's the way everything's looking right now.

speaker-0: It's true. Yeah.

speaker-1: So ha ha having him as an anchor up front, ⁓ and and having these position battles around them and people fighting for time, it's made a lot easier by having somebody that you can rely on like Onye.

speaker-0: Honestly, Jason Onye might be one of the most underrated players on the roster. I have him as my personal most underrated player on the roster. And people forget very quickly all the turmoil turmoil that we had entered into within the transfer portal. ⁓ we're missing out on this player. We're missing out on this player. But once all those players were acquired, Jason O'Neill was that outstanding piece. To really take this defensive line going into the portal from a very uncertain position to one that is potentially a strength of this team. And Onye is a massive piece of that. ⁓ that being said, you do also have pieces that you don't know as much about. Like we were talking about in the portal, like Tian Gray, for instance. You know, I We don't know if he's going to just be that guy that's there on third down, or if he can actually help Notre Dame in multiple downs, help Notre Dame in that second and third down situation, or maybe even in the first down situation. Based on what we're hearing, the there might be some more expectations attached to him. But then you also look at this harkens back, of course, to the recruiting conversation that we've had with. The edge position. You know, you've got Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Iwitade. These are guys that are going to contribute early on in the season and as true freshmen. That is the type of talent that we're talking about here. So those are some other players that I anticipate we're going to be hearing whispers about as we head. ⁓ really into week one but throughout fall camp.

speaker-1: We'll have a more concrete idea of exactly how how this'll turn out. But similar to other positions we're ⁓ we're we're gonna speak about here shortly, ⁓ it's one of those that, you know, it sounds like a cop out, but until everybody gets on the field and and ⁓ gets their pads on and we can kind of see exactly what this looks like and and who can play what downs, what positions. ⁓ you know, we'll have a better idea of what it's looking like. But unlike Pre ⁓ previous seasons where we were concerned, we didn't know what, you know, certain position groups were gonna look like. I'm not as concerned because of that level of talent and the depth. I mean, we've got you've got at least two deep ⁓ across the line that that we can at least conceivably rely on for semi consistent minutes. So, like it's mostly just what is this gonna look like? ⁓ I'm not really concerned about getting bodied up front, that's for sure.

speaker-0: The thing is that this rings in a new era along the D line. And and and there's really just one last example that I want to point to that I think we're going to hear a lot about. You know, this is from Irish or excuse me, Irish breakdown with Brian Driscoll. If he had he had talked to someone that that you know was next to Charlie Partridge, Charlie Partridge would come in just randomly, ⁓ just to just to watch practice, as coaches do. ⁓ he is close with Chris Ash and one of the players that was there that he had mentioned, he was like, Listen, man, you got an NFL guy on your hands. And they were like, Who do you think? Like, what is it? Bryce Young, like, is it is it Boobakar Treori? And he said, No, it's Armel Mukam. Like, Armel Mookam is an NFL guy. Like, yeah, all those guys are really, really good, but you have something under your nose that you don't even know about. It's someone that I just think that we're gonna be hearing a lot about. As we go through fall camp as well. And that's the thing. This is just one piece of the defense. And I think that there's gonna be some pretty intense position battles there. Who who fights for that three deep along the D line? But in the secondary. You have to look at the secondary and and actually sit back and say Notre Dame has a luxury that really no college football programs have. You have really good talent, elite talent at the 2D. You see, this is the thing, is that offenses are usually able to exploit defenses in college football because they don't have that type of talent in the secondary. And and honestly, that's been true for Notre Dame even.

speaker-1: Yeah. You could pick on one one guy and exploit it even if they're short up at other spots in the secondary.

speaker-0: And and Lord knows if there's gonna be injuries that are in play too, but this time it truly is different. You are really stout at the two deep. You can have a rotation at within that secondary group. You've got DJ McKinney, you've got Kari Adams, you've got Leonard Moore, you know, you you also have Mark Zachary. And then at the nickel position, though, there is a legitimate battle at play. And that battle to me. I think it's a too deep battle. I really, really do. And I think that it's between Christian Gray and Dallas Gold, obviously. Now, I am I am thrilled that Christian Gray has transitioned over into the nickel position. It's it's something that I have wanted. And I think that a lot of Irish fans have wanted and Irish analysts have wanted for quite some time, but they haven't had the luxury because they haven't had the numbers. You have to put Christian Gray in where he is needed most. And the reality is. For me, Christian Gray's slander will never be accepted because of the amount of injuries that he's had to fight through. And he's still stepped up in those money moments. I think that Christian Gray finds his natural position now at nickel. I think that he is actually a mismatch where other teams are looking to find a mismatch with that slot position, that versatile tight end position. Like good luck in finding that with Christian Gray. But I have to tell you, I mean The reality is that there was us coming out of fall ⁓ out of springball that said Dallas Golden before the injury was battling hard, hard for that role. And the thing is, is that the nickel position we found out last season that that is critical. I mean, you all you got to do is look no further than the first two weeks of last season when you had Carson Hobbs out there. Not trying to be offensive. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm I'm only pointing out the reality that this nickel position is extremely important to any defense that you're running in the modern era of college football. And having a Christian Gray or a Dallas Golden in this spot may end up revealing this position that was once not necessarily a weakness after week two, but something that you have to take into account. It was in question, and and what you have to do now. Or you what you have to look at it is now is this is probably a strength for Liberty's defense. ⁓ this is a position that's going to get a lot of ad bats because we have Leonard Moore and DJ McKenzie. How do you you as an offensive coordinator, you're always playing the game of where's Waldo? Who is the weakest person in the secondary? Who's the weakest linebacker that I think? Who could we pick on?

speaker-1: Take on.

speaker-0: Well, the nickel position is going to be picked on because you're not gonna pick on T T Johnson or Adon Schuler. You know, you're really not even gonna pick on Luke Talitch or Joey O'Brien, for instance. Like maybe they

speaker-1: You're sure not gonna pick on Leonard Moore.

speaker-0: Just ⁓ talk to a lot of women's

speaker-1: Yeah, but yeah. I mean the threat as far as the nickel, yeah, you you're right. Like because they don't know what this positional change is, like Notre Dame fans do. ⁓ I, you know, not a new face, but an a f a new face, an old face at a new position. I'm gonna, I'm gonna throw the ball at him and and and make him show me that I shouldn't. That could give us prime opportunities to have the the nickel really be a game breaker for us because there's so much experience there. And and and I know Dallas Golden's only a a sophomore, but I mean, between the two of them, you know, good luck trying to pick on the nickelbag position. But to your point, I think, ⁓ I think it's gonna happen, at least for the a a few weeks un until they show otherwise.

speaker-0: Honestly, it might be the most productive position that we have on defense. I mean, the more that we talk about it, the more I'm getting sold on this. I mean, because it week one, week two, all throughout September, it that they are going to get their chances. And and I would imagine that Aaron Henry, who is a new member of the staff, stepping into some very big shoes, which we will talk about more throughout the offseason. This is something that he's probably driving home to. Christian Gray, Dallas Golden. I'm not counting out JD Sanders. It could very well be a rotation that we that for all we know. And I'm okay with all three. I understand that we're not talking about linebackers right now because there's really not a storyline. You know what you have. I am looking for Madden Ferriamo to do some really big things. I think people are sleeping on him right now. You've got the miscellaneous storyline that KBA is out. We don't really know when he's going to be back. There's kind of a mixture of reports as as as it relates to that. Well let's just assume that he isn't. If you can't win out in September without KBA, you do have bigger problems on your football team than, you know, him being good.

speaker-1: Good luck in ⁓ November and December if you can't make it through September.

speaker-0: Exactly. And and so these are things that, you know, we can absolutely touch on, but I don't think it's gonna be a prevailing storyline throughout Fall Camp at all. When you've got guys like Jade Nosbury, Jalen Sneat, Drake Vowan, ⁓ you know, Madden Ferry Amo, like

speaker-1: There's too much consistency there for this to be screaming at us to pay attention to it. Like you said, like it's so shirt up, it's a little boring. It's like I'm trying to come up with something hot to tell you guys here, but take that in the best way possible, Irish fans. We don't have a lot of questions here, other than KVA's availability, and that's a when, not an if.

speaker-0: We now switch it over to offense and you talk about the running back position. Now, here's some things that I'm certain about. I'm certain that that room is extremely talented. I'm I am certain that there are going to be names that we'll we're all sleeping on because that room is very easy. It's easy to get fixated on one guy and then, you know, ignore the rest. But this is the most fascinating position, in my opinion. On the roster because you have Aeneas Williams. And Aeneas Williams just does good football player things. We've seen that in the biggest and brightest moments that a tr a true freshman could be pushed into. He did it throughout the playoffs. He did it against IU. He did it against Penn State. This is a a situation in which I I would be reluctant to ignore that. Because I feel like Aeneas Williams has been ignored for the entirety of his career. And we would be unwise to do that right now. But the reality is, is that you also hear very, very positive buzz about Nolan James behind him. Right. And and you hear similar things that he's able to bring to the table. He's able to be an asset out of the black ⁓ out of the backfield. He's able to kind of find yards where they're Are no yards to be found. When the offensive line breaks down, what are you gonna have? And Nolan James is absolutely someone that that you have to point to for that. If you were to go into fall camp, and if there was live betting odds right now, Nolan James is probably the favorite to be running back number two. Yeah. And that's an important position. And it's an important distinction because We don't know if Jawan Sider is going to go with a two-back system or if he's going to use the likes of Joe Naz Walton, who we probably don't talk about enough at all as an entire Notre Dame community. We don't talk about him enough. I he is the most explosive running back on this roster right now. I'm just gonna come out and say, I literally last night looked at 100 meter ⁓ yard dash times, or excuse me, one hundred meter dash times. Whatever. And the interesting thing is he slits the difference between two times that Jeremiah Lov had had. I believe if I'm not mistaken, Jeremiah Love had he he was recorded for a four-five or excuse me, ⁓ a 10-5 and a 10-7, which won him the state championship. Jonas Walden ended up splitting the difference at like 106-5. I don't have the figure in front of me. But I believe it was 10, 6'5, and I know it split the difference. And I just said this is someone who brings that home run hitting ability to this running back room. It's not to knock anyone else. I believe that there are going to be big plays there because I believe this offensive line is going to be better than whatever Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price ran behind. But do not underestimate the ability of Joe Naz Walton.

speaker-1: Nah.

speaker-0: As a true freshman, I'm dead serious. If ⁓ I'll just I'll I'll leave it at that. And then I also will say Peter Young is one of my favorite players ever recruited.

speaker-1: Yes, I th that's what I was about to say. We gotta bring we gotta say something about young here.

speaker-0: I just I think that we we look at him as this stumper because he's an imposing figure, right? He's he's you know, he's yeah, he ran a 10 six ⁓ in in the state championship, Jonas Walton did. So thank you, Cole, for that. I I I appreciate the clarification there because it was driving me crazy. But Keijan Young, I mean, he is north of 230 pounds, probably entered into camp last year a little bit heavier than what he should have been. It's not because he was, you know, lazy or doing the wrong things. It was just like, let's let's bulk this up. Throughout the football season, you're gonna lose some weight. But all you gotta do is look at his tape and you tell me if that's not someone that could contribute to your running back room. And and then I'll I'll pass off to you. I I mean, I'm not inclined to forget about Javion Osborne either, just because he was injured throughout spring ball. Yeah.

speaker-1: Trim off. Yeah.

speaker-0: This running back room is gonna have so many storylines for the entirety of August. I mean, it is it is all gonna be put on the table. My big question is does Juwan Sider decide to roll with his prototypical two running back rotation? Or does he pivot and make a change and s and kind of lean into the Dylan McCollow philosophy?

speaker-1: Yeah.

speaker-0: And say I have four or five guys that can do different things really well in their own right. I don't know. But I I I personally right now, Connor, I'm leaning on the ladder. I think that he has to tap into the talent that he has available to him and there's no ignoring it.

speaker-1: This is a great and terrible position to be in. ⁓ this is arguably one of, if not our most talented on paper position groups, especially on the offense, but potentially the whole team. ⁓ as far as Cider's concerned, yeah, you know, your gut wants to go two back set. He loves it. And he's got a great tracker track record with it. It's not like he's out here forcing, you know. Two guys to be featured backs when it's not. Now, with that said, I don't think this is a standard for him. I think ⁓ he's it's very possible he he goes the McCullough route and does a little running back by committee, ⁓ especially early on in the season, because to a degree, Aeneas Williams is your most well, he is your most experienced guy in the backfield, but essentially lost all almost all of last season, you know. By the end of the year, didn't compared to his freshman year, didn't get a lot of production. So it it's not that he needs to prove himself. You just need a a reminder, a refresher of what we're getting. ⁓ and it's not a talent question. ⁓ it's not, you know, does he fit? It's really just what exactly is he going to look like? ⁓ so I I could see there being an exploratory period for a couple of weeks just to see who's hitting. You know, and and I I don't think it's beyond cider. If Williams comes out and blows it out of the water that he hands him the reins. And ⁓ un until you show me otherwise, you're the guy. And I could see that happening. A junior with that much young talent behind him. It's n I mean, we've seen this with ⁓ with Estime, you know, number one guy, lot of talent behind him. ⁓ essentially he has a pretty pretty major and sizable effect on those guys' future after he leaves, even. So, like being under Williams' tutelage to a degree, if that's the way this goes, I don't think it's gonna hurt the Irish. But something that ⁓ you identified, but I don't think we called out explicitly, ⁓ each one of these guys does something a little bit different here. ⁓ you know, we've got home run speed, we've got bruiser, we've got complete, completely elusive. I mean, Williams can do just about all of it, but ⁓ You know, we've seen we've seen injuries. I mean, whether it's to love or, you know, Williams last year, ⁓ that it's gonna require if we're still going with a two back set, though then, you know, th second string and third string are are are making the run at it. So I I think this is a good spot to be in. There's a lot of talent, but I used this phrase earlier. This isn't so much like what are we going to get out of this position? It's what is it gonna look like. I expect high production. I expect to be impressed. I just don't know exactly what that's gonna look like yet. We

speaker-0: We we know that production's gonna come from one of those five guys. We know that we could rely on the running back position to be, you know, one of the top 10 in the country. We'll see what the ceiling ends up being. But what we don't know is who is gonna step up at that boundary wide receiver position. The reality is that Micah Gilbert has been with the program in Notre Dame for quite some time now, and he's shown flashes, both in games, but definitely in practice. Yeah. I was expecting him to kind of take lead of this position and take hold of it throughout spring ball. And the reality is that just did not happen. And so a major storyline for me is going to be the battle between Quincy Porter and Micah Gilbert. And I'm going to go out on a limb right now and say I think Quincy Porter is going to end up winning that role. Now I understand that. There's some trepidation around the knee. Like, is his knee ready? I I personally I I feel comfortable enough to say that it will be. I think that it'll be active for fall camp throughout the full time. and this August is going to be a very, very big one for him. Now, do I think that Micah Gilbert is still one of the six best receivers on Dunning's roster? Yes, I do. I I absolutely do. But will he take hold of that alpha role? I'm not convinced yet because I have seen plenty of Mikey Gilbert. I haven't seen that much of Quincy Porter. And I know what I have in Micah Gilbert right now. Can he prove me wrong? Absolutely he can. But there's not a whole lot of five star wide receivers from Ohio State that come to campus at Notre Dame. And you just have this funny feeling. And I watched tape of him like a Saito ⁓ two days ago. It was like a random day. ⁓ it was like throughout my work day. Do not tell work. I mean, it was like five minutes, whatever. ⁓ and and and the long stride that he has, the comeback route that seems to be the prevailing route that he had a ton of success with. I just think that that lends itself.

speaker-1: I was about to say.

speaker-0: to success in the Mike Denbrock offense. And I I think that this is ⁓ a a battle in which Quincy Porter might end up getting the nod here. What say you?

speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, ⁓ especially in that battle, like you said, Gilbert's a known commodity. We know what we're getting out of him at a floor. to say we don't know what the ceiling is. I mean, he he is a talented wide receiver. So there's a there's a decent shot. He sh he shocks us or surprises us when he kind of came out ⁓ his freshman year and played better ball than I had anticipated. ⁓ that also is to say, some not to change the subject, but there's another second stringer here that is in the same class as Micah Gilbert that we have seen even less of. And that's Cam Williams. And I'm wondering how that's going how what kind of role he's going to end up having in this receiving core. Because you've got Faison who's who's in front of him. You've got Quincy Porter and then Micah Gilbert. And you've got another interesting ⁓ prospect that we will we'll discuss here. But Jaden Greathouse. I mean, there's there's a good amount of names here. Now, there's nobody that's hands down like you're not taking that guy's spot ⁓ across the board or, you know, all on the field at the same time. So there's openings here for people to make noise, to make a name for themselves, to have a breakout season. Frankly, we're counting on that to a degree. We we need one, likely two. But ⁓ I think Porter's honestly in a pretty comfortable spot. ⁓ we'll see how the rest of the the backups ⁓ across the the wide receiver group go. And that'll tell us a little bit more about how much playing time Gilbert's going to have. ⁓ you know, if he's if he's riding a hot hand but it's not hotter than Quincy Porter's, they'll find a way to get him on the field.

speaker-0: If you ask Phil Steele where Notre Dame's wide receiver room ranks overall, and Phil Steele is widely respected. I understand that this isn't that it's disrespect to him, but he says that Notre Dame's wide receiver room is 38th in the country. And I think the reason that he's saying 38th in the country is because he is seeing the returning talent. He looks at Jordan Faison and Jane Greathouse. Not returning talent, but returning production. When you factor in the upside of the talent that is there, I I think Cam Williams is absolutely a member of that discussion. He belongs at that table to talk about. Yes. And there may very well be conversations that come from Fall Camp about him.

speaker-1: I want that to be the case for the rest of the

speaker-0: I absolutely do too. Because when when Cam Williams was originally recruited, let's not forget he was, if I'm not mistaken, he was a five-star by some

speaker-1: And he was the highlight of our receiving class. So all you know, Saldate, ⁓ Gilbert were all behind you know, behind him. He he really had all the all the talk was about Cam Williams.

speaker-0: What we need to see though from this wide receiver room, it doesn't just, you know, it it's not just about those young, talented wide receivers, the Bubba Frasers of the world, which yeah if it and this is from Irish Frake down, I can't attribute this to myself, but Irish Frake down have reported that he literally went asked about freshmen that were standing out throughout spring ball, Bubba Fraser was brought up either prompted or unprompted first. Every single time, or most every single time. This is a guy that you can't sleep on. And at the end of the day, these are do or die fall camps for the likes of Micah Gilbert, Cam Williams. You know, like you have to be able to take that next step as a wide receiver and find your way into the step chart. How do you become one of the six best receivers that are in this rotation? Mike Brown's going to have to figure it out. It is a massive year for Mike Brown. Like he he is going to have his work cut out for him. ⁓ and there's going to be a lot of pressure on him. There's going to be a lot of eyeballs on him because what needs to happen throughout this entire wide receiver room is more consistency. There were too many times in which CJ Carr was making his primary read, and then the secondary read on the backside wasn't running the route. At full pace, wasn't running it with conviction, wasn't selling out, making the defense have to take that into account. All of a sudden, CJ Carter makes his check down to the second read and the ball gets dropped, or the receiver's not ready. That cannot happen. It is year three in Mike Brown's wide receiver room. This is his now. We have to see that next step. This is one of the 10 best and highest. Paid wide receiver coaches in the country. And it was that case when he was at Wisconsin. You know he's getting paid better now. Although Notre Dame doesn't disclose all the details of that, it's time for that to come to fruition. The same way that I think that it might be coming to fruition for Joe Rudolph, another coach that I've been extremely critical of. ⁓ and I think rightfully so. The reality is though, Connor, there's plenty of plenty of discussion points. when it comes to that wide receiver room right now. I think that the number one though is gonna be that battle between Quincy Porter and Micah Gilbert. And I'll tell you another battle that's got me thinking more than I probably should be. Maddie Augustine is probably going to beat out Sullivan Absher for that right guard role that unfortunately Charles Jagasal will be absent for, in my opinion, throughout the season. And that This is not to gloss over the Charles Jagasaw situation. I feel absolutely horrible for him. This is a very unfortunate situation. At one point, we were having a conversation about is Charles Jagasau the best right guard in the country? Now we're having a conversation of is Charles Jagasaw ever going to play football again? Now I think he will. I I absolutely do. I Don't think it's going to happen before November. And if it happens in November, I'll be pleasantly surprised. So, given that, you are now left with a very interesting situation. If you're Joe Rudolph, which he's no stranger of in his entire tenure at Notre Dame, it's always been something interesting like this: an i an injury issue, a a a a depth piece that you have to figure out. You have to move these chess pieces around. In a way in which I think that Joe Rudolph has actually mismanaged from time to time. He always arrives to the correct conclusion, but it's

speaker-1: Eventful.

speaker-0: Eventually. Now, I I think that he has arrived to the correct conclusion up to this point. And there is way too much buzz about Matty Augustine for me to say that he's not going to be the starter going into week one against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

speaker-1: To your point about Rudolph and and playing guys out of position, a lot of it was out of necessity. ⁓ unfortunately, there were some misreads there for sure. ⁓ but outside of Jagasaw, this feels like the first time, at least for me in recent memory, where I feel like w we should have guys playing their natural positions or their preferred positions. A big part of that is Will Black stepping up left tackle. And then allowing nap to move back over inside to guard. ⁓ I I just think it'll it'll open up a lot of stuff here to just have guys barring injury, to have guys playing their natural position, because we've seen it. The talent, I mean, the talent on the offensive line for Notre Dame has hasn't been in question for a while. Even if it's all out out of sorts. Guys aren't in the right spot. They're not performing well. The talent isn't what's being questioned. We have the talent for this. It's they're finally going to be playing their natural position. And I feel like out of necessity, it's been a while since we've seen them fully comfortable. And outside of Jagasau, there's a decent chance we start the season with everybody where they're supposed to be, un until ⁓ God willing, nothing happens. ⁓ but Yeah, I mean it it's encouraging ⁓ up front. ⁓ again, I think ⁓ I think Rudolph, not as much as Mike Brown, is in a similar tangential position of we know who you are, we know what you can do, and and we've seen bits of it, but I need you to string this together for 12 to what 16 games ideally. ⁓ it that's that's his next step as far as these position group coaches. Brown's got a much bigger one. ⁓ to your point earlier, he he really was a stabilizing factor coming in for for the wide receiver room. That was in shambles. ⁓ guys leaving that I didn't think were gonna leave. ⁓ it was rough. ⁓ but thankfully the offensive line isn't out of sorts. ⁓ they're recovering. And now everybody should be in a prime position to start the season off on their best foot. ⁓ again. Outside of Jagasaw, ⁓ in a way that we haven't really had the opportunity to see for the last few years.

speaker-0: Yeah, absolutely. There there will be many, many reports, in my opinion, whether there's open practices or not about that offensive line and how they perform throughout throughout the entirety of August. And ⁓ I'm very much looking forward to it. And I I I you know, I of course we could talk about every individual player for the entirety of this episode, but can't do it, right? Can't do it because we've got to save some meat on this bone. You know, we were talking about the running back position. The production is going to end up eclipsing what Jadarian Price and Jeremiah Love were able to produce and yield onto the field because I believe that now at the tight end position, you have these inline blockers that are going to be a massive, massive factor in this run game. And it's one that we sleep on too much. Cooper Flanagan took this screen cam personally. And that is one of the most prevailing storylines that came out of Springfall is Cooper Flanagan is pissed off at everybody. And and and and that's a beautiful thing. And and I we have seen Cooper Flanagan at full go. This is a guy that could absolutely be an asset within that run game. You also have James Flanagan, who I believe is one of the most prototypical tight ends that you could ever draw up for Notre Dame from an inline and also a vertical threat perspective. All that is good and well. But the number one storyline for me is I think Ian Primer is going to end up taking hold of the tight end one position. And one of the biggest reasons for it is because he really is the reports that are coming out of already summer camp and summer workouts, is that. He is physically ready. We saw the film. He is my favorite recruit that Notre Dame got in the 26th class. And there's a damn good reason for it. Ian Freemer is that vertical threat. And in order to get the most out of Cooper Flanagan and James Flanagan, in order to get the most out of 12 personnel, which I happen to just believe Notre Dame is going to be running a lot of, because There's been whispers that they kind of mirror themselves after the after the LA Rams. Well, you look at an LA Rams game, they play two tight end set at almost every opportunity that they can get. And this is a criticism of of ⁓ Mike Denbrock, but it's also just an adjustment point for him, too. I think he's one of the best offensive coordinators in the country, absolutely, and he's paid like it. The thing that Mike Denbrock has to just improve upon.

speaker-1: Hands down.

speaker-0: Is if you're going to run 12 12 personnel, you have to have those two tight ends as a constant threat. I know Cooper Flanagan can be that threat. The reality is, though, is he becomes more of a threat with the in-premer on the field. I know James Flanagan can really more than serviceably catch the football vertically. I know that he can bully people attached to the line. It was as a as a as an attached tight end. But the thing about Ian Freemer that he brings is the next factor. And I'm sorry, but I've seen this happen too many times to say Ian Freemer, it's going to take him a couple of months for him to see the football field and to step into that starting role. Fair enough. That's fine. I'll grant you that. But I'm hearing similar whispers on Ian Freemer that I've heard about Michael Mayer. That I've heard about Kyle Hamilton, that I've heard about Jeremiah Love. This isn't a normal true freshman. And people might point to the fact that, ⁓ no, he he wasn't there for spring ball. It's gonna take us some time to get ready. But guys, I'm ⁓ all the people that I just listed, they weren't there for spring ball either. They weren't early enrollees. They were there and arrived for summer workouts. And by the way, same for Leonard Moore, I'm pretty sure, and same for Benjamin Morrison. Ian Freemer is going to end up, in my opinion, being one of the most impactful offensive weapons that Notre Dame has. Whether that means he's tight end one, tight end two, or tight end three on the dev chart, I don't care.

speaker-1: Well, first off, hot take. Love it. ⁓ I I see it, you know. I I I think that's a possibility. but for the tight end group, not really knowing what the wide receivers are gonna look like and who's gonna step up for us, you know, there is no obvious guy ⁓ in the wide receiver group that is going to be, you know, the stud that attracts double attention, you know. So this means we're going to need more action from the tight ends for car than than last season, I would even say. We still didn't really know what we were gonna get from the wide receiver room there, but I think we have a better idea of what these tight ends can give us. Everybody stays healthy. ⁓ there's a decent shot we see two, maybe three of them eclipsing several wide receivers in yardage by the end of the year, just based on usage. You've got several options here that are are, you know, are more limited ⁓ in provability, what we know we're gonna get out of them. So this tight this tight end group coming to this stage, going into fall camp, this is arguably the best possible position this group has been in in the last several years.

speaker-0: Yeah, well and we'll see how it all unfolds. ⁓ there there's no doubt about it. But all you gotta do is look back to what Marcus Freeman had said in that media scrum that they have. This is not like a new thing, by the way. Like this has gone on for a a a couple of years, a handful of years. Where they'll have that open media talk. Some things are on record, some things are off record. But one thing that was on record is he's looking for someone in that position group to step up. Do you think that that was by mistake? Do you think it's because he has a bunch of scrubs in that room? No. It's because he knows that there is someone capable of taking hold of that tight end one alpha position. And it's something that maybe they've they've missed to a degree. I I wouldn't say that Eli Ritter was a slash by any means. But the re the reality is, is that is a position that can absolutely move the needle for Notre Dame this year, even in the absence of these explosive weapons of Jadar Jadarian Price and Jeremiah Love. And by the way. Anybody that looks at a Mike Denbrock offense and they can cherry pick certain seasons in which the tight ends really didn't have that much play the year of Durham Durham Smith, you know, maybe a little bit of Alize Mack. That's fine. But the reality is Mike Denbrock is always going to adapt with the talent that he has. And I believe that Ian Primer is one of those people that makes Mike Denbrock reevaluate and say, hmm, my offense has an X factor here. At the tight end position. And that about wraps it up for today's show. We want to thank you for tuning in to First to Gold Podcast presented by Irish Trivian, where we take you beyond the goal line with independent Notre Dame football coverage. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like the video, leave a comment or review, and follow us on all social media at the handles listed below. We would greatly appreciate it as it helps promote the growth of our show, and we'd love for you to grow along with us.