97 days until Notre Dame football: Can Tosh Baker hold down right tackle?

BlueandGold.com will release a countdown article highlighting a significant Notre Dame football statistic every day until the 2024 season opener at Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 in College Station, Texas. Today, there are 97 days until the Irish and Aggies kick off at Kyle Field.

Notre Dame’s top-two NFL Draft picks in late April were offensive tackles Joe Alt (No. 5 overall to the Los Angeles Chargers) and Blake Fisher (No. 59 overall to the Houston Texans). Naturally, replacing them might be Irish head coach Marcus Freeman‘s most difficult task entering the 2024 season.

On the left side — where Alt once stood — sophomore Charles Jagusah is expected to step in. In Fisher’s place at right tackle, Freeman has not officially named a starter but graduate student Tosh Baker took every first-team rep that reporters saw in spring practice.

Baker produced a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking efficiency rating of 97.6 in 2023, albeit in a limited sample size. He allowed 2 pressures, including a quarterback hit, in 41 pass-protection opportunities.

Pass-blocking efficiency, as PFF describes it, is a “signature stat measuring pressure allowed on a per-snap basis, with weighting toward sacks allowed.” Baker was not credited with a sack allowed this past season, which is why his was relatively high. He ranked second on Notre Dame among tackles, behind Alt (99.1) and just ahead of Fisher (97.4). Again, Baker posted his number in a significantly smaller sample size.

Still, there are concerns about Baker’s viability as a starting right tackle after four seasons as a backup, during which he made four total starts.

During spring practice, Baker was often too slow out of his stance to deal with Notre Dame’s quicker edge rushers like graduate student Jordan Botelho and sophomore Boubacar Traore. Constant pressure off the edge (and Jagusah was not blameless here, either) was a major factor in the defense winning Notre Dame’s “jersey scrimmage” on April 13.

While PFF’s results-based metrics support Baker, it’s qualitative numbers do not. His PFF offense grade was 47.2 in 2023, and in 2021 — the only other year he started games — it was 45.3.

Baker is first in line for the right tackle job, but he’ll have to earn it in fall camp and maintain it throughout the season if he does. Junior Aamil Wagner is nipping at his heels, and if either falter early, summer-enrolling freshman Guerby Lambert is considered a candidate to play sooner than later.

It’s now or never for Baker. He’s entering his final season of eligibility, and to his credit, he’s stuck around as a backup when many would have looked elsewhere in the transfer portal. He and the Irish hope that patience will pay off in 2024.

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