Why Notre Dame is choosing Tosh Baker, not Aamil Wagner, to play left tackle

Joe Rudolph really only had two immediate choices to replace Charles Jagusah. He could have went with his most experienced player at the tackle position, Tosh Baker, or he could have chosen a younger prospect who’s still older than any of the other options outside of Baker and has as much potential in 2024 to be a right side up contributor on either end of the Notre Dame offensive line as anyone who’s currently healthy, Aamil Wagner.

The Fighting Irish’s offensive line coach went with the former.

It wasn’t the experience edge that earned Baker the left tackle nod, though. Wagner is actually staying at right tackle — as evidenced by the media’s observation of Tuesday’s practice, which occurred three days after Jagusah suffered a season-ending right pectoral tear — because he’s looked every bit the part at that particular position since fall camp opened July 31. Actually, since spring practices.

“It was just that Aamil outplayed him in the spring, like he just played better than him, consistently and noticeably better than him,” Rudolph said.

That wasn’t an easy thing for Rudolph to tell Baker.

“It was a tough conversation,” he said. “You’ve just got to be honest, and you’ve got to say, ‘Hey, this is where we’re at.’ And what I love about Tosh is he was like, ‘Hey man, I want a chance to compete and take that back.’ He wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m leaving. I’m going here. I’m doing this.’

“These guys got love for each other, and they understand that even though they have had disappointment, Hey, I didn’t do this yet. I’m going to keep competing for it. They also know somewhere in their heart, like, man, that dude went out and did that, with Aamil. It’s their brothers that they’re battling with.”

For Baker and Wagner now, it’s their brothers that they’re playing with. A competition that began before the Sun Bowl in December and went through all of winter conditioning and spring ball and even the beginning of fall camp last week has ultimately resulted in the pair bookending the Notre Dame offensive line 25 days before kickoff at Texas A&M.

Baker on the left. Wagner on the right. That’s the way you’ll probably see them in College Station.

“I think if both of them told you, I think Aamil feels more comfortable at right, just his body,” Rudolph said. “And I think Tosh feels more comfortable at left. So I think that just kind of sorted out accidentally.”

Happy accidents can be a good thing. A very good thing when production is a yielded, harvested byproduct. Baker needs to afford that to his teammates and coaches.

There shouldn’t only be two tackles who can properly protect a quarterback and carve out rushing lanes on a championship-level team. The third-best tackle on a team that thinks it can win it all should be good enough to play as well as the first or second — or at the very least, not significantly and detrimentally worse. Pressure? Plenty of it. Expectations? Meant to be met and exceeded.

It’s almost as if Rudolph is willing that into existence by pouring every ounce of confidence into Baker, a fifth-year senior, that he can. He made it clear Tuesday that though Baker and Wagner were competing for No. 1 right tackle honors as recently as four days ago — with Wagner holding a significant advantage — Baker is not having to look over his shoulder at freshmen Anthonie Knapp, Styles Prescod and Guerby Lambert or junior Ty Chan.

Jagusah is out. Baker is in. Rudolph called the latter “the answer” to the question mark left by the former.

“I totally expect him to step up and own that spot, and so that’ll be what we move forward with in camp,” Rudolph said.

If he doesn’t? All of a sudden, Knapp is in Baker’s shoes of a week ago. He’s Notre Dame’s No. 3 tackle. If something were to happen to Baker or Wagner — injuries, inadequacies or otherwise — it’d probably be Knapp who gets into the starting five along the offensive line.

Lambert is “a little behind” as a summer enrollee, per Rudolph, and Chan has bounced around the back of the depth chart like a pinball ever since he got to South Bend. He’s never taken as serious of a charge into the two-deep as Knapp, who’s one step away from significant playing time just eight months into being on campus.

Rudolph said Knapp’s development has been “pretty remarkable.”

“I just know that he’s really pushing himself up there to say, ‘Hey, I’m here and I’m competing and I’m here for this opportunity. I don’t need to wait years to get there,’” Rudolph said. “So, I think that’s awesome by him. But he’s still working into that role. He has a ways to go, but he’s showing it.”

Rudolph said Knapp’s long-term future is likely at guard. He was asked if junior Billy Schrauth, all 315 pounds of Notre Dame’s current starter at right guard compared to the 300ish Knapp and Wagner are currently carrying around, could ever move outside if the situation at tackle was dire enough to warrant such a move.

Rudolph did not sound keen on the proposition.

“I just think you just make sure that you don’t weaken one thing to help another,” he said. “And so, that’ll be an assessment. I would say anything’s a possibility, for sure, but that would be a reason to not do it if you thought that would be the case.”

It was still a fair question. There isn’t ever just one contingency plan for a serious injury. If senior quarterback Riley Leonard got nicked up, for example, junior Steve Angeli wouldn’t be the only option to replace him. There would be murmurs for sophomore Kenny Minchey and even freshman CJ Carr, just as there were people calling for Wagner to left tackle and an open competition at right tackle.

But for now, in what is still the immediate aftermath of the Jagusah injury, Notre Dame is dead-set on Baker at left tackle and Wagner at right tackle. The most investment the Irish put in that, the better the outcome could be.

So that’s Rudolph’s route, one that places supreme trust in his eldest statesman.

“I think he’s got incredible size, incredible length,” Rudolph said of Baker. “He’s got understanding. He understands technique. He understands situational football. He will play physical. He will give you everything he has. Great communicator. I think the guys see him as a leader. I’ve got no doubt about his ability to step in there and do a great job.”

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