Hey Horka! Is Chris Tyree locked in as a starting WR for Notre Dame?
Notre Dame is a week and a half into fall camp. Is Chris Tyree a surefire starter for the Fighting Irish? We answer that and much more in another edition of the Hey Horka! BlueandGold.com message board mailbag column.
Are you ready to move Chris Tyree into your starting lineup at slot receiver? — Slevmania
Yep, I think I’m there. And this is coming from someone who was basically out on the guy after the last couple of seasons. This has a lot to do with me disliking who Notre Dame was running out as the starters in the spring, though. You can’t put Tobias Merriweather, Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie in the same starting contingent. There isn’t any physical variety in that lineup.
Tyree is a unique wideout. Notre Dame doesn’t have another one like him. And he has really dedicated himself to this reinvention. He should start, but Jaden Greathouse should work in a lot. That guy just gets open. That’s what you want from a slot receiver.
Follow-up: Is Colzie possibly finding himself as the odd man out in the WR room? — Slevmania
It’s sort of feeling that way, yes, but the opportunity is still there for him. He has something none of the freshmen do; 6-4 3/4 height. He’s got to understand who he could be for this team. Jayden Thomas has earned starter status at boundary, and Colzie is not a fit at the other two receiver spots. But he could very well be the guy who comes onto the field in certain schemes and situations and catches the 15-20 yard, chain-moving pass like we saw at the end of 2022. He’s got to keep it together mentally after getting pushed out of the starting lineup, but he can very much still play a role for this squad.
Complete this sentence: When the depth chart for Navy is released, you will be pleasantly surprised if ________.” — arrowfan624
When the depth chart for Navy is released, I will be pleasantly surprised if Rocco Spindler is actually the starting right guard. Sure, he’s been receiving first team reps. But from what the media has seen all of those have been in individual drills. Andrew Kristofic has seniority and starting experience. If Spindler is named the starter, it will mean he has fully earned it, and that’s a good thing for Notre Dame. You don’t want to just gift the job to somebody by default.
Buy, sell, or hold: the Notre Dame offense as a whole, the wide receivers, defensive line, Marcus Freeman in year two, Luke Talich getting a scholarship by game one? — arrowfan624
I buy the Notre Dame offense. It has a top 10 QB in college football, two NFL tackles, a graduate student center who has looked as good as he ever has, a monster of a running back and a quartet of RBs behind him who could seemingly start anywhere else in the country. That’s a heckuva start. Just need to nail down the go-to pass catchers and starting guards, and this Notre Dame offense is off and running.
Hold on the wide receivers. I’m very, very optimistic, but I have to see it to believe it with such an inexperienced group.
Hold on the defensive line. I think it could be good, but hard for me to go all the way to saying it will be great.
I buy Marcus Freeman in year two. I think the Marshall and Stanford stuff is past him. Notre Dame at least showed up in all three of its big games last year. That will happen again. The bowl game was wacky and South Carolina had a lot of momentum and Notre Dame still won with a QB that threw two pick sixes. That looked good on Freeman. I’m buying his stock, but I’m very much holding on offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. He’s got to show us all something.
I believe Notre Dame only has two scholarships to give out, so I’m selling Luke Talich getting a scholarship before week 0. Hard to imagine one of those coveted schollies goes to a freshman who arrived in the summer over a veteran who has been around the program and is revered by all. Who is that? Not sure. But there always seems to be someone, like Matt Salerno, Michael Vinson, etc.
How many sacks do you project for Jordan Botelho? — ColinP
I’ll say he gets 8. But it wouldn’t shock me if he got 10-12. For a guy like him, they seem to come in bunches. He might have multiple 2.0-sack games again. But he might have a stretch of three or four games where he does not get one. So I’ll go the safe route and say 8.
Are there any noticeable differences in the way Freeman is operating in his second fall camp compared to his first? — Nolnacs
His fiery pre-practice speeches are definitely new. I was standing next to a national media member at a practice last week and when the team finished going through warmups and stretching lines, Freeman called everyone over and had them take a knee. The media member asked, “What is this? Are they done?” And I said, “Nope, this is what Freeman does now.” It’s pretty cool. I think the last thing players need to hear before they go to individual drills and smack each other in the mouth for two hours is a clear message from the head coach.
After watching Notre Dame in fall camp for a week, who do the Irish have the best chance of beating between Clemson, USC and Ohio State? — Xray93
On paper, Clemson. I just don’t like Notre Dame having to go on the road to face a Tigers team that is going to be pissed off at the way last year’s game went. If I’m ranking winnability, all things considered, for those three games … I go USC, Ohio State, Clemson.
I’m definitely in the minority because most believe believe Clemson will continue to fall off, but I’m not ready to go all the way there yet. I like USC and Ohio State as 1-2 because those games are at home, with USC being slightly more winnable because it has a worse defense and its fans won’t travel like Ohio State’s. The best chance Notre Dame has at beating Ohio State is the OSU quarterback situation not being fully figured out by Sept. 23.
Over/under: JD Bertrand 8.5 tackles for loss, Benjamin morrison 5.5 interceptions, Jayden Thomas 55.5 catches, 40.0 yards per punt for Notre Dame? — jrp3
Bertrand o/u 8.5 TFLs: That’s the number Bertrand had last year, second on the team behind Isaiah Foskey. Just another another stat to show he catches too much crap from fans. Without Foskey, I’ll go over. I can see him getting 9 or 10.
Morrison o/u 5.5 INTs: Under. The book is out on him. All great DBs have one big INT season then things seem to settle. Morrison already had his. I think he has 3-4, but they are big ones. Not a trio in a blowout vs. Boston College.
Thomas o/u 55 catches: Over. I’m banging the Thomas drum and I’m not going to stop now. That would be an increase of 30 year over year, but Sam Hartman helps. And I think Thomas has continually gotten better every year. I think Thomas can hit 60.
Bryce McFerson/Ben Krimm o/u 40 yards per punt … Over. Notre Dame has not had a player average below 40 yards per punt since 2019, and Jay Bramblett was still at 39.4 that year.
Who wins the right guard job and who has surprised you good or bad in camp so far? — Irishchef3
I still think Kristofic wins the job. But what we’ve seen and heard this week makes it more plausible to me to see Spindler possibly supplant him within the first month of the season.
Spindler is on that list of surprises. I was always optimistic Jadarian Price would come out and look really good, but it’s at least a little surprising he is in serious contention for the RB2 role. Tyree being the favorite to start in the slot is surprising. It’s clicking really quickly for him. Defensively, Clarence Lewis has been a pleasant surprise giving Thomas Harper all he can handle at the nickel competition. Ramon Henderson continues to be a surprise in a bad way. He has not become the guy I thought he could be after that breakout game vs. Virginia in 2021.
Is it possible Notre Dame will employ a platoon at right guard? — jrp3
Possibility of a platoon is very low. Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph said this week he wants to find five guys and let them roll. Those five guys could change throughout the season dependent on performance, but the odds of it happening on purpose within single games is not very high.
Rank the top four position groups that have to exceed expectations for Notre Dame to make the playoff. — Del2210
DL, LB, S, WR
Defense, defense, defense. I think expectations are already high for the offense, especially at QB and OL, so matching the already high standard will work fine. The defense has to surprise us for Notre Dame to make the playoff.
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