What we learned about the Notre Dame offensive line in 2024 spring practice
Notre Dame’s offensive line is a group in transition, and that was apparent in spring practice.
Gone are Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, who are now officially NFL players. Zeke Correll, a two-year starter at center, left for North Carolina State. Spring ball showed that those who returned could become a strong front five, but offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has some work to do in order to get them ready by Aug. 31.
Here’s what we learned about the Notre Dame offensive line in spring practice.
Right tackle remains a competition for Notre Dame
Graduate student Tosh Baker took every first-team rep over junior Aamil Wagner — at least the ones reporters saw — throughout spring practice. However, so did Andrew Kristofic and Billy Schrauth last spring over Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan. Baker did not do enough to secure the job in spring practice, and Wagner’s performance in the Blue-Gold Game stood out to Blue & Gold analyst Tim Hyde.
“Wow, was Wagner impressive,” Hyde wrote on The Lou Somogyi Board. “Completely different-looking player from the snaps he got in games last year.”
Wagner’s weight prevented him from playing earlier in his career; he’s had the athleticism and fierceness to be a college offensive linemen, but not the size. He’s currently listed at 292 pounds, and his goal is to reach 300 by fall camp. Baker would still have 21 pounds and two years of experience on the junior. Would that be enough to secure him the job?
It shouldn’t. Baker needs to show significant improvement catching up to speed rushers, because that was an issue this spring.
Baker’s dedication to Notre Dame should be commended. There aren’t many college football players who are willing to be backups as seniors, like he was last year. But if Wagner out-performs Baker in fall camp, the Irish will give him a shot.
Jagusah should become a quality tackle, but will that happen quickly enough?
Notre Dame visits Texas A&M in Week 1. The Aggies brought in a transfer edge rusher from Purdue by the name of Nic Scourton, who led the Big Ten in sacks last season with 10. He’s a projected first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Scourton is one of the best players the Irish will face this season, and they’ll task sophomore Charles Jagusah with protecting (probably) senior quarterback Riley Leonard‘s blind side.
There’s ample evidence — recruiting pedigree, player and coach testimonials and flashes on tape — that Jagusah will be a solid to very good Notre Dame left tackle. Whether or not that happens by Week 1 is still up for debate. Jagusah struggled to deal with some speed rushes and graduate defensive end R.J. Oben‘s hand fighting during spring ball, and he’s still a true sophomore who spent much of his freshman season recovering from a knee injury.
Jagusah is developing on a path where he should be a much better player in Week 14 than in Week 1. The issue, of course, is Scourton. The season opener at Texas A&M is a crucial game for Notre Dame to win, and unless Jagusah takes a massive leap between now and then, the Irish might have a tough time in pass protection.
Notre Dame interior line has high floor, but what’s the ceiling?
The Irish are comfortable with at least four interior offensive linemen to fill three spots. Seniors Spindler and Coogan are back after starting all and most of 2023, respectively. Juniors Schrauth and Ashton Craig started the back end of their sophomore season and received good reviews this spring. A fifth, sophomore Sam Pendleton, struggled with snaps when he played center but has some upside at guard.
“He’s way more confident,” junior defensive tackle Jason Onye said about Schrauth. “We’re both big, powerful guys. I feel like he knows — last season, for example, he’d be more keen to not just jump-set, but now, regardless if I’m a three-tech[nique] or a [nose tackle] he’s just going to be out there, power vs. power.
“He’s going to have the confidence to know he trusts his jump set, he trusts his technique, and that’s good.”
Schrauth and Craig, who impressed the coaching staff enough in his late-season action to be handed the starting center job this year, provide the ceiling. Coogan and Spindler provide the floor. They were both serviceable starters last year, and the latter will have a better chance to crack the lineup in fall camp. Spindler participated in spring practice, but he wasn’t 100 percent as he recovered from a torn meniscus.
Notre Dame’s interior offensive line won’t be a liability this season. Even if the Irish deal with an injury or two, they have the depth to survive (Coogan play center if need be). But observers will need to see more in fall camp to believe it can become a legitimate strength.
The post What we learned about the Notre Dame offensive line in 2024 spring practice appeared first on On3.
