Notre Dame All-American hopeful Benjamin Morrison will miss the remainder of spring practice for Notre Dame after undergoing shoulder surgery the University announced on Tuesday. The star corner had been practicing earlier this spring, but will now miss the remainder of spring ball though the team did say that he is expected back for the 2024 season.
The wording of the release is a little ominous with “expected to return for the 2024 football season” as opposed to say something like, “expected to return for fall camp” so expect Marcus Freeman to provide some further clarification the next time he meets with the media or to be question on when Morrison will return by the media.
Notre Dame was already adjusting to life without Cam Hart at corner this spring with Hart off to the NFL. Now they will play the rest of the spring without their other lockdown corner from 2023 on the field. Sophomore Christian Gray and junior Jaden Mickey are locked in a battle to start opposite Morrison in the fall and could get looks in camp in Morrison’s absence. Another option for Notre Dame would be move Clarence Lewis back to the boundary corner position from the nickel spot where Lewis previously played before Morrison forced his way onto the field over Lewis in 2022.
Short term, the loss of Morrison gives some of the young players more reps that they might not have gotten this spring such as Micah Bell. Morrison doesn’t need the reps at this point – he’s already one of the best corners in the country and a potential high 1st round pick next year. Long term, however, the concern is how long Morrison ends up missing. That we won’t know until Freeman provides some more details on the long-term prognosis.
If Morrison is back for the start of fall camp and is starting in College Station in August, the lost time this spring won’t make much, if any difference, for him. If, however, he misses part of fall camp or worse, any games, well then there are bigger concerns for Freeman and defensive coordinator Al Golden to deal with. Missing Morrison in the fall for any games could force Golden and co to alter their ap
