- First thing that jumps out is Walls has taken over the starting left corner spot from Wooden. It’s really only been a matter of time before Walls was a starter.
- No clues at the QB position as Weis has them listed in order of class.
- 13 freshman are on the depth chart already – Jimmy Clausen, Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, Duval Kamara, Golden Tate, Mike Ragone, Matt Romine, Taylor Dever, Ian Williams, Kerry Neal, Brian Smith, Harrison Smith, and Brandon Walker.
- In fact, only five freshman are NOT on the depth chart – Gary Gray, Andrew Nuss, Emeka Nwankwo, Steve Paskorz, and Aaron Nagel. Note: Gray would very likely be on the depth chart if it wasn’t for his hand injury.
- 22 sophomores are listed giving Notre Dame 35 underclassmen on the depth chart.
- On the flip side, just seven true seniors are on the depth chart – Junior Jabbie, Justin Brown, Maurice Crum, Anthony Vernaglia, Leo Ferrine, Terrail Lambert, and J.J. Jansen.
- Armando Allen, James Aldridge, and Junior Jabbie are all listed as “Or” as the backup tailback which suggests all will get carries.
- Notre Dame can actually fill out a 2 deep along the offensive line with capable players – it’s been a while since that’s happened. It’s also been a while since there hasn’t been players listed at multiple spots.
- Of the six offensive linemen from last year’s class, only Chris Stewart and Bartley Webb are not on the depth chart.
- Thomas Bemendefer, who just received his scholarship last week, is listed as the backup center.
- Weis has 7 wide receivers listed which suggests he is comfortable playing all 7. That should be a very comforting thought to anyone who remembers the five “wide receiver” sets last year which had Carlson and Darius Walker as wide outs.
- Will Yeatman is listed as the #2 tight not – not Konrad Reualnd like most speculated.
- Kerry Neal and Brian Smith are both listed as the #2 OLB behind Anthony Vernaglia – I will be surprised if one of them isn’t starting by season’s end.
- At the ILB spot next to Crum, Brockington and Toryan Smith are listed as co-starters.
- Notre Dame is four deep at both safety positions – when was the last time that was the case?
- The two man race for place kicker and kick-off duties has Ryan Burkhart as the odd man out right now. Nate Whitaker and Brandon Walker are listed as co-starters at both positions.
- Armando Allen and Golden Tate listed as the top two kick returners – that should lead to a lot of excitement for Notre Dame fans.
both wooden and walls are NOT excellent corners…walls has a chance to prove that he is this year, but at no time last year has he had the opportunity to display excellence. wooden got beat too many times and he also undersized, but quick…a good nickel down CB. I also don’t believe the most important info to come out of CW’s press conference is re: Mr. Hand…are you kidding me?! Mr. Hand’s legal troubles are not over and his actions have only hurt ND’s image. Regardless if he’s innocent or not. Which he obviously isn’t.
The grand inquisitors are what separates ND from other schools. One thing that makes me proud of ND is the fact that when you break the law, you pay dearly. I live in Louisiana, and every week an LSU or Tulane thug gets arrested and has his situation handled in house. These players embarrass their schools and fans, and an example should have been made of Hand to prevent ND from becomming another USC or FSU. I’d rather go 9-3 every year than have a team of criminals who have no business attending such a prestigious school. Good thing he got caught, he probaly would have gotten a staph infection and ruined the whole team.
frank,
1.both wooden and walls are excellent corners and will both see plenty of playing time. with the addition of depth, which has been missing at notre dame for many years, situational rotations of players, whether or not they appear on this depth chart will be the norm, not the exception. the big advantage that lsu and other schools have had in the past is enough depth to rest their starters whil wearing out nd’s starters. the player who starts the game on the 1st series is now interchangeable with multiple backups.
2.since we all trust in charlie and corwin and their staffs and the nd players, the single most important item of information to come out of charlie’s press conference is the news that derrell hand has been reinstated at notre dame and on the team, instead of being burned at the stake by the grand inquisitors, as kyle mcalarney was in 2006 and powers neal in 2005, along with a long list of other victims of the grand inquisitors.
3. i have a strong feeling that charlie weis had something to do with this change since he made it clear that he expected derrell hand and any other notre dame student or student athlete to be treated in the same manner as his own son charlie.
4. eliminating the grand inquisitor system will deprive the schools competing with notre dame for fine students and fine student athletes of the only real weapon they had to use against notre dame;namely, why would you entrust the education of your sons and daughters to a school at which any minor dustup or accusation will get you suspended or expelled by a group of nameless, faceless grand inquisitors who belong in the dark ages?
5. welcome back, derrell hand and congratuations for notre dame for bringing its student disciplinary system into the 21st century at last.
erin go braugh and schlanta,
bob gilleran
wooden cant cover and cant tackle…is it that big a surprise that he’s not a starter? honestly, the kid walls cant be any worse. I’m sure wooden is a nice kid, but man how many times have we seen a ball floating just over his outstretched arms in to the hands of the guy he’s covering..#22 falls to the ground as his guy trots into the endzone? answer: too many