A gentlemen’s review of Notre Dame’s seventh football practice of fall camp

Man at a gate smoking a pipe, 1951. — Photo by SSPL/Getty Images

Digging in

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have completed seven practices of fall camp — which is about ¹⁄₃ of the entire enchilada. Here are some notes and thoughts after Friday’s gig…

OFFENSE

By all accounts, Chris Tyree is having a really good fall camp. He looks stronger, and is dialed in as a running back. And yet… I can’t help but think that Tyree is going to be needed in the passing game from the slot. It’s been exciting to hear about the progress Tobias Merriweather has made in such a short time, but anytime someone speaks about the wide receivers, the caveat of “as long as they stay healthy” is used quite often. That’s still a scary spot to be in for Notre Dame. Oh by the way… Deion Colzie had a knee brace on and didn’t practice.

The reports of Harry Hiestand being a little more upbeat and positive are true — and I was starting to get a little worried that the Hiestand effect wouldn’t be as effective. Well then I watch Blake Fisher, Joe Alt, Jarrett Patterson, and Zeke Correll absolutely move bodies and I worry less. And for the millionth time… Blake Fisher is just so god damn big.

Logan Diggs is steadily becoming what one might call, “a healthy running back”. He’s putting more and more stress on his shoulder, and it’s not hard to imagine him actually being ready for Ohio State. The Audric Estime destruction of Xavier Watts is expected.

DEFENSE

The linebackers are a powerful bunch, but I fear if some Delilah comes sniffing around, Bo Bauer will cut his incredible hair and then shit will hit the fan. The veteran group is primed for a great year, and while people have been underselling J.D. Bertrand (this includes me) I also think Jack Kiser isn’t getting enough hype.

Now that we have established that Rylie Mills is going to have a dynamic year opposite Isaiah Foskey, we can start to feel even better about NaNa Osafo-Mensah on the strong side as well. The defensive line was already going to be a strength, and it’s looking deeper and deeper as we get through camp.

I’m going to be D.J. Brown’s biggest hype man in 2022, and I’m going to look brilliant doing it.