Notre Dame Football 2008: An Early Look at the Players to Watch

To add depth at the position, fullback Luke Schmidt is being transitioned into an H-back role. At 6'3", Schmidt certainly has the height for the role.

Offensive Line

According to many, the offensive line was the source of many of Notre Dame's problems last year. The positive news is that Notre Dame now returns five lineman with at least some starting experience from 2007.

The line will be anchored by right tackle Sam Young, now entering his third season as a starter.

The line has also bulked up considerably over the offseason. The poster boy for the new lineman diet is Young, who went from 287 pounds last fall to 330 pounds this spring.

Defensive Line

It's a good thing the 3-4 defense only requires three lineman on the field at one time, because the Irish have very little depth along the line.

Gone are Trevor Laws (graduation), Pat Kuntz (academic issues), and Darrell Hand (medical).

Stepping in are Ian Williams, a freshman All-American, and Justin Brown, who has been a reliable backup and spot starter over the course of his career.

The depth issues have forced Morrice Richardson and John Ryan to move back from outside linebacker to defensive end (their original positions in the old 4-3). Richardson and Ryan will compete for the final starting spot on the line.

That leaves a line that is not only short on depth, but also undersized compared to the ideal 3-4 line. That could be a cause for concern with the defense, especially since it puts more pressure on the linebackers.

Linebacker

Perhaps the biggest addition to the linebacking corps was new coach John Tenuta.

Tenuta's tenacious blitzing no doubt has the young, talented Irish linebackers licking their chops.

However, it caused them to be too aggressive in the spring game, often charging into the backfield only to watch the ball carrier run by them in the other direction. Hopefully that will improve by September.

Maurice Crum is back to anchor the Irish linebackers, joined on the inside by Toryan Smith. Smith began each of the last two seasons in the starting lineup, only to be replaced by Joe Brockington shortly thereafter.

Brian Smith and Kerry Neal broke out as freshman last year, and this year they will start at the two outside linebacker spots.

Also of note is that safety Harrison Smith will move to linebacker this year, possibly setting up an all-Smith linebacker formation (Toryan, Brian, Harrison, and Scott).

Safety

Those who watched Notre Dame closely last season may not argue that David Bruton was the best safety the Irish had. Bruton is back at free safety, and also joins Mo Crum on the Nagurski preseason watch list.

Joining Bruton at safety will be Kyle McCarthy, who saw a good deal of playing time in 2007 as a backup. He will be in the hybrid set where Tom Zbikowski moved to linebacker on passing downs.

Bruton and McCarthy are both hard hitters, so it will be interesting to see if one is called on to play that hybrid linebacker role this year.

Cornerback

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