An abysmal 2007 left the Irish faithful with their heads stuck lying in their hands—3-9...at Notre Dame...unbelievable.
What did Charlie Weis do? How could a team like Notre Dame only be able to muster up three wins in an entire season? Well, Charlie bit the bullet in 2007, giving several freshmen valuable playing time, which well aid in the future.
How much of an improvement will we see in 2008?
Expect the offense to start to show signs of why it will be scary in years to come. We now know that Jimmy Clausen was not 100 percent last fall and that there was a reason he looked nothing like what he was hyped up to be.
Note that he did add 15 pounds of muscle this offseason, so expect Jimmy Clausen to be a lot more like the Clausen Notre Dame thought they were originally getting.
The running backs of the Irish are a fearsome bunch, having power, speed, and strength all covered. The question is whether or not the offensive line will be able to block for them, something I covered a few days ago here.
If the offensive line progresses the way it likely should, the offense will be scary. I can not say enough about how important and how much of a question mark the O-line is this year.
The wideouts on the Irish are primarily young but have the talent to be amongst the best in the nation in a few short years. We saw flashes in a pan from Duval Kamara last year while David Grimes was also productive at times.
Expect Michael Floyd to work his way into the starting lineup before the end of the season. Also add in Golden Tate, who can hopefully learn to do a bit more than run straight down field, and Irish quarterbacks will be smiling with their options to throw to.
Tight end is a position where Notre Dame enters 2008 with yet another question mark. John Carlson, who has been an offensive threat for the past two years, is now a Seattle Seahawk, which leaves the Irish with Mike Ragone and Luke Schmidt at the position. Both were highly touted coming in, and the Irish will benefit if they can contribute immediately.
Expect one if not both to have big years with how much ND has used the tight end position as a target so far in the Charlie Weis era.
The defensive line needs to be able to penetrate the offensive line, otherwise the defense as a whole will suffer badly. Trevor Laws, ND's best run stopper up front a year ago, is gone to the NFL. The good news is that the youth that will be up front has talent, it just may be a bit green.
My prediction is that the Irish secondary and linebackers aren't the biggest concern on defense, instead it is the line. There is no doubt that Omar Hunter would have been playing right away had he not chose to attend Florida after committing to Notre Dame.
The linebackers are young as well for Notre Dame, outside of Maurice Crum, Jr. that is. Crum is the senior leader of this defense while others such as Toryan Smith and Kerry Neal saw valuable time a year ago. Factor in freshmen Darius Fleming and Steven Filer and the Irish have begun to add depth to the linebacking corps.
3 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Clashmore Mike 11 months ago
You are right on the money...it will all depend on the offensive line. If the line can do its job....look out. Eight wins is perfectly reasonable and probable. But, I wouldn't be completely surprised to see them heading into the USC game with 10 wins under their belt, considering the schedule and talent that is (hopefully) maturing. With the addition of John Tenuda, ND should be a fearsome defensive force.
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Gordito Mojito 11 months ago
Great Read. Although through no fault of yours, it feels like you listed 80% of whatever sun poked through the clouds last year as departed and filled it with highly touted yet unproven hopefuls.
Who knows what plays into the psyche of a losing team but it would also be nice if Charlie brought them together as a team.
Weiss for whatever reason didn't have it last year. Maybe he was smart enough to treat last year like a painful practice knowing it was over after a single game but I'm not holding my breath. Juniors on down are Charlie's boys and they definitely have some proving to do.
I'm with Clashmore in optimism and possibilities but can fully justify 7-5 or 6-6 based upon last years performance.
Let's hope the storm was darkest before it cleared.
Go Irish!
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Beckster LaPush 11 months ago
This guy can't write and shouldn't. Analysis is shallow and insipid.
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