Notre Dame Football: 5 Reasons Why the Irish Should Be Optimistic About 2016
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Despite a flurry of draft departures, there’s plenty of optimism for Notre Dame Football, heading toward the 2016 season.
Yes, offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, wide receiver Will Fuller, running back C.J. Prosise, cornerback KeiVarae Russell and linebacker Jaylon Smith are off to the NFL. But the Irish, coming off a 10-3 season that culminated with a loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, are bringing back some key pieces on both sides of the ball.
Quarterbacks
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Notre Dame’s 2016 outlook rightly starts at the quarterback position. Redshirt sophomore DeShone Kizer and redshirt junior Malik Zaire will both be back, as will talented second-year signal-caller Brandon Wimbush.
Beyond that, who knows?
In his first career start, Zaire impressed in the 2014 Music City Bowl win over LSU. The lefty then picked apart Texas in the 2015 season opener. But after Zaire’s Week 2 season-ending ankle injury, Kizer still managed to keep the Irish within four points of an undefeated regular season. As a redshirt freshman, Kizer completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,884 yards and 21 touchdowns. He threw 10 interceptions.
Regardless of how it shakes out, Notre Dame boasts talent, experience and poise at the most important position.
Experience at Running Back
C.J. Prosise, their 1,000-yard rusher, is gone. But the Irish still return plenty of talent and experience at running back.
As a true freshman, Josh Adams piled up 835 rushing yards on 117 carries (7.1 yards per attempt) and six touchdowns. The sample size isn’t as robust nor the competition (when Adams started) as consistently stiff as other top running backs, but consider the yards-per-carry averages of elite ball carriers such as Dalvin Cook (7.4), Leonard Fournette (6.5), Derrick Henry (5.7), Christian McCaffrey (6.0) and Ezekiel Elliott (6.3), to name a few.
Senior-to-be Tarean Folston is four months removed from the torn ACL he suffered in the first quarter of the season opener against Texas. If he’s back fully healthy, Folston and Adams could combine to form a dynamic backfield, which will also have Dexter Williams returning for his sophomore season.
Talented Second-Year Players
There’s reason to be optimistic about Notre Dame’s rising sophomore class, including those who contributed in 2015 and those who had to sit behind veterans.
Adams and kicker Justin Yoon were two of Notre Dame’s top-producing freshmen in 2015. Yoon drilled 15 of his 17 field goals, including a long of 52 yards against Navy. He shook off misses in the first two weeks against Texas and Virginia and buried his final 12 tries of the season.
Beyond those two, defensive lineman Jerry Tillery, tight end Alize Jones and return man C.J. Sanders contributed in their rookie campaigns. Can they take the next step forward in 2016?
Other names to watch include wide receivers Equanimeous St. Brown and Miles Boykin. Both bring high-end size to the Irish receiving corps, and head coach Brian Kelly said multiple times that St. Brown could have started for some Power Five conference teams in 2015.
Cornerbacks Nick Coleman and Shaun Crawford both flashed in fall camp. However, Crawford—who could’ve contributed as the nickelback in 2015—suffered a torn ACL in August.
Returners from Injuries
Make no mistake. Notre Dame loses plenty from its 2015 team—both through graduation and early exits to the NFL.
But the Irish also bring back pieces from season-ending injuries that were completely (or mostly) unavailable in 2015. Zaire, Folston and Crawford would’ve played primary roles this past season. Tight end Durham Smythe and defensive lineman Jarron Jones were starters too. Offensive lineman Alex Bars and safety Drue Tranquill did start at times and were key rotational cogs.
Offensive Coaching Continuity
Notre Dame averaged 34.2 points per game, which ranked 34th in the country. At various times during the 2015 regular season, Notre Dame also delivered important late-game drives to pull out victories.
The triumvirate of Kelly, associate head coach Mike Denbrock and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford sure appeared to work well for the Irish, which deftly navigated key early-season injuries.
Notre Dame must replace its two best offensive linemen (Stanley and center Nick Martin) and perhaps have three players in new spots if right tackle Mike McGlinchey were to fill Stanley’s void.
However, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand has preached consistency and cohesiveness among the Irish offensive line, and there’s plenty of reason to believe he can mold another strong unit with McGlinchey, Steve Elmer, Quenton Nelson and Bars, among other offensive linemen.
All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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