Notre Dame Football: News And Notes From Culver, Day One

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish kicked off their fall camp this year, at the Culver Academies. Here are some notes and observations from the reports and videos.

Secondary Questions

There are some questions involving the secondary, but it’s actually not bad news. Nick Coleman had an issue with his ankle, which brought the depth chart at safety to light.

What would it take for you to give Julian Love a look back there at safety? Can you afford to do that?

KELLY: Yeah, we can afford to do that. Vaughn has to continue to come on. You’ve got Vaughn, you’ve got Watkins and you’ve got Crawford. So if some scenario comes up with Vaughn and Watkins, now you’ve got two 6-foot-1 corners, maybe Crawford can play nickel, maybe Julian Love can play some safety.

It’s the first day, but if you want to look at who’s the important guy in this mix, it’s probably Vaughn. He’s impressed physically. Now, can he do that over the long haul? Can he continue to do the things we want him to do?

The guys at Irish Illustrated made a good point about this scenario. They see Vaughn as a better fit at safety, should the need arise as opposed to Julian Love. That’s due in part because of Vaughn’s physicality.

A Stable Of Wide Receivers

While Equanimeous St. Brown is the clear leader of the pack, the rest of the depth chart will remain an interesting development - probably through September. As of right now, the 1’s and 2’s look like this:

• Z.... Equanimeous St. Brown / Chris Finke
• SLOT.... Chase Claypool / Freddy Canteen
• X.... Cameron Smith / Miles Boykin

A couple of notable names not on that 2 deep are CJ Sanders and Kevin Stepherson. This may be the most interesting position battle of the camp, because it involves so many parts.

Anchoring The Right Side

While the wide receiver battle may be a bit sexier, the most important position battle is on the right side of the offensive line. Tommy Kraemer continues to take reps as the number one right tackle - and Brian Kelly is also sure to remind everyone that Liam Eichenberg is right there as well, and will get every opportunity.

Throw in a freshman in Robert Hainsey and it is a pure brawl. Kelly can’t keep Hainsey’s name from coming out of his mouth, so there seems to be some traction there.

A Reminder

It was the first day, and there were no pads. We’re excited, and that’s great, but there is still a long way to go to really start to understand where, who, and how on this team.