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It’s game week for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as they welcome the Duke Blue Devils to South Bend to kickoff the 2020 season. Notre Dame released their season-opening depth chart — so let’s get into it.
OFFENSE
DEPTH CHART — OFFENSE
| QB | RB | WR | WR | WR | TE | LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | RB | WR | WR | WR | TE | LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| 12 Ian Book | 23 Kyren Williams | 88 Javon McKinley | 11 Ben Skowronek | 3 Avery Davis | 89 Brock Wright | 74 Liam Eichenberg | 69 Aaron Banks | 52 Zeke Correll | 78 Tommy Kraemer | 72 Robert Hainsey |
| 7 Brendan Clark | 25 Chris Tyree | 8 Jafar Armstrong | 18 Joe Wilkins Jr. | 18 Joe Wilkins Jr. | 24 Tommy Tremble | 73 Andrew Kristofic | 76 Dillan Gibbons | OR 75 Josh Lugg | 75 Josh Lugg | 77 Quinn Carroll |
| - | OR 20 C'Bo Flemister | - | - | - | OR 87 Michael Mayer | - | - | - | - | - |
| - | - | - | - | - | OR 85 George Takacs | - | - | - | - | - |
It’s probably important to remind everyone that Notre Dame will certainly use a number of different packages, so the depth chart for the skill players can and will be fluid during the course of the game. With that said... Kyren Williams is the starting running back and Chris Tyree appears to be the next guy off the bench. With the exception of Bennett Skowronek at WR, the rest of the WR depth chart seems flipped upside down from what we had thought prior to fall camp. Javon McKinley sits above Braden Lenzy — but again, that will come with a rotation. Brock Wright is listed as the starter at tight end, though Tommy Tremble will see plenty of action as well. Ian Book and Brendan Clark are right where they should be, while the line looks exactly as we imagined. Josh Lugg will be the first man in at either tackle or guard, and Zeke Correll will back Jarrett Patterson up at center.
DEFENSE
DEPTH CHART — DEFENSE
| VYPER DE | DT | NG | STRONG DE | BUCK | MIKE | ROVER | CB | SS | FS | CB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VYPER DE | DT | NG | STRONG DE | BUCK | MIKE | ROVER | CB | SS | FS | CB |
| 9 Daelin Hayes | 95 Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa | 41 Kurt Hinish | 91 Ade Ogundeji | 33 Shayne Simon | 40 Drew White | 6 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | 4 Nick McCloud | 20 Shaun Crawford | 14 Kyle Hamilton | 26 Clarence Lewis |
| 29 Ovie Oghoufo | 99 Rylie Mills | 54 Jacob Lacey | 19 Justin Ademilola | OR 35 Marist Liufau | 52 Bo Bauer | 10 Isaiah Pryor | 5 Cam Hart | 3 Houston Griffith | 12 DJ Brown | 28 TaRiq Bracy |
| OR 7 Isaiah Foskey | - | OR 56 Howard Cross III | OR 7 Isaiah Foskey | OR 24 Jack Kiser | - | - | - | 16 KJ Wallace | K.J. Wallace | - |
The defensive line is as predictable as the offensive line in terms of knowing who is going to be where. Seeing Isaiah Foskey at both ends tells me the staff trusts in him and wants him out there as much as they can during the course of the game. The BUCK is a bit of a shocker to me. I thought Jorfdan Genmark Heath would lock that down with Jack Lamb backing him up, but now we have Shayne Simon and Marist Liufau battling it out as 1A and 1B — so there is a lot of speed there. Drew White owns the MIKE, although Brian Kelly talked about having a lot of confidence in Bo Bauer. Kyle Hamilton is a superstar at FS, end statement. Shaun Crawford will start alongside Hamilton at strong safety, with Houston Griffith backing him up. There is a little bit of surprise with TaRiq Bracy sharing an OR with freshman Clarence Lewis at corner, while Nick McCloud has shined during fall camp and takes over the other corner spot.
SPECIAL TEAMS
DEPTH CHART — SPECIAL TEAMS
| KICKOFF | PLACEKICKER | PUNTER | LONG SNAPPER | HOLDER | PUNT RETURN | KICK RETURN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KICKOFF | PLACEKICKER | PUNTER | LONG SNAPPER | HOLDER | PUNT RETURN | KICK RETURN |
| 39 Jonathan Doerer | 39 Joanathan Doerer | 19 Jay Bramblett | 65 Michael Vinson | 19 Jay Bramblett | 32 Matt Salerno | 25 Chris Tyree |
| 38 Dawson Goepferich | 38 Dawson Goepferich | 38 Dawson Goepferich | 44 Alex Peitsch | 14 JD Carney | OR Lawrence Keys III | 8 Jafar Armstrong |
Jonathan Doerer and Jay Bramblett are back to resume their roles as starters, but walk-on Dawson Goepferich will back both of them up. Lawrence Keys III wins the punt returner job, and to the excitement of everyone that follows recruiting — Chris Tyree will be back there returning kickoffs. Michael Vinson winning the longsnapping job over Alex Peitsch is another surprise based off of our February thought.