A gentleman’s review of Notre Dame’s fourth football practice of fall camp

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had its third football practice of fall camp on Sunday, but no media was present. Let’s respectfully take a peek at what went down on Monday with the fourth practice.

OFFENSE

If you’re looking for an incredibly cozy and comforting blanket of confidence about Notre Dame’s 2022 season — you might be walking towards the apocalypse. It was reported that offensive line coach, Harry Hiestand, was heard shouting praise towards the Irish offensive linemen. There are many that are just kind of expecting Notre Dame’s line to be really good this year, and I think they will be, but for any type of success the big boys have to be great out of the gate. So... I guess if Hiestand is happy, I’m happy.

Freshman Tobias Merriweather has had a good share of media attention early in fall camp — and for good reason. The Irish are thin at WR, and Merriweather appears to be a player that can be explosive on the field. Everyone wants this to work.

DEFENSE

Linebacker Prince Kollie was in street clothes for practice, but still went through the drills. The combination of Marist Liufau, Jack Kiser, Bo Bauer, and J.D. Bertrand is going to make it difficult for Kollie, Junior Tuihalamaka, and Jaylen Sneed to get a bunch of time on the field, but they should still field plenty of practice reps during camp. Al Golden loves his veterans, and it's easy to see why with all of that knowledge and leadership on the field.

The two deep of the defensive line is pretty damn impressive, but equally impressive is the amount of guys that can move inside, and how the inside guys can swap between the 1 and the 3. I love Howard Cross and Rylie Mills, and with the star season we expect from Jayson Ademilola and Isaiah Foskey, Mills and Cross are the nuts, whipped cream, and cherry on top IMO.

Freshman CB Jaden Mickey continues to impress. When it’s all said and done, Mickey will be in position to see a lot of time on the field this year. I’m still sold on a Cam Hart and Clarence Lewis combo with TaRiq Bracy at nickel — but I definitely see Mickey as a next guy in.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Chris Tyree is still the most likely kick returner for 2022, but Notre Dame put eight additional players back there to see how they looked as a kick returner. Lorenzo Styles, Tobias Merriweather, Matt Salerno, Deion Colzine, Jaden Mickey, Gi’Bran Payne, and Braden Lenzy all got a shot.

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