As we head into spring practice it is time to look at the Irish offensive roster.  Questions abound for the Irish offense.  How healthy is Dayne Crist and how much of the offense will he be able to absorb without doing live team drills?  How will the backs adjust to the new offense?  Who will emerge at the wide receiver position alongside Michael Floyd?  How are the tight ends going to be used in this offense?  Are the young and talented linemen ready to emerge as serious contenders for starting positions?  Who is going to play where on the offensive line?  How will Coach Kelly adapt his offense to the talent of the Irish roster?

There is plenty of talent across the board.  At each position you will find high school All-American’s and players considered some of the nation’s “elite” recruits.  But for whatever reason over the past few seasons that has not translated into consistent success.  There have been flashes of brilliance but there just has not been the overall consistency, especially in the red zone, to make Notre Dame one of the nation’s premier offenses.  There is even more intrigue heading into this spring as the Irish must adapt to new coaches, a new scheme, and likely for some a new position.  What is more is the Irish lost their top two playmakers from last year’s team (Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate) and must replace three starting offensive linemen (Eric Olsen, Sam Young, Paul Duncan). 

Here’s my take on the Irish offense as we head into the spring:

QUARTERBACK:

Dayne Crist, 6’4, 235, Junior, Sherman Oaks(Notre Dame)CA
Tommy Rees, 6’3, 195, Freshman, Lake Forest(HS)IL
Nate Montana, 6’4, 200, Concord(De La Salle)CA 

After seven years of Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen (with a few minor stop gaps in between) the reigns of the Irish offense will be handed to sophomore Dayne Crist.  After redshirting in 2008 Crist served as Clausen’s backup this past fall.  He played quite a bit against Purdue and got some throws in against Washington State before hurting his knee.  Crist did not light the world on fire but did show the big arm and athleticism that made him so highly regarded as a prep player.  The touchdown pass he threw against Washington State was as good of a pass as you will ever see.  The talent is there, Crist just has to stay healthy, improve his mechanics, and gain the experience needed to carry this year.  The injury will keep him out of team drills but expect to see Crist get significant reps during 1-on-1 and 7-on-7 periods.  Also expect to see the staff working diligently with Crist during individual periods to continue to improve his mechanics and the mental part of the game.  If he settles into the starting role and stays healthy I expect to see Crist have a good spring throwing the ball which will buoy him into a successful 2010 season.  The key for him is his health.  He is a born leader with great physical skills, but he cannot lead this team to a championship while on the sideline.

Tommy Rees’ early enrollment and the return of Nate Montana certainly helped the depth for the spring practices.  Rees fits the offense well with his moxy, release, and smarts.  Montana is a nice number three to have in this situation.  He has experience being at Notre Dame and did some good things in the last spring practice he participated in.  Between Rees and Montana (as well as walk-ons Brian Castello and Matthew Mulvey) the Irish should have enough capable bodies to run all the team periods they want to run.  That experience should be key for Rees and Montana, with the other individual and group periods (7-on-7, 1-on-1, inside run periods) being where Crist will be able to develop in Coach Kelly’s offense.

RUNNING BACK:

Armando Allen, 5’10, 200, Senior, Opa Locka(Hialeah-Miami Lakes)FL
Robert Hughes, 5’11, 234, Senior, Chicago(Hubbard)IL
Theo Riddick, 5’10, 195, Sophomore, Manville(Immaculta)NJ
Jonas Gray, 5’10, 220, Junior, Beverly Hills(Country Day)MI
Cierre Wood, 6’0, 218, Sophomore, Oxnard(Santa Clara)CA 

This is the final season in the careers of both Armando Allen and Robert Hughes.  Over the past three seasons both Allen and Hughes have shown flashes of developing into standout backs.  Last fall Allen got off to a huge start before and injury (and the decision to de-emphasize the run game) slowed him down for the remainder of the season.  Allen should benefit a great deal from the shift to Kelly’s offense.  The new offense will spread the field and create more creases for Allen to use his speed to exploit.  Allen is the second all-time leading receiver for a running back and I expect to see Coach Kelly utilize Allen’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.  Hughes should serve as a great change-of-pace back behind Allen.  Coach Kelly’s offense should create more room to run for Hughes as well as allowing him to use his patience to exploit creases.  Hughes can also catch the football quite nicely out of the backfield, as we saw against Washington last fall.  He has to improve his blocking skills, which is a big part of the Kelly offense.  Two things I am going to look for this spring is how is the rotation works out between Allen and Hughes as well as whether or not Coach Kelly is going to try to get Allen and Hughes on the field at the same time.  Losing Crist for the spring should allow the coaches to spend more time working on the run game during team periods.

With the news that Theo Riddick is going to get some time in the slot it will be interesting to see how the staff is going to get him touches.  It makes sense to try this out for the spring.  Riddick is a talented young player but he will not beat out Allen and Hughes.  So you do not want a young player with his ability sitting on the sideline for 60 minutes.  Putting him in the slot should allow the staff to get him touches on screens, quick throws, reverses, and by motioning him into the backfield.  Cierre Wood is a young man who I am extremely interested to see develop this spring.  I believe he came into camp too big last fall and was not ready to push for playing time.  I expect to see Wood slimmed down a bit and to see the coaches push him this spring.  Wood is a quick player and has very good vision.  This offense will fit his skill set nicely.  He must remain patient, and if he proves to be as talented as we all hope, it will be imperative for the Notre Dame coaches to figure out ways to get him touches.  If he is ready to go it would not surprise me to see both Wood and Riddick returning kicks.  Jonas Gray is an interesting young man in this offense.  I do not believe Gray fits the Kelly offense quite as well as the younger players.  Gray is a tough runner with excellent perimeter speed, but he is not super shifty and does not show great vision.  If he improves in those two areas then he certainly will push for playing time.  Gray must really step up his ability to block.  He was not good in this department and that alone could keep him off the field in Coach Kelly’s offense. 

WIDE RECEIVER:

FLANKER:

Michael Floyd, 6’3, 220, Junior, St. Paul(Cretin-Durham)MN
Shaquelle Evans, 6’1, 203, Sophomore, Inglewood(HS)CA
Barry Gallup Jr., 5’11, 190, Senior, Wellesley(Belmont Hill)MA 

SPLIT END:

Duval Kamara, 6’5, 218, Senior, Hoboken(HS)NJ
Deion Walker, 6’2, 193, Junior, Christchurch(HS)VA 

SLOT:

John Goodman, 6’3, 203, Junior, Fort Wayne(Bishop Dwenger)IN
Tai-ler Jones, 6’0, 182, Freshman, Gainesville(HS)GA
Robby Toma, 5’9, 175, Sophomore, Laie(Punahou)HI 

These positions are simply my best guess at who will play where in Coach Kelly’s offense based on what I have seen from his offense in the past.  The success of the Notre Dame receiving unit starts with Michael Floyd.  When he plays Floyd is the best receiver in the country.  If you take the stats he put up in 6 ½ games he played in and project them over 12 games Floyd would have finished with about 81 receptions, 1468 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns.  I see Floyd playing a similar position to Mardy Gilyard.  This allows Floyd to continue to play outside quite a bit, where he can use his tremendous deep skills, but also gives the staff the flexibility to move him inside at times where they will be able to get him even more touches and allow him to use his strength and after the catch skills to make even more plays.  What he will need to do this spring is quickly adapt to the system (schemes and formations), continue to get healthy, improve his consistency as a blocker, and emerge as a leader of this offense.

I have Duval Kamara emerging at the split end position, which is what I call the position Armon Binns played last fall.  This position requires a bigger player and a player who can excel in one-on-one situations.  Kamara’s strength, size, and athleticism lend nicely for this position.  Kamara has been an underachiever up to this point in his career.  Partly because of the fact he was not coached well, but primarily because he failed to put in the work to truly become the player he is capable of being.  If that changes this winter and spring he will go out with a bang.  Think Maurice Stovall.  Promising freshman season, disappointed greatly as a sophomore and a junior, and emerged as an All-American candidate as a senior thanks to a new staff and an improved attitude.  If Kamara follows that path mentally and with his work ethic expect to see him have a big senior season.  The size and skills are there, he simply needs to regain his confidence and put in the work.  He’s huge, strong, athletic for his size, and a great blocker.  This offense also will do what he needs, and that is get him touches early to help build his confidence.

I am giving John Goodman the early edge at the slot position, which is what D.J. Woods played last fall.  Goodman showed flashes last fall as a sophomore.  If he earns the starting job he will likely get more consistent playing time this spring, which should help him gain consistency.  Goodman is an intriguing talent for Coach Kelly and I look forward to seeing how the new staff uses him.  In the slot Goodman has the speed to attack deep on seam routes, flag routes, post routes, and deep crosses.  He also has the speed and shakes to make big plays on quick throws, shallow crosses, and the bubble screen.  This spring he has to continue to get stronger, refine his technique, and gain some confidence. 

Kamara and Goodman are not assured of starting spots and it is not because they aren’t talented players.  It is because behind them there are also some very talented players.  Freshman Shaquelle Evans is a talented kid with a great body, good speed, and has the ability to develop into an excellent route runner in time.  He is not the “go up and get it” player that Floyd and Kamara are but he certainly has the tools, once he is developed, to dominate with his route running, speed, and ability to make plays after the catch.  Evans biggest issue is actually developing his route running and being more consistent mentally and catching the football.  He is a versatile kid and if he picks up the offense mentally this spring you could see the staff move him around.  His skill set projects for all three positions and at this point I would assume Evans would be the fourth or fifth receiver on the field when the Irish go to their four and five receiver sets. 

Sophomore Deion Walker is another intriguing player to watch.  Walker is tremendous gifted.  He has great length (6’3, long arms), has very good speed, has excellent agility, and despite his height has the ability to make people miss and make big plays after the catch.  Walker’s biggest issue is he is extremely raw when it comes to the finer points of playing wide receiver.  I put Walker at the split end position because I believe if he develops mentally and fundamentally he will become an excellent one-on-one player.  But with his athleticism and versatility he could truly play any position on this offense.  But with his lack of fundamental development expect to see the Irish staff stick him at one position this spring, let him develop, and then eventually move him around a bit more.  Walker also needs to add strength.  He is near the top of my list of players to watch this spring.  I would not be surprised to see him push for a starting job and at the very least will play alot of minutes in the four and five receiver sets. 

Barry Gallup Jr. could play the split end position or the slot.  He’s a fast player and could really push for time as a kick returner.  It will be tough for Gallup to challenge for serious playing time, but I would not count him out.  I have never quite understood why he did not get more of a chance, he has always impressed me with his athleticism.  Robby Toma surprised many, including myself, by emerging as a contender for playing time as a freshman.  Toma is a pure slot player with the toughness to work over the middle and the athletic ability to beat defenders one-on-one in the slot across the field.  It will be hard for him to continue to beat out the bigger, older (except for Evans and Jones), and more athletic players he will compete for time with, but if he continues to do this spring what he did last fall he will make it hard to keep him off the field.  Freshman Tai-ler Jones is perfectly suited for this offense.  As a freshman I expect to see the staff put him in one position early on this spring while he develops mentally.  I expect to see him work at the flanker or slot position initially.  Jones has to get stronger, but I’m excited to see his speed and quickness.  If he does not push for playing time at receiver do not be surprised to see him push for playing time as a kick returner.  Jones has great upside but he must be patient if he does not earn time right away this spring.  He is talented and when the older players leave he will have a chance to emerge as a starter and a potential star.