It’s been a wild week for the Notre Dame football program already, and it’s about to get wilder. With the NFL Draft now in full swing, the annual spring Blue-Gold Game seems like it’s getting lost in the shuffle a little bit. So let’s talk about it a little bit.
As with every spring game, there are some things that are more important than others to pay attention to, and I have a list of five of those things for this year’s game.
QB BATTLE
Having a quarterback battle that isn’t for QB1 is one of the more relaxing position battles you can have. With that said… I want to see some differences — I want to see some separation. Blake Hebert and Noah Grubbs are battling it out right now, and I want to see if one of them is able to look like a clearcut QB2 until Teddy Jarrard gets on campus in June. This way the battle in fall camp is less congested and, perhaps, more fruitful.
GRAY’S PROGRESS
I want to see what Christian Gray is up to. Is this whole thing with him at nickel just a typical spring story in disguise, or are the Irish going to legitimately use him as the starter at the position? I see no real reason to doubt them, so I want to see as much as I can of how Gray takes ownership of this opportunity.
OFFENSIVE LINE COHESION
It’s weird that we are almost completely sweeping under the rug the fact that two guys (Ashton Craig and Charles Jaguar) on the line that would be starters if healthy — but here we are. Given the injury history of the two, the starting five that go out there are likely to be the five that start for the Irish. So… I want to see how they work together. What’s even more intriguing about this is the old faces in new places. This unit will be the key to the entire Irish offense this year.
CARR’S CHEMISTRY WITH HIS WR’S
CJ Carr is primed for a Heisman type of season, but that will only happen if his receivers are locked in to what he’s trying to do out there. The Irish have a good deal of talent at the position, but a lot of it is young or new to the program. In a game like setting, I want to see what kind of chemistry Carr has with this group, and how much trust he has in his targets.
RUNNING BACK PLAY
We just witnessed two Notre Dame running backs that were picked in the first round of the NFL Draft. There is a massive void to fill at the position. The Irish are dealing with some injuries at the position this spring, but I want to see how much we can trust the Irish running game with the ball in their hands — whether that be Nolan James or Jonas Walton or whoever. The bar is high, but at this point, I just want to see who is striving to reach that bar.
