Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/311901
ers who are in line for more action this year — and that's not even in- cluding senior DaVaris Daniels, who is expected to be readmitted to sum- mer school after getting dismissed aca- demically for the spring semester, plus the tight ends. With his physical play, Brent can find a niche on special teams before assimilating into the wideout rota- tion. His experience as a running back makes him a prime YAC (yards after catch) candidate down the road. Trumbetti, although undersized at defensive end with his 6-3, 250-pound frame, also benefitted from going through the 15 spring sessions in which he was active and productive, even lining up with the first unit on occasion. Part of his participation was that Okwara was not adjusting well initially to new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder 's system that had him move to a down lineman's posi- tion. By the second half of spring, Ok- wara was beginning to blossom. Early on, Trumbetti was on pace to be the No. 1 surprise of the spring, but head coach Brian Kelly didn't want to lavish praise prematurely, other than to say the defense is searching for all hands on deck when it comes to edge pressure. "He's got a great motor," Kelly said of Trumbetti. "He's got pretty good football instincts. He has that and he has opportunity. If we had a little bit more depth at that position we prob- ably wouldn't be talking about him. "He's physically mature enough to go in there and mix it up a little bit. I'd probably tap the brakes on the An- drew Trumbetti deal. He's a young kid. Generally what happens is that it catches up with them a little bit. He's done really well, but it's a lot for him. There's a lot going on out there." Still, Trumbetti has positioned him- self to be in the 2014 two-deep. With Morgan, it's about opportu- nity knocking at Mike linebacker. Many people might find it hard to believe that a former preferred walk- on, senior Joe Schmidt, is the starter, but he earned high praise this spring both from Kelly and VanGorder for his knowledge, leadership and pro- duction. Meanwhile, senior Jarrett Grace is attempting to recover from two major leg surgeries the past six months, and his status this fall is uncertain. Sopho- more Michael Deeb, who split time with preferred walk-on Austin Larkin behind Schmidt this spring, did not play last season. Morgan does not arrive as the na- tion's top linebacker prospect like Jaylon Smith last year. Plus, the Mike position on the inside is more diffi- cult than playing off the edge the way Smith did last season. Thus, expecting a Smith-like impact from Morgan is likely unrealistic. Furthermore, while Schmidt's 230-pound frame is consid- ered relatively small, Morgan has been listed at 223. Nevertheless, at minimum Morgan likely will be on special teams while vying for action at Mike linebacker. With Watkins, breaking into the two- deep at corner will be difficult with the presence of junior KeiVarae Russell, sophomores Cole Luke and Devin But- ler (both of whom played last year), and fifth-year senior Florida trans-