Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2017 45 In sophomore Tony Jones Jr. — who started with Adams in the Aug. 20 scrimmage, while St. Brown and Smith were the top two receivers — and junior Dexter Williams, the of- fense has myriad options. Per Kelly, Jones is "extraordinary" at catching the ball, Williams has the best first step and most explosive- ness, while the consistent Adams is a slasher at the second level of a defense. "Each one of them has a different secondary trait other than running the football. They'll all get a chance because we're going to need three backs," Kelly said. "You can't get by a season with two." The fact that Wimbush doesn't have to carry the load should be an asset in itself. "I don't know that we'll ever put it on Brandon to just sit back there and pick the defense apart," Kelly said. "That's not what we're going to ask him to do. We're going to play the game to our strengths." Wimbush doesn't have to put more on himself like Kizer did last year, which creates a better safety net. "I have so many guys around me to help me take on that leadership role, and I don't have to assume the whole thing," he said. Nevertheless, because Wimbush appears to possess the best combina- tion of arm strength, fleetness of foot, natural leadership and knowledge base of any quarterback in the Kelly era, the head coach wants to maxi- mize those attributes. Kelly doesn't believe the situation is quite comparable to 2012 when Golson didn't have to "drive the bus" (passing for a relatively modest 2,405 yards). Wimbush is now in his third season at the collegiate level, whereas Golson and Kizer were in their second. "I don't know that I would go into the season and say, 'The narrative is let's take pressure off Brandon Wim- bush,'" Kelly said. "I would say that Brandon possesses a great under- standing of what we're doing, and I'm not here to say that we have to protect Brandon in any fashion." Wimbush has some mixed feelings about not having taken any contact since a mop-up role in the 2015 Pitt game, when he lost a fumble. He is ea- ger to show off his running skills — he rushed for 96 yards in a reserve role against UMass in 2015, highlighted by a 58-yard touchdown, but has been frustrated that "touch sacks" in scrim- mages don't allow him to showcase his maneuverability and evasiveness. "I'm like, 'I haven't played football in a while, so let me get touched up a little bit,'" he said. "Daelin Hayes and the other defensive linemen have been around me [on pass pressures], so it feels like I'm getting hit. "[Running with the ball] is a di- mension of my game and the offense, and I think that would be huge for us. It's going to be interesting to see me use my feet a little bit." "We'll be better as an offense when he's not wearing a red jersey," Kelly said after the Aug. 20 scrimmage in which Wimbush completed 14 of 18 passes for 168 yards while going pri- marily against the top defense. Although he is not one of the school-record seven captains this year, Wimbush has a clear leadership role, earning him a coveted "green shirt" from the staff that reflects the ideal approach to the game and as a student-athlete in every respect. The Irish have a deep group of pass catchers that boasts six players who caught at least one scoring pass last season, led by junior wideout Equanimeous St. Brown's nine. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN