Michigan Football: Previewing The Notre Dame Matchup With An Irish Insider

Blue & Gold Illustrated writer Bryan Driskell was kind enough to give an in-depth overview of Notre Dame's football team in advance of this Saturday's monstrous matchup with Michigan.

He discussed which 11 players are expected to start on each side of the ball for the Irish, revealing what the team does well and what they struggle at.

Projected Starters on Offense

• QB — Brandon Wimbush (redshirt junior) — "When he's on his game, he's a very dynamic player."

• RB — Tony Jones (redshirt sophomore) — "Notre Dame doesn't have a pure No. 1 starter at running back — they have three guys who are going to play, in Jones and [redshirt freshmen] Jafar Armstrong and Avery Davis."

• WR — Miles Boykin (redshirt junior) — "He's extremely big and physical at 6-4, 228, and is an explosive athlete who had a coming-out party last year in the Citrus Bowl with 102 yards and a huge touchdown at the end of the game."

• WR — Chase Claypool (junior) — "Claypool is another big receiver ]6-4, 227]. He can be great when he wants to be, but he's inconsistent. The key for him as a junior will be to become more consistent."

• WR — Chris Finke (redshirt junior) — "Finke will start when Notre Dame is in a three-receiver set. He's quick and athletic, and is a good route runner.He has gotten stronger and is now more prepared to handle the position as a result."

• TE — Alize Mack (redshirt junior) — "Mack is 6-5, 247, and is similar to what Notre Dame had at the position in 2005 when they featured a big body in Jeff Samardzija. Mack will start and can be really good when he wants to be, but [sophomore] Cole Kmet will see plenty of time as well."

• LT — Liam Eichenberg (redshirt sophomore) — "He's the only lineman projected to start who hasn't started before. Eichenberg, who is 6-6, 308, has played a lot, though and was a consensus top 250 player out of high school. He faced Rashan Gary in high school, and handled himself very well. Eichenberg was the backup right tackle at the start of spring, but played so well that they moved him to the left side."

• LG — Alex Bars (fifth-year senior) — "They're actually moving him from right guard to left guard."

• C — Sam Mustipher (fifth-year senior) — "He's back after starting the last two seasons."

• RG — Tommy Kraemer (redshirt sophomore) — "Kraemer started the first night game last year at right tackle, but has been moved to right guard."

• RT — Robert Hainsey (sophomore) — "He also started there last year for Notre Dame."

Projected Starters on Defense

• DE — Khalid Kareem (junior) — "Kareem is a Michigan native who took snaps away from last year's starter, Jay Hayes, who wound up transferring to Georgia."

• DT — Jerry Tillery (senior) — "He was their best defensive lineman last year. At 6-7, 305, Tillery is very athletic. He had nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last season as a nose tackle."

• DT — Jonathan Bonner (fifth-year senior) — "Bonner is a plugger who isn't a playmaker, but does the dirty work and eats up blocks."

• DE — Daelin Hayes (junior) — "He's another Michigan native who was a five-star recruit out of high school. He actually played more games last year than he did his entire prep career. The hope for him now is that he'll take that next step and become an impact player."

• LB — Te'von Coney (senior) — "Coney only saw about 580 snaps last year. He had 116 tackles and 13 for loss as a rotational guy."

• LB — Drue Tranquill (fifth-year senior) — "He played rover last year, which is an out-of-the-box position. It's similar to Michigan's viper, but it doesn't attack the same way theirs does. They're moving him to the Buck position this year [which is another name for an outside linebacker, and is usually responsible for outside containment]."

• LB — Asmar Bilal (redshirt junior) — "He's probably the best athlete they have at linebacker. Bilal isn't overly instinctive — he's more an athlete than a football player. The hope is that the light has started to come on for him."

• CB — Julian Love (junior) — "Love set a school record with 23 passes defended last year. Two of his picks went back for touchdowns, and he ran a third one back to the 5-yard line to set up a touchdown."

• CB — Troy Pride (junior) — "He's probably the fastest guy on the team and was clocked at a 4.3 this summer. Pride is an athletic guy who is coming into his own."

• S — Alohi Gilman (redshirt sophomore) — "Gilman is a transfer from Navy and was their second-leading tackler as a freshman in 2016. He's an instinctive guy who started a couple of games for the Midshipmen at corner."

• S — Nick Coleman (senior) — "We expect him to start, but there's a battle there. He's their best athlete at safety, but wasn't a natural defensive player. Coleman started 13 games last year, but got beat out in the spring. By the middle of fall camp, though, he was running with the 1s again, so the hope is that he's starting to turn his athleticism into production."

Projected Starters on Special Teams

• K — Justin Yoon (senior) — "He's a four-year player who is their all-time leading field goal percentage maker [with at least 50 attempts], at over 80 percent for his career."

• P — Tyler Newsome (fifth-year senior) — "Newsome also happens to be a team captain. He has a very strong leg, but has been inconsistent in the past."

Biggest Offensive Strength

Offensive linemen Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey were both chosen within the first nine picks of this past year's NFL Draft, which would understandably cause one to assume there'd be a significant drop off in the Irish's line play.

However, Driskell insisted that's not the case.

"The strength is still the team's offensive line," he said. "People point out how they lost guys like McGlinchey and Nelson, but they can make the same argument Michigan is making about the defensive line — U-M lost Mo Hurst, but still feels ok because they have [junior] Rashan Gary and [fifth-year senior] Chase Winovich.

"Notre Dame has two linemen of their own coming back who are preseason All-Americans [in Bars and Mustipher, who were both tabbed to the Associated Press second-team list]. They're not hurting for talent, but it's about how quickly the group can come together. I just can't wait to see the matchup of Notre Dame's offensive line against Michigan's defensive line — that's just good on good."

Biggest Offensive Weakness

The Irish lost plenty of offensive firepower from last year's squad — most notably running back Josh Adams and receiver Equanimeous St. Brown — and could have some issues finding guys to carry the load in 2018.

Adams rushed for 1,430 yards last season and nine touchdowns, while averaging an incredible 6.9 yards per carry.

St. Brown, meanwhile, led the team in both catches (33) and yards (515), and was second on the squad in scoring grabs with four.

"Who are the playmakers?" Driskell wondered. "Wimbush can be one, but he's inconsistent. Who will step up and serve the role that Will Fuller served in 2015, or that Josh Adams did last year? This will be the best defensive line they face this year, so the question will be whether or not they can handle a guy like Rashan Gary.

"Notre Dame isn't experienced enough at the skill positions for them to go out there and put the team on their shoulders the way guys like Fuller, Michael Floyd and C.J. Prosise could.

"When you play a team like Michigan, you're not going to run for six yards every time — someone will eventually need to make a play. Who is that going to be?

"Teams who have hurt Michigan the last few years have had those big playmakers, like Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins and Michigan State's Brian Lewerke. I don't know who those guys are for Notre Dame."

Biggest Defensive Strength

Notre Dame's rush defense finished with respectable numbers last year (154.4 yards per game allowed on the ground to rank 51st nationally), but will be expected to take a big step forward in 2018 with so many experienced players returning.

"The strength is the front seven," Driskell confirmed. "They run a 4-2-5, so that third linebacker is out of the box almost all the time. Some NFL guys have Tillery as a second-round pick, and teams are looking at Tranquill as an inside linebacker as well.

"There are athletes on the edge in Hayes and Kareem, who were both Rivals250 guys out of high school. This is the first time in Kelly's era that they've had this kind of depth on the defensive line.

"The 2012 group had a great line, too, but they didn't have notable backups. Notre Dame's second-team unit this year is better than a lot of teams' starters."

Biggest Defensive Weakness

There doesn't appear to be many holes on the Irish's defense heading into 2018, but Driskell explained that question marks at one unit in particular has ignited a few concerns.

"It's the same as Michigan's — safety," he revealed. "Can they cover? What happens when the safeties have to check a guy like [U-M redshirt junior tight end] Zach Gentry? They really didn't do much in coverage last year.

"Stanford went after them all game long with their tight ends last season, and I think Michigan has a very good group as well and will do the same thing.

"Can the safeties make enough plays, or at least limit them?"

Driskell's final score prediction: Notre Dame 24, Michigan 16