Notre Dame Football: 5 freshman who’ll have instant impacts in 2017

Freshman tackle Kurt Hinish comes into South Bend despite receiving offers from programs such as West Virginia, Penn State, Ole Miss, and others. Penn state was notably one of his more desired destinations, but Notre Dame did just enough to pull him on board.

Hinish is in the same boat as the previously mentioned Tagovailoa-Amosa as both players head into the season at a very fluid position. They will actually be competing against each other for playing time given the dynamic of the position, and should both figure into the rotation in some fashion.

When comparing Hinish to Tagovailoa-Amosa, there is no clear distinguishing factor between the two tackles. Per 247Sports, the two were separated by less than 50 spots on their national ranking. It will be interesting to see if one passes up the other, or if neither are able to eventually make the jump.

When looking solely at Hinish, he has the body type of your prototypical defensive tackle. At 298 lbs, Hinish takes up a lot of space on the interior, something sorely missed by an Irish team that let up 182 rushing yards per game last season.

The playing field, when it comes to accruing playing time on the defensive line, is fairly even. The diversity among the line varies greatly, so it could be a matter of who fits best into the scheme. There are players recovering from injury, players rebounding from Kelly’s doghouse, and players who have a lot to prove all vying for a few spots along a very prestigious line.

So will it be Hinish who pulls out the most playing time of these true freshmen, or will he be left on the sidelines for the majority of the season? Defensive coordinator Mike Elko hinted toward the former.

With the confidence of his coaches in hand, it would be a surprise to see a collapse from Hinish this year regardless of his playing time. He comes in as a well regarded player at his position and should fit in nicely should the Irish call his number this season.