Months removed from Notre Dame football’s bowl game victory over LSU, fans were given their first look at the 2018 Irish as they took the field for the Blue-Gold game.
Spring practices have given us a good look at this Irish team already, but this year’s Blue-Gold game further emphasized some of those conceptions while also bringing new possibilities to light. There was certainly more excitement in the air when compared to last year’s spring game, and that was evident through the competitive nature of today’s contest.
While this game certainly provided many answers, it also prompted a few questions. Not only did we get a good look at where some of these players stand on the depth chart, we also got a good feel as to how many of the defensive changes will look in real time.
With most of the spring milestones now behind us, here are three takeaways before we shift our focus to the 2018 regular season.
3. The running back position has yet to be settled
With stats for the Blue-Gold game not readily available, much of the player analysis has to be conducted through the eyeball test. With that said, there were some players who very clearly passed that test.
For example, some of the most explosive plays came from those who were previously considered to be buried on the depth chart. Sophomore Avery Davis, a quarterback turned running back, put together a decent highlight reel with only a few touches. Similarly, sophomore Jafar Armstrong, a wide receiver/running back hybrid, had a few big plays himself.
The two backs who weren’t as impressive over the course of this game were senior Dexter Williams and junior Tony Jones Jr. Williams did get into the end zone and was impressive on a few runs, but only displayed his overall explosiveness on one or two plays.
While this was only one game, and there’s plenty of time for improvement, we would’ve liked to see more out of the two backs who will likely get the bulk of the action this fall.