Notre Dame Football: 3 biggest depth chart surprises heading into 2020

3. Shaun Crawford makes the switch to safety

In another surprising move, Shaun Crawford, heading into what will be his sixth season with the team, has made the move from nickelback to strong safety. While we knew standout sophomore Kyle Hamilton was going to occupy one of the two starting safety positions, many assumed that it would be junior Houston Griffith who joined him while Crawford stayed home at corner.

Instead, Griffith will play a depth role despite contributing in every one of Notre Dame’s games last season. What makes things even more confusing is the fact that the current state of the Irish cornerback group is shaky at best. With both Troy Pride Jr. and Donte Vaughn now on NFL rosters, the Irish are one injury away from a worst case scenario at the position.

While technically listed as a safety, it’s reasonable to believe that Griffith could slot into the nickelback role after spending some time at the position in years past. Nick McCloud will hold down one of the two corner positions while junior TaRiq Bracy and freshman Clarence Lewis battle it out for the final spot. Sophomore Cam Hart was the final corner to make an appearance on the depth chart.

We knew that the secondary was going to be a possible area of weakness after the losses of Alohi Gilman, Jalen Elliott, Pride, and Vaughn, but few expected the Irish to be moving resources from cornerback to safety. Time will likely tell why such decisions were made, but as for now we continue to wait and see.