Justin Brent and Andrew Trumbetti Begin Their Notre Dame Football Careers
By Jeff Merritt
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Justin Brent and Andrew Trumbetti are now officially members of the Notre Dame Football family. Brent and Trumbetti are the Irish early enrollees and both set to begin classes on Tuesday. As the first two to enroll from the Golden Army, they couldn’t have joined to program at a more opportune time.
With the recent news of Davaris Daniels being suspended from the university for academic issues and with the news of Stephon Tuitt declaring early for the NFL draft an opportunity is there for both young men to see the field early and often.
Brent will come into the program as one of the best in his position in the country. However, the Irish seem to have a number of talented receivers with big play potential and game experience just chomping at the bit to step in for Daniels. In 2013 Chris Brown, William Fuller, Corey Robinson, James Onwualu, and C.J. Prosise all saw playing time, were important contributors and with the emergence of Torii Hunter Jr. during bowl preparations playing time may be difficult to come by for Brent.
Trumbetti, on the other hand, steps into front seven that is thin and has many question marks. Trumbetti, from all accounts, has a great deal of potential. He is an outstanding pass rusher and he may take on the role of pash rush specialist on the 2014 team similar to that of another past early enrollee, Aaron Lynch. His impact on the team could be similar to that of Lynch. The comparison to Lynch, though, stops there because Trumbetti presents himself as a mature young man who is outstanding in the classroom, in the community and seems to be an ideal fit for the Notre Dame Football culture.
Trumbetti does not find himself in a position group that is overflowing with the type of talent as Brent has to compete with. Sheldon Day will certainly be a key piece at defensive end on the 2014 Irish, but aside from Day the other end position seems to be up for grabs. If Justin Utopo is asked back he may be a consideration. Ishaq Williams and Romeo Okwara may be asked to fill in that role as well although neither seems to be an ideal fit for the position.
For Trumbetti to step in right away and play significant minutes he will have to add some muscle to his 6’5″ 250 pound frame this spring so that he can compete with the best FBS lineman out there and he will have to demonstrate an understanding of the nuances of the defense. This has been a struggle for a number of early enrollees in the past.
However, if the reports of Trumbetti are accurate, he should find himself in a favorable position to play in 2014.