Notre Dame Football: 3 Questions For Grant Blankenship
![Sep 12, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Grant Blankenship (92) participates in warm-ups prior to the Fighting Irish Sep 12, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Grant Blankenship (92) participates in warm-ups prior to the Fighting Irish](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/a8b52acdcecdfb958eea7a08198cab4b7b4d3236004c18f1b466b64c1fd0d5fa.jpg)
We have three questions about every player on the Notre Dame football roster this spring.
There will be about 65 guys on scholarship for spring football this year. We are going to take a look at each one (alphabetically for dewey decimal fans), and ask a few questions. What those questions will be, are probably more important than the answers actually given before September- if any are given at all.
Grant Blankenship saw action in 11 games in his freshman year and tallied 12 tackles after coming to Notre Dame as a 4 star prospect from Texas. Grant saw considerably less time in his sophomore campaign as he only played in 3 games and put one assisted tackle in the books.. DE. Notre Dame Fighting Irish. GRANT BLANKENSHIP. JR
1. Why for the love that all is holy did Blankenship not redshirt?
While redshirting in your freshman year makes the most sense- especially if you are a bit underdeveloped physically for your position, Notre Dame needed bodies in 2014 and freshmen like Blankenship and the now departed Kolin Hill were used to fill those needs. Coach Kelly wanted to redshirt Blankenship in 2015, but the kid didn’t want to and he got his three games and one tackle in the books.
2. What are Grant’s depth chart chances?
That all really depends on how Notre Dame and Brian VanGorder plan on setting up the front seven. If the two defensive tackles end up being Jarron Jones and Isaac Rochell, Blankenship will be in a position to be one of those first guys off the bench. (It also depends greatly upon how ready early enrollee Khalid Kareem is in fall camp).
3. What is so damn familiar about Grant Blankenship?
Oh, I don’t know, perhaps it’s his uncanny likeness of one of the most notorious and evil movie villains of all time in Joey Donner as played by Andrew Keegan?
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Perhaps. Maybe Blankenship finds a niche early and develops into a real pass rusher? Perhaps.