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Notre Dame football: Defensive two-deep projection entering 2022 Spring Practice

By Daniel Morrison

Nov 20, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Jordan Yates (13) is hit as he throws by Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey (7) in the first quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Jordan Yates (13) is hit as he throws by Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey (7) in the first quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame Football
Nov 30, 2019; Stanford, CA, USA; A Notre Dame Fighting Irish helmet sits behind the bench during the first quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /

Spring practice offers us our first glimpse of teams before the start of the next season. During this time, new coaches come to install their systems. Players show how far they’ve come and developed both physically and mentally over the offseason workouts.

It’s also important for freshmen who enrolled early, as it’s their first chance to adjust to the college game.

In this time, it’s natural for certain position groups to get all the glory. In particular, Notre Dame’s Spring practice is going to be dominated by the presence of Tyler Buchner at quarterback. As the presumed starter, people want to know how far he’s come and what he looks like in his second year.

They want to see how different Tommy Rees’ offense is under Marcus Freeman than it was under Brian Kelly.

Speaking of Marcus Freeman, his promotion to head coach leads to numerous new questions about the team. How does he run practices, including how much contact and media access will there be?

Now being the head coach, it’s important to see how the defense changes too. How much influence and time will Freeman spend with the defense. Will the team play the same way they did under Freeman, or will new defensive coordinator Al Golden have total control over the defense?

Importantly, this also offers an understanding of what the two-deep on the depth chart is going to look like going forward. By no means is it a final depth chart, mind you, but it does give everyone an understanding of what the best odds are for starters on either side of the ball come the Fall.

So, let’s take a look at a projection for the two-deep roster on the defensive side of the ball. This has been Notre Dame’s stronger side of the ball in recent seasons, and against an incredibly strong schedule in 2022, they need to be dominant once again.

Though, bear in mind that until the team hits the field, this is just guesswork, based on what we know about the roster from previous seasons and recent recruitment.

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