Offensive lineman Will Black has impressed all Notre Dame football onlookers during the early period of spring practice. He's impressed coaches so much that he is, at least for now, in line to be a starter on an offensive front that could lead the Fighting Irish to a national title. As practices have gone on, Black has demonstrated just what has made him such a special talent with so little college playing time so far.
Rivals analyst Tyler Horka went into depth on what he saw from Black in early practices. At one point saying the way the young tackle, who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs in at 316 pounds, can move like he does is "freaky."
"Good depth, lotta leg drive, natural power he’s only just now beginning to totally tap into. The potential he posses to be a multi-year starter and much more is immense," Horka said about the budding Notre Dame football star.
Why Will Black is emerging as a starter for Notre Dame football this spring
Will Black has been one of those guys who looked like he'd be a star for quite early on. There was a reason why the Fighting Irish were so glad to hold onto him despite so many other programs coming calling.
The towering Canadian import played a total of 27 offensive snaps in his first season of Notre Dame football, with all of those coming in mop-up duty in November blowouts of Navy and Stanford.
When Black was on the first offensive line and the Irish coaches pushed Anthonie Knapp to guard, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock also had plenty of praise for the young lineman. He credited Black with “tremendous strides” since the end of last season in terms “understanding our scheme and what his responsibilities are within it.”
Denbrock also said that while Black did get beat a few times in his first few practices that was to be expected.
“There's going to be a lot of bumps in the road along the spring here,” Denbrock said of Black. “He’s going against a pretty good defensive end a lot of times in baptism by fire, which I think will serve him well moving forward. But I've liked what I've seen from him.”
“We haven't exactly been pristine health-wise on the offensive line for the last couple years,” Notre Dame's offensive coordinator said when the move was made. “What the spring allows you to do, if you juggle the pieces around a little bit, is it gives you an opportunity to see … where those guys fit best and who should be the next guy in and where he should be put in.”