Shocker in South Bend: Underdog freshman snags Notre Dame football starter job

With just a few weeks to go until the Notre Dame football team squares off against Texas A&M, the coaching staff dropped a bit of a bomb on Thursday. It looks like the offensive line has gotten a bit of a shuffle following the injury to Charles Jagusah.

The Irish practice was open to the media for most of their walk-through. While onlookers got to see what Marcus Freeman and company are planning for the offensive line. Chief among those surprises is that Tosh Baker is not currently lining up as the starting left tackle.

During the practice, Anthonie Knapp took most of the snaps as starting left tackle. Knapp, a freshman, has beaten out the guy that Notre Dame football onlookers have said for a while now that Baker needed to be beaten out.

Notre Dame football offers a surprise starter on the offensive line.

Obviously, Knapp hasn't been officially named the starting left tackle. However, it's worth noting that's how the Fighting Irish had things lined up when there were people watching.

Baker has long been talked about as a guy who inherited the left tackle position because of Jagusah's injury. At the same time, most conversations have been about hoping either he or someone else could step up and seize the opportunity.

Knapp has seemingly stepped up, at least for now. That's surprising for several reasons, including that the offensive lineman was a bit of a diamond in the rough for the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Knapp was a 3-star prospect pursued by schools like Duke and Charlotte. Few power conference teams came calling for the Roswell, Georgia offensive lineman. However, he's now looking like he could be a starter for a Notre Dame football team. Let's see how it sticks as we get closer to August 31.