SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Senior KeiVarae Russell will slide inside in Notre Dame’s nickel packages this fall with freshman Shaun Crawford out of the season with a torn ACL.
Coach Brian Kelly had previously said Russell would see time guarding slot receivers in Notre Dame’s nickel package, but Crawford’s injury will push Russell into being the primary nickel corner this fall.
Kelly said junior Devin Butler will be the team’s first option to play corner when Russell moves to nickel. Graduate student Matthias Farley, who had six and a half tackles for a loss, three and a half sacks and four interceptions as a nickel back last year, could still be in the mix behind Russell.
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“We want the versatility at the nickel position,” Kelly said. “We know what Matthias can do. He’s really solid there for us. He can do a lot of really good things for us. But KeiVarae gives us the ability to play man coverage, we can blitz him, we can do a lot more with him.”
Butler surprised Irish coaches with a strong preseason camp, and along with sophomore Nick Watkins Kelly said he feels confident enough in his backup corners to move Russell inside.
“Devin’s our third corner,” Kelly said. “He’s probably been as good as anyone — if we were handicapping the corners, we would not have thought that he would be our third corner. He’s had a really, really good camp. He plays with so much more confidence, speed. He’s a different player than he was last year. We’re really pleased.”
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Quick hits
— Redshirt freshman Quenton Nelson exited preseason camp as Notre Dame’s No. 1 left guard, though Kelly said fellow redshirt freshman Alex Bars will rotate in with Nelson on Saturdays.
— Redshirt junior running back C.J. Prosise (hip flexor) is expected to be full go when Notre Dame gets back to practice on Monday.
— Kelly said redshirt freshman DeShone Kizer is “moving in that direction for solidifying” his spot as Notre Dame’s No. 2 quarterback. Kizer’s taken nearly all of Notre Dame’s second-team reps this month and Kelly has redshirted a freshman quarterback every year since coming to South Bend (Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson, Gunner Kiel, Malik Zaire and Kizer).
— The two most likely freshmen to play in Notre Dame’s offense: Tight end Alize Jones and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. Both had impressive practices on Friday to wrap up strong showings during preseason camp. “They really jump out,” Kelly said. “They’re guys that are going to be very difficult to keep off the field.”