Notre Dame hits decision time on roles for freshmen

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It’s game week at Notre Dame, which means coaches have an idea of what mix of freshmen and walk-ons will comprise the scout team set out to mimic Texas’ offense and defense leading up to Saturday’s season opener.

Coach Brian Kelly identified last week a handful of first-year players that’ll avoid scout team duty and practice with the first and second-team offense/defense to begin the season.

Those players: Quarterback Brandon Wimbush, wide receivers C.J. Sanders and Equanimeous St. Brown, tight end Alize Jones and defensive back Nick Coleman. Nose guard Jerry Tillery will split time with Daniel Cage on the defensive line, kicker Justin Yoon will handle field goals and while linebacker Tevon Coney wasn’t mentioned, he’s Jaylon Smith’s backup at Will (inside) linebacker.

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Kelly said wide receiver Miles Boykin is on the fence between staying with the offense and going down to scout team, while reading between the lines it seems like running back Josh Adams could be a candidate to stay up as well.

“Where we feel going into the Texas game, Josh could even hold up in protections,” Kelly said. “That’s hard to do as a true freshman going into the first game of the year.”

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Other freshmen could get in the mix to play this fall with attrition at certain positions — Kelly burned defensive tackle Jay Hayes’ redshirt last November — while Wimbush is unlikely to play even though he’ll largely be with the offense.

Of the players Kelly mentioned, the only surprise was Boykin, who hadn’t been brought up by Kelly while discussion freshmen during fall camp. But the 6-foot-3, 225 pound Providence alum impressed coaches enough to be under consideration to stay with the offense during practice to begin the season.

“Big, strong, physical, he can run surprisingly well for such a big body,” Kelly said. “If he walked in here right now you’d swear he was a tight end, but he’s not. As much as we were kind of recruiting him with maybe one eye toward a future tight end, he’s not a tight end. He’s a wide receiver. He’s got extremely good ball skills down the field. He adjusts well to the ball. He doesn’t play stiff to the ball at all. Really pleased in terms of what his future looks like as a wide receiver.”

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