Listed measurements: 6-foot-5, 300 pounds.2022-23 year, eligibility: An incoming freshman, Chan has four seasons of eligibility remaining, and five years to use them.Depth Chart: Among the four incoming freshman offensive linemen, predicting where they will fit on the depth chart this season is an unnecessary blind throw at a dartboard. None will see meaningful playing time, and Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand will use their August practices and scout team reps to see who fits best at guard and who at tackle.Recruiting: The No. 11 offensive tackle in the class and No. 221 overall prospect, per rivals.com, Chan ignored Boston College, Penn State and Syracuse as he committed to the Irish more than a year before he could sign his National Letter of Intent. That early and firm pledge served to curtail other suitors, as did coming from relatively talent-poor Massachusetts. Simply put, few programs mine the state in general, let alone small towns closer to the New Hampshire border than to Boston.
NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS
It has been wondered before. It will be wondered again until it no longer needs to be because it has become reality. When will the high school all-star games begin paying these players? Whether it is the Under Armour All-American Game or the NBC-aired All-American Game or the Polynesian Bowl, some nominal fee feels inevitable in the not-too-distant future.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYeyU8Lpv0e/
WHAT WAS SAID WHEN CHAN SIGNED IN DECEMBER
“If Chan is considered the most ready of the group, let it be pointed out he still needs to develop — consider the existences of Blake Fisher and Joe Alt as freshman starters at tackle to be the exceptions that prove the rule. Chan’s size and length make him an ideal starter down the road. He has lower-body power already, but perhaps not the upper-body discipline needed to enter the Notre Dame two-deep in the next 12 months.
2022 OUTLOOK
Vague expectations show Chan as a reserve at right tackle in 2022, putting him behind sophomore Blake Fisher and junior Tosh Baker, though if injuries were to tear through the line (again), junior Michael Carmody would find his way onto the field long before Chan.
Which is to say, Chan should enjoy the typical freshman season that Fisher and Joe Alt did not in 2021. He will work on his technique under Hiestand’s tutelage, more of a need for this class than perhaps any other after so many of their 2020 seasons, their junior seasons, were turned upside down by the pandemic.
Chan has much of the lower body muscle one would want from a collegiate offensive tackle, but his upper body still needs to develop some punch. Working in the strength and conditioning program will also benefit him.
One thing neither Heistand nor strength coordinator Matt Balis will need to worry much about is Chan’s footwork. Assuredly, some of his exact steps may need fine-tuning, but someone able to deftly move around the post in a basketball game usually takes well to the exact steps at tackle. Exhibit A: Ronnie Stanley.
Happy to have hit the court with these guys ❤️ https://t.co/ZBaOSNUnBK
— Ty Chan (@chansanity5) February 28, 2022
DOWN THE ROAD
Presume Chan preserves a year of eligibility in 2022. That will technically put him two seasons off the timetable of Alt and one off Fisher’s, but more likely, it will leave him with three seasons of eligibility when one or both of them head to the NFL after the 2023 season.
That is not meant to sound bold. It is simply the expectation of any multi-year starter along Notre Dame’s offensive line.
At that point, Chan will compete with Baker and Carmody for those roles. As hard as it is to fathom coming into the program just one year behind two talents as esteemed as Alt and Fisher already are, Chan’s timing will work out well.
WHY NO. 77?
For one thing, No. 77 is unclaimed on the Irish roster. For another, allow a picture to speak a thousand words …
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NOTRE DAME 99-TO-0
From Blake Grupe to Braden Lenzy, the offseason countdown begins anew
No. 99 Blake Grupe, kicker, Arkansas State transfer
No. 99 Rylie Mills, junior defensive lineman, a tackle now playing more at end
No. 98 Tyson Ford, early-enrolled freshman, a defensive tackle recruited as a four-star end
No. 97 Gabriel Rubio, sophomore defensive tackle, still ‘as wide as a Volkswagen’
No. 92 Aidan Keanaaina, a junior defensive tackle who tore his ACL in March
No. 91 Josh Bryan, sophomore kicker
No. 91 Aiden Gobaira, early-enrolled freshman defensive end, four-star recruit
No. 90 Alexander Ehrensberger, junior defensive end, a German project nearing completion
No. 89 Eli Raridon, incoming freshman tight end with a torn ACL
No. 88 Mitchell Evans, sophomore tight end
No. 87 Michael Mayer, junior tight end, likely All-American
No. 84 Kevin Bauman, junior tight end
No. 83 Jayden Thomas, sophomore receiver, former four-star recruit
No. 80 Cane Berrong, sophomore tight end coming off an ACL injury
No. 79 Tosh Baker, one of four young Irish offensive tackles
No. 78 Pat Coogan, sophomore center, recovering from a meniscus injury