Roster Shakeup: The Purdue two-deep and a departure

With the release of the depth chart for the Purdue game and Brian Kelly’s comments at this afternoon’s press conference, we now have a much clearer understanding of what the Notre Dame football team will look like Saturday against Purdue and going forward for the rest of the year. Some position battles have been won, while others remain up in the air. Here is a breakdown of the major developments:

• Sophomore wide receiver Shaq Evans has left the team and will transfer. While some ND message board posters surely will bemoan the loss of the once highly touted recruit, we’re not going to lose any sleep over Evans’ departure.  Evans reportedly considered transferring last season because he felt he wasn’t seeing enough action on the field as a true freshman. The new coaching staff gave him the opportunity to compete for a spot in the wide receiver rotation this fall.  Just two weeks ago, Kelly said that Evans was in a three-way battle with Duval Kamara and T.J. Jones for the third starting receiver spot, with Michael Floyd and Theo Riddick having already locked up the other two.  But Jones and Kamara separated themselves from Evans in practice, and Evans was moved to slot receiver, where he entered this week running third behind Riddick and Roby Toma.  And thus, Evans decided to transfer, supposedly to Oregon.  Evans might be a great guy off the field.  Maybe he just missed the weather on the West Coast.  But it sure seems like he struggled to accept his position on the depth chart and decided not to dig in and fight for playing time. Evans might need a strong dose of perspective. Jeff Samardzija barely saw the field in his first two years in South Bend, but he emerged as a star in his junior season and broke nearly every Notre Dame receiving record by the time he graduated. Evans had plenty of time left to prove himself in Brian Kelly’s offense, which will probably use six receivers each game. If Evans felt he should have been handed a spot on the two deep right out of camp, his departure is hardly a loss for the Irish. That type of attitude is not welcome on a winning football team.  In his comments at today’s press conference, Brian Kelly wished Evans well.  Later in the presser, Kelly’s answered a question about the difficulties of recruiting quarterbacks a year removed from signing three signal-callers. His answer could just as easily apply to Evans:

“If you’re afraid of competition maybe you shouldn’t come to Notre Dame.”

We wish Evans the best of luck in the future. But Irish fans should move on with confidence in the talent and depth at receiver that Notre Dame has on its roster.

• Freshman T.J. Jones won the starting receiver job opposite Floyd and Riddick. Kamara, who has practiced at all three receiver positions, will be the first wideout off the bench and a major contributor throughout the season. Toma and junior John Goodman round out the rotation at wideout.

• Junior Braxston Cave will start at  center, edging out fifth-year senior Dan Wenger, who was slowed by a concussion during camp. Kelly said Wenger will still contribute, and the battle at center will likely drag on into the season. The other starters on the offensive line were as expeted: Sophomore Zack Martin at left tackle, fifth-year senior Christ Stewart at left guard, junior Trevor Robinson at right guard and senior Taylor Dever at right tackle.  Sophomore Chris Watt will spell Stewart at left guard, while senior Andrew Nuss will see reserve minutes at tackle and guard. Kelly said that Mike Golic, Jr. will also contribute as a backup center and guard.

• As expected, Cierre Wood will be the primary backup to incumbent running back Armando Allen. Both backs promise to play a large role in the Notre Dame offense.

• Freshman Tommy Rees is listed as the backup quarterback on the two deep, but Brian Kelly said Nate Montana is essentially tied with Rees for that spot. Once again, Irish fans better pray that Dayne Crist doesn’t get hurt.

• Sophomore Tyler Eifert beat out senior Mike Ragone for the No. 2 tight end job behind all-American candidate Kyle Rudolph. The coaching staff seems very high on Eifert, who spent his freshman year recovering from a serious back injury.  Expect to see a lot of two tight end sets.

• On the defensive side of the ball, the most surprising depth chart developments took place at linebacker.  Two freshman, Danny Spond and Prince Shembo made the two deep. Spond was listed at Manti Te’o's backup at Mike, and Kelly praised the former high school quarterback’s ability to shed blocks and play in space. Don’t expect to see Spond out there too often on Saturday, as Te’o will rarely leave the field.  Shembo’s placement on the depth chart is a bit more complicated.  He is listed at the backup to junior Darius Flemming at the rush outside linebacker position.  In reality, senior Kerry Neal, the starter at drop outside backer, is Flemming’s backup.  When Neal moves over to spell Flemming, senior Brian Smith or junior Steve Filer, who was not listed on the two deep, will fill in at drop backer.  So in reality, Shembo is the fifth outside linebacker behind the four upperclassmen, who will log most of the minutes.  But Shembo’s mere inclusion on the depth chart for his first game in an Irish uniform is a promising sign for his future.  At the other inside linebacker spot, sophomore Carlo Calabrese will start and junior Anthony McDonald, who is still recovering from a minor knee injury, will back him up.

• The starters at defensive line have been set since the beginning of spring practice: senior Ian Williams at noseguard and juniors Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore at the defensive end spots. All three had solid years up front for the Irish last season and should play well this fall.  But the big unknown on the d line — and perhaps the biggest unknown on the entire defense — is how their backups will play. Junior Sean Cwynar is the second string nose, and senior Emeka Nwanko and junior Hafis Williams are the reserve ends. Their ability to provide quality depth is of paramount importance. If the Irish have a huge dropoff between the starters and the second string on the defensive line, the defense could struggle, especially late in games if the three starters have to log major minutes.

• There were no surprises at cornerback, where the Irish are talented but dangerously thin.  Seniors Darrin Walls and Gary Gray will start with junior Robert Blanton playing a major role off the bench. Freshman Lo Wood should see limited time as the fourth corner.

• Senior Harrison Smith and junior Jamoris Slaughter will start at safety. Smith received praise from the Irish coaches throughout camp. It’s no secret that Smith had a rough year in 2009. Hopefully, the permanent move to safety will allow him to finally capitalize on his considerable talent. Slaughter, who bounced between corner and safety during his first two years with the Irish, is a relative unknown on the defense, but he is reportedly a big hitter. No. 26 will be one of the more interesting players to watch on Saturday. And, with apologies to Prince Shembo, he still has the best name on the team.

• The consistency of sophomore Nick Tausch beat out the powerful leg of senior David Ruffer for the starting place kicking job.  Ruffer will handle kickoff duty. Sophomore Ben Turk starts at punter for the second consecutive year. Allen will return punts, and Wood and Riddick will be back for kickoffs.

Four days until the Brian Kelly gets under way. Bolier up (Apologies for the awful color commentator on this otherwise fabulous clip):