Position breakdown: Transitional phase underway for Notre Dame football offensive line

SOUTH BEND — In his first year coaching offensive linemen for Notre Dame football , Joe Rudolph prepared five different players for their first career starts in college.

That list included three guards (Rocco Spindler, Billy Schrauth and Pat Coogan), a center (Ashton Craig) and a freshman left tackle (Charles Jagusah).

No matter how the Irish line up in Week 1 at Texas A&M, odds are good Rudolph’s list of burly breakouts will expand this fall.

Even before Jagusah went down with a season-ending shoulder injury, Aamil Wagner had laid claim to the starting job at right tackle. That meant Wagner’s first career start would happen before 111,000 screaming Aggies on Aug. 31.

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While new left tackle Tosh Baker has three career starts, two of those came early in 2021. Should Baker falter, keep an eye on redshirt freshman Sullivan Absher, early enrollee Anthonie Knapp and highly regarded June enrollee Guerby Lambert.

Even with the transfer of multiyear starter Zeke Correll, now at N.C. State, the Irish have four solid options for the three interior spots. Knapp, who ultimately profiles better inside, was a Rudolph recruiting target at Virginia Tech, the coach’s previous stop, before landing on the Irish radar.

Redshirt freshman Sam Pendleton spent the spring and fall working steadily at second-team center.

The durable Coogan, however, could handle any of the interior spots, providing the sort of flexibility that helps an O-line guru sleep a little better at night.

“Pat Coogan is a great leader,” Rudolph said. “He’ll be a great leader no matter what. His level of care for this place is incredible. He doesn’t just lead the O-line room. He’s just a leader on this team in a lot of ways.”

And experienced leaders come in handy when a position coach is readying yet another talented teen for his first career college start.

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Projected Notre Dame football offensive line depth chart

79 | LT | Tosh Baker | 6-8, 320 | G-Sr. (1L)

78 | LG | Pat Coogan | 6-5, 310 | R-Jr. (2L)

70 | C | Ashton Craig | 6-4, 308 | R-So. (3L)

74 | RG | Billy Schrauth | 6-5, 315 | R-So. (3L)

59 | RT | Aamil Wagner | 6-6, 290 | R-So. (3L)

54 | OT | Anthonie Knapp | 6-4, 291 | Fr. (4L)

50 | OG | Rocco Spindler | 6-5, 331 | R-Jr. (2L)

72 | C | Sam Pendleton | 6-4, 305 | R-Fr. (4L)

75 | OL | Sullivan Absher | 6-7, 321 | R-Fr. (4L)

76 | OT | Guerby Lambert | 6-7, 318 | Fr. (4L)

77 | OT | Ty Chan | 6-5, 327 | R-So. (3L)

64 | C| Joe Otting | 6-3, 303 | R-Fr. (4L)

55 | OG | Chris Terek | 6-5, 333 | R-Fr. (4L)

71 | OT | Styles Prescod | 6-6, 293 | Fr. (4L)

73 | OL | Peter Jones | 6-5, 310 | Fr. (4L)

56 | LT | Charles Jagusah | 6-7, 330 | R-Fr. (4L) - Injured

Projected starters in bold

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Position breakdown: Transitional phase underway for Notre Dame football offensive line