Ryan Roberts breaks down the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end and wide receiver rooms and questions if they can perform well in 2025.
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00:00Spring football is behind us the summer fall camp in front in the 2025 college football season
00:06Notre Dame has a lot of expectations heading into next year but there are a couple positions that I
00:11still have a little bit of worry heading into the fall let's talk about the couple spots that I
00:16think still need some answers to be found the rest of the offseason
00:20Ryan Roberts from A to Z sports breaking down everything Notre Dame football folks spring ball
00:27is behind us now we just have the summer and then fall camp to worry about for this 2025
00:32Notre Dame fighting Irish team obviously heading into the 2025 season with a whole lot of expectations
00:38and talked about in a video on this channel recently about the things that I felt best about
00:44comparative to where I was before spring practice so something that happened in spring that really
00:49made me feel better about a particular position talked about the quarterback spot among others
00:55but I really wanted to focus now on the couple question marks that do still remain and I
01:00wanted to go to three positions but honestly I just didn't feel I just didn't feel passionately enough
01:07about like defensive tackle for instance yes there's still some questions as far as what the rotation
01:12looks like and who's your dudes in that room and everything but there's just so much talent overall
01:18I'm not overly worried about what defensive tackle is going to look like I thought about left tackle
01:23just for the consistent conversation about Anthony Knapp potentially beating the starting left tackle
01:27and what he'll look like as a sophomore but I really wanted to hone in on two different positions
01:31both on the offensive side of the football that I still have major question marks in I want to start
01:36at tight ends and I know some people will just kind of dismiss this one because hey one Notre
01:42Dame's going to a more wide receiver centric type of offensive system with CJ Carr or Kenny Minchie
01:49under center for the fighting Irish but I would just like to say first and foremost tight end is
01:55one of the big strengths for this Notre Dame team historically and I do think that from a just general
02:01ideological perspective that Notre Dame will always be built around the tight end position
02:07and some people also left the spring feeling great about where Eli Raritan was able to do and to take a
02:14step forward and while I am also I actually am a big fan of Eli Raritan there are still some remaining
02:19question marks in that room and let's start with Eli Raritan as we kind of break down the tight end
02:24position he is extremely talented there's a reason that he was a high level four star athlete coming
02:30out of high school six foot seven 250 pounds the kid is extremely athletic and we've seen flashes at
02:37times but here's the problem with Eli Raritan being your dude for sure in a room one he hasn't had a ton of
02:45production 11 receptions 80 some 90 something yards excuse me last season and also if he is that guy that is
02:52the foregone best player in your room it has to leave you a little bit uneasy just based upon the past injuries
02:59that he has dealt with multiple knee surgeries during his Notre Dame career so it doesn't mean Eli Raritan can't be a
03:06heck of a player for Notre Dame in the blue and gold this year but it does give you a little bit
03:11uneasiness at top and you're one bad injury away from Jack Larson maybe being tight end one this Ty
03:17Washington from Arkansas the transfer come in during the summer and make a big leap I mean I don't know
03:23he's had one game in his career that that made up like 40 something percent of his career production in
03:29his multiple years with the Arkansas program so have no idea what to expect from him can James Flanagan come
03:35in as a true freshman in the summer and make an impact it's just an unsettling position because I
03:40still think the depth is a major issue at wide receiver it's actually a completely different
03:44conversation I think the depth at wide receiver is in a good spot for Notre Dame but leaving the spring
03:50I'm still uneasy about some things that I've heard some things I've learned because I was hoping what
03:56was going to happen was we got a couple of the young guys that had opportunities in the spring
04:01and they took a massive step forward whether that be Cam Williams whether it be KK Smith whether that
04:07be Micah Gilbert's and unfortunately Micah Gilbert was limited in the spring with the hand injury
04:11Cam Williams you heard some good things but not enough you heard some good things about KK Smith
04:16but not enough I came out of the spring actually the guy that people are talking about most is Will
04:20Pauling the transfer from Wisconsin which is fine in a vacuum but when you really kind of sit back and
04:26think about it think about the two players that were hyped up most this spring one was Will Pauling
04:31who has production in his career sure but he also led all of FBS in drop passes last season so
04:37the most recent film we have of him at Wisconsin was not very good and the other guy people keep
04:42talking about is Elijah Burris true freshman and this is all due respect to Elijah Burris but Elijah
04:48Burris right now today is 180 pounds true freshman who runs somewhere in the four sixes if that is the
04:55guy that is getting talked about most in a wide receiver room I think that that is a slight red flag
05:00being raised again doesn't mean that Elijah Burris can't end up being a good football player at Notre
05:05Dame at some point but I really was hoping you were going to hear more about some of the quote-unquote
05:10more talented players in the room now this conversation could completely morph in the summer
05:15Malachi Fields is coming you still have Jaden Greathouse but I am still a little bit uneasy and
05:22on the edge of my seat to see what this wide receiver position looks like because you hear great
05:27things about it in practice but the things I'm hearing I still have question marks as far as how
05:32impactful that route will be especially with a young quarterback breaking in this fall folks put in
05:37the chat right now we're going to be a little bit pessimistic on this show today okay put into the
05:41chat what is one or two things that you are still worried about for this Notre Dame team going into 2025
05:47what are the question marks that still remain make sure that like button and subscribe on the way out
05:51and as always go Irish