Notre Dame concluded what was a successful spring on Saturday with its annual Blue-Gold Game. I call it a successful spring because the injuries were limited and minor, injured players got healthier, there was growth at important positions and the even the current question marks showed flashes of being okay.

The Fighting Irish concluded the spring with some found answers, some intriguing unproven players, and also some questions that must be answered well in the fall. Yesterday I wrote an article discussing the growth we saw from quarterback Ian Book, and now we will discuss the other crucial answer that were found during the spring.

1. Defensive End Depth Is Better Than Expected: We knew coming into the spring that Notre Dame had arguably the best returning group of ends in the country, and we knew that once Julian Okwara, Khalid Kareem and Daelin Hayes all announced their intentions to return for their final seasons



What we learned this spring is that the end position is actually better than we thought it would be. Daelin Hayes had an outstanding spring, and Khalid Kareem seems to have taken his game to another level. But that’s not what I’m talking about either. It’s the depth behind those players that shined this spring as well.

Senior Ade Ogundeji had an outstanding spring, showing an improved all-around game, and when he got more reps with Kareem out he played like a standout. I don’t have enough fingers to count the teams on Notre Dame’s schedule that Ogundeji wouldn’t start for in 2019.

Beyond that, we saw Jamir Jones have a productive spring, we saw sophomore Justin Ademilola make plays in limited reps – just like he did last season, we saw freshman NaNa Osafo-Mensah show potential, and sophomore Ovie Oghoufo flashed big time pass rushing potential.