Positional Previews #5 - Special Teams

We are continuing the Notre Dame Football 2009 Positional Previews by counting down 10 positions. You can read about the 10 positions and an explanation of the rankings here. In short, #10 is the position that I am least confident/most worried about heading into the season, while #1 is the position I am most confident/least worried about. Ability, depth, and intangibles all factor in.

Today we hit up #5 - Special Teams

Depth Chart - Here is the updated depth chart at the key kicking game and return man positions in special teams:

Talent - Nick Tausch - as a true freshman (pictured) - has beaten out senior and returning starter Brandon Walker for the field goal job. Walker was inconsistent early last year, but finished making 13 of his final 17 field goals in 2008. The Freshman Tausch also has beaten out Ryan Burkhart for the kickoff job - and Burkhart was the kickoff guy that kicked for the#1 ranked kickoff coverage unit in the nation in 2008. Freshman that see the field as a starter on day 1 are typically pretty good, so I would say talent is solid in the place kicking department. Eric Maust is a solid returning starter at punter, leading the Irish to a top 30 finish in 2008 for punt coverage. Net punting was only 59th in the country though, clearly putting our strength more so on the coverage side than the punting side - which means Maust has room for improvement in punting. Golden Tate and Armando Allen have the speed and dynamic playmaking ability that every team needs in the return game - and if you need any further justification, check out here and here.

Changes - After a solid year in punt defense and a fantastic year in kickoff defense, the Irish have a new kickoff guy in Tausch and a returning punter in Eric Maust. Again, it cannot be stressed enough how impressive Tausch must have been to unseat Ryan Burkhart. The word is that Tausch's kicks have incredible hangtime, although being similar in distance to Burkhart's. Kickoff and punt returns should look familiar from the end of last season, where Golden Tate and Armando Allen shared duties. There are numerous freshman that could see some action in the kickoff return games - guys like Shaquille Evans, Roby Toma, or Cierre Wood. All in all, the only major change was the insertion of Tausch.

Depth - Easily the best depth the Irish have had at Kicker, Punter, and return men since Weis has arrived. Freshman punter Ben Turk actually almost won the job over returning starter Eric Maust, meaning there is promise waiting in the wings at punter. Turk has become somewhat of an internet legend, since it was reported that all 5 foot 11 inches and 193 pounds of him can bench press "225" an amazing 26 times (to put that into perspective - thats more than top ranked linebackers Rey Maualuga and James Laurinaitis did at the NFL combine last year. Turk's nickname is "225"). Solid backup options with experience or promise at the 3 kicking duty spots, with numerous freshman options at kickoff and punt return spots behind the talented Golden Tate and Armando Allen. I suspect we will see plenty of freshman action in the kickoff return game, as the season goes on. No need to risk injury to our starting RB and WR when (hopefully) there are plenty of freshman up for the task. I suspect punt returns will remain mostly the job of Tate, however.

Goals - A top 25 finish in both kickoff and punt coverage is the goal coverage wise. After finishing #1 in the former and #30 in the latter, maintaining the progress is the key for the coverage units. Field Goal kicking wise, Tausch needs to be automatic inside of 40 yards (like any kicker). Making just 58% of his kicks (Brandon Walker's % from 2008) won't cut it - Tausch needs to make 70% of his kicks as a goal. In the return game, there has only been 1 kickoff return for a TD in the Weis era (Hawaii bowl clip above of Armando Allen). There hasn't been a punt returned for a TD since Tom Zbikowski days. A goal of 3 total kickoff or punt returns for TDs is not unreasonable given the talent in Golden Tate and Armando Allen. Yardage wise, the return games also need to get into the top 25 nationally. In 2008, the kickoff and punt return units finished 53rd and 60th nationally, meaning we need to improve.

Final Analysis - I am excited about this unit. Tausch has some moxy to unseat a senior returning starter at both kicking spots, while our coverage units had banner years in 2008. Our return game looks poised to really do some damage with Golden Tate and Armando Allen. Punting needs to improve a bit, more so on the punting side than coverage side. The Irish should be able to maintain their coverage success of 2008, while adding some big plays in the return game and a higher % success rate in field goals attempted. My only drawback is that the kicker is a freshman - albeit one that beat out our incumbent kicker for a starting role.