Notre Dame saw former starting offensive tackles Joe Alt (Round 1, Pick No. 5) and Blake Fisher (Round 2, Pick No. 27) selected in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. As a result, the Fighting Irish entered the offseason with two massive holes on their offensive line.
Unfortunately, one of those holes just got bigger, with projected starting left tackle Charles Jagusah suffering an injury.
What Does Charles Jagusah’s Injury Mean for Notre Dame in 2024?
During practice on Saturday, Aug. 3, Jagusah injured his shoulder. While there was hope the injury wasn’t serious, on Monday, Aug. 5, Notre Dame’s PR team announced Jagusah suffered a torn right pectoral muscle and is expected to miss the 2024 season.
It was likely a full rupture, as the true sophomore is already scheduled for surgery. His absence will force a shakeup at the tackle position with only a few weeks until Notre Dame kicks off the year on the road against Texas A&M on Aug. 31.
Senior Tosh Baker and junior Aamil Wagner were battling for the starting RT spot, but now one of them will move to LT, with both expected to earn first-team roles. Behind them is a whole lot of inexperience, with sophomore Sullivan Absher and three true freshmen (Guebry Lambert, Anthonie Knapp, and Styles Prescod) filling out the depth chart.
Jagusah started at LT in the Sun Bowl, with Alt opting to focus on the NFL Draft, becoming the first true freshman to start on the offensive line since Alt in 2021. During the spring, head coach Marcus Freeman said, “Jagusah has always been pretty much the one at the left tackle.”
Although he isn’t the one anymore, the Fighting Irish have options. At 6’8″ and 320 pounds, Baker is a massive human. He is the only lineman with meaningful snaps at left tackle on the roster, with Wagner playing all of his reserve reps at right tackle last year.
Absher is talented but is still likely a season away after coming from an option-based offense. He worked at left tackle during bowl prep but spent his high school career on the right side.
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Last but not least are the freshmen. Lambert and Prescord were consensus four-stars, but Lambert has the size advantage (6’7″ and 318 to 6’6″ and 293). Knapp has the longest odds of seeing the field after landing in South Bend as a 6’4″ and 291-pound three-star recruit.
However, Jagusah wasn’t the only Notre Dame player to suffer a serious injury on Saturday. Senior corner/special teamer Marty Auer tore his left ACL and will undergo season-ending surgery at an undisclosed date.
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