Welcome back to another edition of Subway Domer’s Wu Am I?series. This is a look at who the 36 players of impact are on this Notre Dame Football team for 2010. If you have missed some of the previous Wu Am I? posts from 2010, please check out: Chambers 1&2, Chambers 3&4, Chambers 5&6, Chambers 7&8, Chambers 9&10, Chambers 11&12, Chambers 13&14, Chambers 15&16, Chambers 17&18, Chambers 19&20, Chambers 21&22 , Chambers 23&24, Chambers 25&26, Chambers 27&28 and Chambers 29&30.
The end is getting near as we open Chambers 31 & 32…
John Goodman #81
Wide Receiver
6’3″ 205 lbs.
Junior (RS)
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Wu Name: Pesty Commander
The Subway Domer is a Fort Wayne native, and still lives in the area. It’s because of this, that I have a small, yet distinct, amount of pride whenever a kid from the area gets to play football for the Irish. It wasn’t any secret after John’s junior year that once Notre Dame offered a scholarship, he was going to be all Irish. I saw John play several times his senior year, and I was blown away by the amount of snaps that this kid played. He was on every team, except the kickoff team. Although John played mostly QB and Safety in his senior year, he was going to be a WR once he got up to the Bend. It was a position that John played very well during his junior year. Goodman redshirted his freshman year of 2008. In 2009, Goodman saw a lot of “prime” action including his lone career start against U$C.
To start 2010, Goodman was speculated to make a move to quarterback. Dayne Crist was coming off major knee surgery and Tommy Rees was questionable, at best, coming in as a true freshman early enrollee. Fortunately for Goodman and the wide receiver corps of Notre Dame, Goodman was not needed to step in and play as a signal caller. Goodman is right in the mix with the other wide receivers to play in Kelly’s spread, and to be honest- he fits in as good as any WR on the roster sans Michael Floyd. In my opinion, John Goodman could grow into the definitive #2 WR for the Irish. Not only does John have the physical skills with his speed, size, and good hands- but he has a nice football IQ that will go a long ways on the field in this offense.
Zach Martin #70
Offensive Tackle
6’4″ 290 lbs.
Sophomore
Indianapolis, Indiana
Wu Name: Gentlemen Beggar
Although it appeared that Notre Dame was desperate for offensive lineman these past 3 years, it didn’t take just anybody to fill up on numbers. Zach Martin is one of those guys that Notre Dame needed as much as anyone in his recruiting class of 2009. Martin was a highly ranked 4 star OT from Indianapolis with offers, not only from all over the Big 10, but from schools all over the west- including Stanford and UCLA. Martin committed to the Irish in the summer of 2008 and never looked back. Zach earned high praise from the previous coaching staff during his freshman year, but was never able to crack into the 2 deep at tackle, despite a perceived need. Martin redshirted, and quite honestly, it was for the best as he enters 2010 with 4 years of eligibility with a new coaching staff.
Despite other names that were thrown around this spring, Martin basically won the starting left tackle job without much competition- or at least any real known competition. Some fans were a little concerned about the left tackle spot and handing the duties over to a redshirt freshman- especially with Crist coming off a major knee injury. Calm yourself fools. Kelly’s spread offense minimizes the importance of the left tackle in pass protection as opposed to the previous system where it was sink or swim. Can someone push Martin? Probably a little bit- but he was as solid as any O-lineman in the spring and should come out on top heading into the fall. With all 4 years of eligibility left for Martin, we could be hearing a lot about him and he could garner national attention as well.
