A lot of the time, freshmen are fun to talk about in the preseason, but give way to the experience once camp begins. Take last season for example. Most of the contributions Notre Dame saw from their rookies were on special teams (Jordan Genmark Heath/CJ Holmes), and in spot duty at receiver (Michael Young). The lone player who made a big impact on a game to game basis was offensive lineman Robert Hainsey, who rotated series at right tackle with Tommy Kraemer.
This season figures to be different as there are a number of true freshmen with a legitimate opportunity to make significant impacts on the field, outside of solely on special teams.