The Top Offensive Position Groups ND Will Face in 2018
There are high expectations for Notre Dame’s defense this fall. It’s appropriate based on how they played last year (27th in S&P+, 25th in yards per play). WIth plenty of talent coming back in 2018 and having quality players at all three levels, it’s not far-fetched to project them rising to a top-10 level.
Clark Lea’s group will only get there if they can slow down some of the talent they are set to face. It shouldn’t be the toughest gauntlet of offenses that a Notre Dame defense will have seen, but they are going to have to combat some strong position groups.
Here’s a look at the toughest projected matchups they’ll have this season.
Quarterbacks
There are no projected Heisman contenders on the teams they’ll see. Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson at Michigan might be the only darkhorse out of the group because of the hype that is following him from the time he was a 5-star recruit.
He was ranked that way for a reason (which I’ll get into further in a film post on Friday). There is no doubt he is the most talented quarterback they’ll face all season. Whether he’ll be the best when they play against him is to be determined, but his mobility and arm talent can present problems for the Irish pass defense.
Before Patterson was declared eligible, Virginia Tech’s Josh Jackson was thought to be the top one they were going to play. A big part of that has to do with projection and him taking a step forward after doing good, but not great, things during his redshirt freshman season.
He was terrific to start with 12 touchdowns to only three interceptions in September. He threw six touchdowns to five interceptions the rest of the way, though. But even if he is struggling throwing the ball, Jackson can still create with his legs. He led the Hokies in rushing touchdowns last season.
There are two clear candidates to be this year’s version of John Wolford. He was the Wake Forest quarterback who no one predicted to be anything special, yet he threw for the most yards out of any quarterback the Irish faced in 2017.
Kyle Shurmur from Vandebilt is senior with a ton of experience under his belt. He’ll be trying to find some new weapons to distribute the ball to. If Vandy find sthem ,then he can win from the pocket.
Syracuse’s Eric Dungey will also be looking for some targets to step forward, but he is entering year three as the starter in Dino Babers’ system. He hasn’t put a prolific season together yet, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he makes a leap in his final year of college football.
Running Backs
Michigan needs to find some solutions up front, but they have the backs to pound the rock like Jim Harbaugh loves to do. Karan Higdon and Chris Evans are not gamebreakers, but they combined for 17 touchdowns and are both solid inside runners. Higdon had two 200 yard games last season.
Those two aren’t anywhere close to the stable of backs Florida State has, though. They are led by Cam Akers, a former 5-star recruit that rushed for over 1,000 yards as a true freshman. He has All-American potential.
Jacques Patrick is a battering ram compliment to Akers and there’s a chance that he might get carries taken away from him by Khalan Laborn, another blue-chip recruit that redshirted last season. He made people notice him this spring.
New head coach Willie Taggart has had a dynamic rushing attack at South Florida and Oregon the last two years. He has the talent at his disposal to have similar success at FSU.
This would be incomplete without mentioning Stanford. Bryce Love is a big play waiting to happen. If he’s healthy when they travel to South Bend, it could be the greatest challenge the defense faces all season.
Offensive Lines
Unfortunately for the Irish, Love is coming back and so are four starters from the Stanford offensive line. They have a new coach after Mike Bloomgren left to become head coach at Rice, but I wouldn’t expect there to be a drop off at the position because of it.
Guard Nate Herbig was the best guard I watched from an opposing team in 2017 and he is going to lead the way for them up front. Jerry Tillery and Jonathan Bonner will be tested against him.
The good news for the Irish is that no one else looks like they will have anything close to a dominant group up front. The only other candidate could be USC because they return several veterans as well. If Austin Jackson can live up to his recruiting hype at one tackle spot and Toa Lobendahn can finally stay healthy at left tackle, then this group should look much different than the one the Irish defensive line whipped last October.
Those are big ifs, though. With the matchup set for the season finale, we’ll just have to wait and see if the Trojans can stay healthy and improve greatly from where they were previously.
Receivers and Tight Ends
Stanford is here again. Notre Dame fans aren’t going to like to read this, but the Cardinal might have their most talented offense ever. If you go position by position, then that’s probably the case even if KJ Costello is not anywhere close to Andrew Luck at quarterback.
Tight end is always a loaded group for them and this year is no exception. Kaden Smith and Colby Parkinson are both ready to break out with huge years. The 6’7” Parkinson is going to be a nightmare for Notre Dame to cover.
They also have another big target in receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside. He is one of the best 50/50 ball receivers in the nation. Throw in underrated Trenton Irwin and Ty Montgomery 2.0 in Connor Wedington and they have so many options that defenses will be forced to prepare for.
It seems like USC should be included on this list annually simply because of the way they recruit. Last year they went through some transition at receiver with young guys having to take on bigger roles that they might not have been prepared for. This year that young talent should be much better.
There is no more Deontay Burnett in the slot, but Tyler Vaughns is back and is going to be the number one receiver this fall. He had 51 receptions in his first year as a starter and showed plenty of signs that he can be a go-to guy for them. Once they figure out who will throw him the ball, that player will know to look Vaughns' way most of the time. He has fantastic ball skills.
We’ll see what happens with former blue-chips like Michael Pittman Jr., Trevon Sidney, and Josh Imatorbhebhe, but if those players don’t emerge, then true freshman Amon-ra St. Brown will. He might do so even if all of those I mentioned step forward. St. Brown is good enough to make an instant impact.
Tyler Petite, Josh Falo, and Daniel Imatorbhebhe is a good group at tight end as well. Whoever their quarterback will be in November, having great options to distribute the ball to won’t be an issue.
Michigan had a severe lack of production from their receivers and tight ends in 2017, but so much of that had to do with the quarterback play. In terms of raw talent, they have as much as most of the better groups in the nation. Maybe not as good as the group Patterson had at Ole Miss, but sophomores Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black have people buzzing about their potential. If those guys become great, then the Wolverines offense will be much more difficult to deal with.