Where Notre Dame football position groups appear in On3 unit rankings: Offense
On3’s Jesse Simonton ranked the top 10 position groups in the country at each position group. Notre Dame appeared in two of the five sets of rankings on the offensive side of the ball, checking in at No. 6 on quarterbacks list and No. 6 on the tight ends list.
Here’s a look at all five top-10 charts with comments from Blue & Gold.
QUARTERBACK RANKINGS (Notre Dame No. 6)
1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Oregon
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Notre Dame
7. Ole Miss
8. LSU
9. Florida
10. Texas A&M
Blue & Gold says…
It’s the deepest quarterback room Notre Dame has ever had, perhaps, and all four scholarship players — senior Riley Leonard, junior Steve Angeli, sophomore Kenny Minchey and freshman CJ Carr — stayed in South Bend. Plenty of people were shocked at least one of them did not enter the transfer portal. Depth is great, but getting one of the four to play like a true top-10 QB1 is even greater. That’s what Notre Dame needs this year.
RUNNING BACK RANKINGS (Notre Dame not ranked)
1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Georgia
4. UCF
5. Ole Miss
6. Alabama
7. Kansas
8. Liberty
9. Texas
10. Kansas State
Just missed: West Virginia, Oregon, Cal, Oklahoma
Blue & Gold says…
It’s not too shocking to see Simonton leave Notre Dame off this list. Experience matters, and the Irish don’t have someone who has been RB1 for a full season. But the same was true at this time last year, and Audric Estimé ended up being one of the best tailbacks in the country. He was backed up nicely by Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and Gi’Bran Payne, all three of whom will play a factor in the Notre Dame backfield last season. Hindsight might be 20/20 and Simonton could kick himself for not at least including the Irish in “just missed” here.”
TIGHT END RANKINGS (Notre Dame No. 6)
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. North Carolina
4. Syracuse
5. Utah
6. Notre Dame
7. Texas Tech
8. Ole Miss
9. Oregon
10. Iowa
Best of the rest: Penn State, Michigan State, TCU, Oklahoma, Texas
Blue & Gold says…
This is a fair placement … if Mitchell Evans is healthy for most of the season. Without him, the Irish have a lot to prove at this position.
WIDE RECEIVER RANKINGS (Notre Dame not ranked)
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Texas
4. Ole Miss
5. Missouri
6. Georgia
7. Miami
8. LSU
9. Oklahoma
10. Colorado
Best of the rest: Tennessee, USC, Texas Tech, Auburn, NC State
Blue & Gold says…
Everyone can talk about Notre Dame’s revamped wide receiver room all they want, but none of the offseason tire pumping does not matter if it’s not followed by in-season production. Simonton is clearly waiting to buy stock in the Fighting Irish wide receivers, which is completely fair.
OFFENSIVE LINE RANKINGS (Notre Dame not ranked)
1. LSU
2. Texas
3. Georgia
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma State
6. Oregon
7. Missouri
8. Miami
9. Tennessee
10. Ole Miss
Best of the rest: Ohio State, Wisconsin, NC State
Blue & Gold says…
This is what life without Joe Alt and Blake Fisher looks like. The Irish offense will go as far as an inexperienced offensive line allows it to go.
