Only three Notre Dame football position groups make On3 national rankings

Notre Dame should have a chip on its shoulder every year. The Fighting Irish have one of the most storied college football programs of all time, but they haven’t won a national championship since 1988. That’s enough motivation to last … almost half a lifetime. Seventy years.

But what about this year specifically? On3’s Jesse Simonton might as well have dumped a Pringles can over every Irish player and coach with the release of his position group rankings this month. Notre Dame only appeared in three of nine sets of rankings despite likely checking into the Associated Press preseason poll when that’s released closer to the season starting. For reference, Michigan appeared in six of nine sets of rankings.

Per Simonton, Notre Dame has the No. 3 offensive line in the country, the No. 6 cornerback corps and the No. 10 linebackers group.

In Simonton’s defense, every ranking was measured and thought through. The position groups of some teams are hard to argue against, like USC having a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in Caleb Williams, the No. 11 QB in his recruiting class in Miller Moss and a five-star freshman in Malachi Nelson. That’s the best quarterback room in the country. Period.

Notre Dame did not show up in Simonton’s top five, though. Or his “best of the rest,” which also included five teams. LSU, Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA and Ole Miss all have better quarterback contingents than Notre Dame per Simonton. Wake Forest graduate transfer Sam Hartman will likely have something to say about this, but keep in mind Simonton’s rankings take into account all players at the position. Nobody other than Hartman on the Notre Dame roster has attempted a pass at the college level.

Inexperience is what is holding many of Notre Dame’s position groups back.

The Irish have Audric Estimé at running back, for instance, but who else now that Logan Diggs is in the transfer portal and Chris Tyree is at wide receiver? Gi’Bran Payne, Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love have combined to carry the ball two times in college. Notre Dame doesn’t have immensely experienced wide receivers or tight ends, either. The Irish’s four freshmen wideouts could all play a big role this fall. The post-Michael Mayer era begins in earnest at tight end.

Slotting in at No. 3 in the offensive line rankings is high praise from Simonton for a team with a new position coach in Joe Rudolph and one that is replacing two graduate student guards, meanwhile. Only coming behind Georgia and Michigan in this category isn’t anything to fight back against. Those two programs have both qualified for the last two College Football Playoffs.

“The Irish have perhaps the nation’s top tackle tandem in Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, plus veteran center Zeke Correll,” Simonton wrote. “It’s a strong core trio, but Notre Dame does have to sort out both guard spots during training camp.”

Losing Isaiah Foskey and Jayson Ademilola meant Notre Dame wasn’t going to show up in the defensive line rankings. The Irish also don’t have a headliner at safety. Interestingly, Simonton slotted Notre Dame’s linebackers in the top 10. He heaped praise on the young players backing up graduate students Marist Liufau, JD Bertrand and Jack Kiser.

“Athletic sophomores Jaylen Sneed and Nolan Ziegler figure to fit somewhere in the rotation, while the freshmen signees — Jaiden Ausberry, Drayk Bowen and Preston Zinter — were on campus during the spring and emerged as potential factors on the depth chart,” he wrote.

Freshman All-American Benjamin Morrison is the main reason why Notre Dame has the sixth-best corner group in the country in the eyes of Simonton.

So it all depends on perception. Three of nine isn’t a great hit rate, but where did Simonton mess up? If anything, he was generous in giving the Notre Dame linebackers a mark. The bottom line is that this Irish team, in head coach Marcus Freeman’s second season, as a lot to prove.

And plenty of Pringles to lay waste to.

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