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Two from Notre Dame make On3’s list of most impactful college football players of the 2024 season

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•08/19/24•

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cross morrison
Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison (left) and defensive tackle Howard Cross III (right). (Both photos by Mike Miller, Blue & Gold)

Two Notre Dame players made On3’s list of the most impactful players of the 2024 college football season: graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III and junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison.

Cross came in at No. 14 on the list, while Morrison landed just behind him at No. 15.

The two Irish stars were also the No. 1 and No. 2 players, respectively, in On3’s ranking of the top-10 most impactful players in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which for the purpose of this exercise included Notre Dame.

Here are the full details, as well as Blue & Gold’s thoughts.

What On3 said about Morrison

“Morrison is in the conversation with Michigan’s Will Johnson, Oregon’s Jabbar Muhammed and Ohio State’s Denzel Burke for the No. 1 corner in the country. As a freshman, all Morrison did was intercept six passes (tied for the most among all power programs). While he wasn’t targeted as much as a sophomore, the former top recruit still had three picks and another 10 PBUs. He’s a ball-hawking defensive back just as reliable in press coverage as drop-zone.” — Jesse Simonton

What On3 said about Cross

“The Irish’s hoss in the middle graded out as the best returning defensive lineman (edge or interior) in college football in 2023, per PFF, essentially playing as well as eventual Round 1 pick Byron Murphy of Texas. Cross isn’t the biggest dude (6-0, 285 pounds), but he plays very similarly to former Georgia and NFL All-Pro Geno Atkins — a super disruptive and explosive interior rusher (39 pressures last season) and a valuable run defender.” — Jesse Simonton

Blue & Gold’s thoughts

In Blue & Gold’s preseason top-25 most important Notre Dame football players of 2024, Morrison and Cross ranked No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard was No. 1, while graduate student safety Xavier Watts was No. 3 (Watts tied with Cross, but he won the tiebreaker with the highest individual vote).

Simonton’s list did not take positional value into account as much as Blue & Gold, as only five quarterbacks made it and none landed higher than Georgia senior Carson Beck at No. 9. Leonard was considered for the ACC list, Simonton wrote, but did not receive an honorable mention.

Neither did Watts — even in the ACC/Notre Dame-only section — which is the only critique we would have here. The 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner picked off 7 passes last season, tying for the national lead.

Cross and Morrison, though, are worthy inclusions. They’re multipliers; Cross occupies multiple blockers and creates one-on-one matchups for everyone else up front, while Morrison locks down his side of the field and makes coverage easier for his fellow defensive backs.

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