Athlon Sports, Lindy’s Sports, On3 and Phil Steele ranked every position group across college football, from quarterbacks to special teams units. Every Notre Dame position group appeared in at least one of the four lists.
Here’s where they all stand.
Notre Dame in 2024 national position group rankings
Blue & Gold says…
° Only two Notre Dame position groups received unanimous recognition — the defensive line and defensive backs. That’s on par with what the evidence tells you about the Fighting Irish and about what the perception of the defensive unit is based on personnel; Notre Dame had the best pass efficiency defense in the country in 2023 because the defensive line created chaos up front the the defensive backs were brilliant on the back end. More of that is expected in 2024 with many of the players responsible for that statistic having returned to South Bend.
° There should be plenty of people surprised by the Notre Dame running back room. Irish fans won’t be shocked when that’s a successful unit; anyone who closely follows the program knows what the team has in Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love. But it appears too many people outside the program have not yet caught on. The feeling seems to be, “Audric Estimé is gone, so Notre Dame has a lot to prove out of the backfield.” It wasn’t long ago when the same people said that after Kyren Williams went to the NFL. Estimé made sure the room didn’t miss a beat. Price and Love will probably do the same.
° It’s a bit puzzling to see On3 was the only outlet to rank the Notre Dame tight ends. Lindy’s and Pro Football Focus both named Mitchell Evans the No. 2 tight end in college football. How can that standing alone not vault Notre Dame into the national unit rankings?
° The Notre Dame wide receiver only appearing in one of the sets of rankings is completely fair, meanwhile. Everyone in that group has a lot to prove, from the three freshmen additions to the three graduate transfers and the five returnees in between.
° The Notre Dame offensive line came dangerously close to not appearing in any of the rankings, and that just speaks to the job Joe Rudolph is going to have to do in his second season in South Bend. He lost three players who started at least 10 games last year, two of which were NFL Draft picks in tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher.
° The Irish linebackers got some love despite that unit also losing a pair of NFL Draft picks in Marist Liufau and JD Bertrand. The way that room is headed, it could be talked about as an all-around strength like the defensive line and defensive backs in a year or two. Plenty of youth, a ton of potential.
° Last but not least, the quarterbacks. Top to bottom, the group is as deep as ever at Notre Dame. Key word, though — top. In the end, all that matters is how the starting is faring. And whether that be Riley Leonard all year or if he’s replaced by an understudy for whatever reason, QB1 needs to produce. Otherwise all the preseason hype is for nothing.
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