Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2020 13 UNDER THE DOME JUNIOR TIGHT END COLE KMET ENTERS 2020 NFL DRAFT For the third time in the Brian Kelly era that is entering year 11, Notre Dame has lost a tight end to the NFL Draft after his junior season. Cole Kmet, projected in various circles as at least a second-round pick and possibly the first tight end selected, announced on Jan. 2 he would forgo his senior campaign in 2020. In 11 games this season, Kmet snagged 43 receptions for 515 yards and six touchdowns. "This was an incredibly difficult decision because while I am ready for the NFL, I was not sure I was ready to say goodbye to Notre Dame," Kmet said in a statement on his Twitter account. Each of the two previous Fighting Irish tight ends to leave after their junior seasons — Kyle Rudolph in 2011 and Troy Niklas in 2014 — were second-round choices. Rudolph was the first tight end taken in his year (No. 43 overall), and Niklas was the fourth player selected at his posi- tion (No. 52 overall). Kmet's departure also means the Irish lost their three top pass catch- ers from last season — Chase Claypool (66), Chris Finke (41) and Kmet — for the first time since 2007, after the Irish graduated Jeff Samardzija (78 catches) and Rhema McKnight (67), while running back Darius Walker (56) turned pro early. Junior tight end Tommy Tremble returns as the top pass catcher from 2019 after totaling 16 receptions for 183 yards and four touchdowns, (although running back Jafar Armstrong's 27 career catches are the most returning overall in 2020). Tremble fits a prototype of the detached tight end from the line with his receiver-like frame (6-3½, 235), but what was overshadowed was his blocking. During the 12-game regular season, Pro Football Focus graded out Tremble as a far better run blocker (82.8 grade) than Kmet (55.3), and Tremble has been described by Kelly "as physical as anybody we've got." However, there was a significant disparity in the number of snaps Kmet took this season — 707, despite missing the first two games — and Tremble had with 316 (about 25 per contest). Also returning at tight end are senior Brock Wright, who has caught four passes for 57 yards and a score through three seasons while pri- marily in a blocking role, and junior George Takacs, who snared a late touchdown in the win at Duke. Freshmen Michael Mayer and Kevin Bauman will enroll in June. — Lou Somogyi Kmet becomes the third Irish tight end during Brian Kelly's tenure to leave early for the NFL. He had 43 receptions for 515 yards and six touchdowns in 2019. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Same Ol' Story In Way-Too-Early 2020 Football Polls Is there anything in college football simpler than assembling the "Way Too Early" lists for the next season? Invariably it involves putting the top four or five from the just completed season in a similar order, as well as the top 10-15. Of course, there is good reason for the top four to five to remain relatively un- changed year after year: Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State have clearly separated themselves in the first tier since the inception of the College Football Playoff in 2014. Oklahoma has been one of the four finalists in five of the six years the playoff format has been in existence, and for three straight years Georgia has pounded on its door, when not let inside like in 2017. Reigning champion LSU was the "newcomer" to the scene in 2019, but even the Tigers had previously won national titles in 2003 and 2007 — placing them behind fellow SEC West Division rival Alabama for most national titles won since the turn of the 21st century. For 2020, there are at least four consensus opinions among six of the top college football media outlets: • Clemson and Ohio State are the overwhelming picks to finish No. 1 and No. 2. In the ACC, Clemson has no competitor in its stratosphere to stop it from win- ning the league crown, while Ohio State has obliterated its supposed top rival, Michigan, by scores of 62-39 and 56-27 the past two years and will host the Wolverines this year. • Alabama is likely to find its way into the CFP next season after an "off" 11-2 season. • Notre Dame remains in the "very good, but not quite great" second-tier cat- egory with rankings between Nos. 8-10. • Wisconsin, which will play Notre Dame at Lambeau Field Oct. 3, joins schools such as Florida, Oregon, Penn State, Auburn, Michigan, Texas in that tier-two strata, generally around the top seven to 15. Overall, the popular opinion is entering the Nov. 7 showdown at home versus Clemson, Notre Dame should be no worse than 7-1, and may be favored to be 8-0. ESPN: Notre Dame No. 10 Among the six outlets, it had Oregon the highest (No. ), with Alabama and LSU in the top four again — despite massive personnel and coaching departures in Baton Rouge. Wisconsin is No. 14. SI.com: Notre Dame No. 9 This was the lone outlet that didn't have Clemson and Ohio State in the top two spots. It still had Clemson No. 1, but oddly placed Georgia, which has a major rebuild on offense, at No. 2, one spot ahead of the Buckeyes, with Alabama No. 4 and Penn State No. 5. It had LSU the lowest at No. 10. Wisconsin is No. 13, and USC (Nov. 28) is No. 16. CBS Sports: Notre Dame No. 10 The top four is identical to ESPN, and the lone outlier is having Auburn at No. 8 (the only one to have the Tigers there) while Georgia is No. 9, just ahead of the Fighting Irish. Wisconsin is No. 15, and Louisville (Nov. 21) is No. 16. FOX Sports: Notre Dame No. 10 Same Final Four of Clemson, Ohio State, LSU and Alabama, with Oklahoma slip- ping just in front of the Irish at No. 9. This outlet ranked only a top 10. Sporting News: Notre Dame No. 8 The highest ranking for head coach Brian Kelly's crew, with Penn State at No. 9 and Florida No. 10 — the lone poll where both the Gators and Nittany Lions are both behind the Irish. Wisconsin is No. 14. Athlon: Notre Dame No. 9 This is the one source that had Wisconsin in the top 10 — at No. 10, with Or- egon, which it lost to by one point in the Rose Bowl, at No. 11. — Lou Somogyi