Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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OFFENSIVE LINEMEN 72 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Starters ★★★★★ To help illustrate how dominant this unit is expected to be, Pro Football Focus in January ranked its 30 best blockers heading into the 2020 sea- son, and four of the five Notre Dame offensive line starters made the cut. Senior right tackle Robert Hainsey topped the list at No. 23. Senior left guard Aaron Banks checked in at No. 24. Senior left tackle Liam Eichen- berg, who did not allow a sack last year, was rated No. 28. And junior center Jarrett Patterson was No. 30. Ironically, fifth-year senior right guard Tommy Kraemer did not make the list. Kraemer was a midseason All-American by the Associated Press last season before missing the last six games with a leg injury. Experience ★★★★★ This is an area almost unmatched by any team in the country and perhaps never before, or ever again, at Notre Dame. The starting five Irish linemen have combined to make 114 career starts, believed to be the most brought back for a season in program history. It's also the first time since 2005 that an Irish team returns all five of its pri- mary offensive line starters. Eichenberg and Kraemer lead the group with 26 career starts apiece. All five starters have the talent to play in the NFL, with Eichenberg al- ready getting some first-round draft hype. Depth ★★★★½ Notre Dame entered the summer with 17 scholarship offensive linemen on its roster. Led by versatile senior Josh Lugg, there is plenty of quality depth behind the starting five. Lugg, often called the Swiss Army knife of this group because of his abil- ity to play multiple positions, started the final five games of 2019 and filled in admirably at right tackle after an in- jury sidelined Hainsey. If a player with Lugg's talent can't crack the starting lineup, that's the definition of depth. Third-year line coach Jeff Quinn has kept the NFL pipeline open for business and looks to have plenty more professional candidates mov- ing through the ranks in the lower classes, many ready to be called upon if needed. Overall Grade ★★★★½ Notre Dame was ranked No. 2 by Pro Football Focus last season in its pass protection efficiency and there is no reason to believe the Irish won't match that performance in 2020. A better gauge of this unit will come in its run blocking. Notre Dame ranked only 45th last season in rushing at 179.2 yards per game. The struggles in the ground game were also evident on third-down short-yardage plays in 2019. Unoffi- cially, Notre Dame managed only a 46.2-percent conversion rate when needing three or fewer yards on third down, including going only 3 of 20 (15.0 percent) when it needed two or three yards. BY THE NUMBERS 5 Starters along the offensive who all began their careers at Notre Dame as tackles. Senior left guard Aaron Banks and junior center Jarrett Patterson were both left tackles as freshmen, with Patterson shifting to center last year to provide him the best chance to get on the field. In 2017, then sophomore Tommy Kraemer (now at right guard) co-started with freshman Robert Hainsey at right tackle. 80 80 Sack yards allowed by Notre Dame's pass blocking in 2019, the fewest among the 65 Power Five teams in the nation. Over the final nine games, quarterback Ian Book was sacked only once on a third-down pass at- tempt in just more than 80 tries. 2005 2005 Was the last year until now that Notre Dame returned all five start- ers along the offensive line. Head coach Charlie Weis' debut season had tackles Ryan Harris and Mark LeVoir, center John Sullivan, and guards Dan Stevenson and Bob Morton (although Dan Santucci moved ahead of Morton in the rotation). PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern Josh Lugg started the final six games at right tackle as a 2019 senior after captain Robert Hainsey suffered a season-ending injury. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS