Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2023 13 UNDER THE DOME TOP TWEETS 9th Nationally is where On3 ranked Notre Dame rising junior left tackle Joe Alt among the top returning players in college football for the 2023 season: 1. QB Caleb Williams, USC 2. QB Drake Maye, North Carolina 3. WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State 4. TE Brock Bowers, Georgia 5. Edge Jared Verse, Florida State 6. RB Blake Corum, Michigan 7. LB Harold Perkins, LSU 8. OT Olu Fashanu, Penn State 9. OT Joe Alt, Notre Dame 10. CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama An argument can be made that 2022's best offensive tackle in college football is returning to school. Alt was both the highest-graded and most valu - able tackle in the country according to PFF's wins above- average metric. The sophomore's 91.0 run-blocking grade led all FBS tackles while his 99.0 pass-blocking efficiency score was fifth. Alt looks like a potential top-five pick in 2024 and the best offensive tackle prospect since [former Oregon Duck and current Detroit Lion] Penei Sewell." — Max Chadwick on why Pro Football Focus ranked Notre Dame rising junior left tackle Joe Alt No. 1 on its list of the top 10 returning tackles in college football for 2023 2 Notre Dame football players were included in Pro Football Focus' mock draft that ex- plored how the 2023 NFL Draft would pan out if every player in college football was eligible (those included were players that are eligible for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 drafts). Notre Dame was one of seven schools to have multiple players selected (Ohio State had five, Alabama had four, Georgia and Penn State had three, and LSU and USC also had two). The first Fighting Irish player, and first offensive linemen, off the board was ris - ing junior left tackle Joe Alt, who went No. 7 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders. Alt was joined by rising sophomore cor- nerback BENJAMIN MORRISON, who went No. 20 overall to the Seattle Seahawks and was the fourth corner taken. 15th Was where the Fighting Irish were slotted in ESPN analyst Bill Connelly's initial 2023 preseason college football SP+ rankings. (SP+ projec- tions are based on three primary factors, weighted by their predictiveness: returning production, recent recruiting and recent history. It is a tempo- and oppo- nent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking.) The Notre Dame defense was ranked 15th nationally, while the offense was 25th. Additionally, the Irish were slotted 44th in returning production — their third-high - est placement in nine years, behind only 2015 (33rd) and 2018 (20th). Notre Dame returns 72 percent of its defensive production from 2022, which ranks 35th nationally, and 65 percent of its offensive production, which ranks 67th. The Irish face three teams — No. 2 Ohio State, No. 10 USC and No. 12 Clemson — that appear ahead of them in the first SP+ rankings. 306th Out of 363 Division I squads is where the Notre Dame men's basketball team ranked in KenPom.com's luck ratings (the deviation between a team's actual winning percentage and what one would expect from its game-by-game offensive and defensive efficiencies). The Fighting Irish had five one-possession losses and 11 single-digit defeats (eight of which came by five points or fewer) — both of which were the most in the ACC as of March 5. The Irish finished the regular season 3-5 in one-possession games and 6-11 in games decided by single digits. The Irish (11-20, 3-17 ACC) were No. 169 in KenPom.com's overall rankings (adjusted efficiency margin). During their 24-11 (15-5 ACC) campaign in 2021-22, Notre Dame was 38th overall and 141st in KenPom.com's luck rating, while going 3-1 in one-possession games and 12-8 in games decided by single digits. As for the freshman class, Notre Dame needs a Ben Morrison- type season along the defensive line. Un- fortunately for the Irish, Devan Houstan is the only mid-year enrollee from that group. But if you're asking me which freshman will be too good to keep off the field this season in a real role, my pick on Feb. 24 is Christian Gray. "Interviewing him a few weeks ago, I casually mentioned to another reporter that Gray looks like a junior who trans- ferred into Notre Dame from LSU. And yeah, I meant that as a compliment." — Pete Sampson of The Athletic PHOTO BY DAVID BECKER