Notre Dame Football: Position-by-Position Midseason Grades for the Irish
Less than 48 hours removed from Notre Dame’s 31-27 loss to Florida State, it’s time to begin to move on from the wild—and disputed—finish and assess the Irish at the bye week seven games into the season.
Notre Dame is 6-1 and ranked seventh in The AP poll. It's had convincing wins (Michigan), dubious wins (North Carolina) and arguably as impressive a loss as a team can have (Florida State).
Let’s go by position by position and assess the team’s performance so far. We’ll judge the overall performance of each group and consider how the units have performed in relation to preseason expectations. A “C” grade is considered average.
Away we go.
Quarterback
1 of 9
Everett Golson has been perplexing at times this season, but the good assuredly outweighs the bad.
At the last update, Golson had 11-2 odds to win the Heisman Trophy—fourth-best in the nation—according to Odds Shark. Golson has completed 61.9 percent of his passes and tossed 19 touchdowns to six interceptions. He has led the team late in games, such as his 4th-and-11 game-winning strike to Ben Koyack against Stanford and his would-be go-ahead touchdown to Corey Robinson on Saturday against the Seminoles.
Turnovers, however, have held back Golson from consistency. The signal-caller has committed 11 turnovers in his last four games. Irish head coach Brian Kelly and Golson himself have said consistency and ball security are key for the Heisman candidate to take the next step.
Still, he’s the key cog propelling the Notre Dame offense.
Grade: B+
Running Back
2 of 9
The grade for this group would have probably been closer to a “C” if not for the recent play of sophomore running back Tarean Folston in the last two games.
After the Irish clung firmly to the committee approach in the backfield in the first five games, Folston ripped away the bulk of the duties beginning against North Carolina. The sophomore has tallied 218 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the last two games and added five grabs for 71 yards and another score against the Tar Heels.
Should Folston continue to garner the majority of the work, he looks primed for a strong season, providing a steady force alongside Golson in the backfield.
Grade: B
Receiver
3 of 9
Questions have been answered in the Irish receiving corps, as sophomore William Fuller has headlined an emerging group to replace the production of TJ Jones and DaVaris Daniels.
Though Kelly had been reluctant to anoint Fuller as the bona fide No. 1 receiver at various points early in the season, it’s tough to argue that Fuller is a legitimate high-end receiver. The slender speedster has corralled 43 receptions for 583 yards and eight touchdowns (tied for the third most in the country, per cfbstats.com).
Corey Robinson, Chris Brown, C.J. Prosise and Amir Carlisle have all contributed in different games, giving Golson a varied mix of options to whom to throw.
Grade: B+
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Tight End
4 of 9
We haven’t heard a whole lot from senior tight end Ben Koyack outside of his last-minute touchdown against Stanford.
Koyack has nabbed just 18 receptions for 179 yards and the lone score. Other than a five-catch, 32-yard game against Purdue, he hasn’t had more than three receptions in any game.
Still, Koyack is a reliable blocker and has been efficient when called upon as a pass-catcher. If teams scheme more to take Fuller, Robinson and Company out of the game, Koyack could be needed more across the middle to help move the chains.
Grade: B-
Offensive Line
5 of 9
Notre Dame’s offensive line drew heaps of negative attention early in the season, and Kelly used the first bye week to reshuffle the line—leaving only left tackle Ronnie Stanley in the same exact spot.
Kelly has consistently said the line is improving and getting better, and that backs up what we’ve seen from the rushing attack in the last two weeks.
It may sound as if we’re being repetitive, but offensive linemen will say much of their success is predicated on chemistry and communication between all five members of the line. With another bye week under its belt and five more regular-season games still to come, it stands to reason the best football from the offensive line lies ahead.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
6 of 9
Notre Dame’s entire defense has impressed this season under new coordinator Brian VanGorder. Kelly has repeatedly said he’s not surprised by how quickly the group has come together, but he has said he’s been impressed by the defensive line in particular, especially against the run.
Irish followers expected Sheldon Day to have a strong year, and he has. But Isaac Rochell, Jarron Jones and Romeo Okwara have been sharp too.
The unit is still young—with two juniors and two sophomores starting and freshmen Andrew Trumbetti and Daniel Cage playing as well—but the results are difficult to dispute. The Irish are tied for 12th in the nation in rushing defense, according to cfbstats.com, allowing 101.9 yards per game on the ground.
Grade: B+
Linebacker
7 of 9
Joe Schmidt and Jaylon Smith are Notre Dame’s top two tacklers with 57 and 53 total tackles respectively. Those two set the tone for the Irish defense and are really the only Notre Dame ‘backers to evaluate. Sophomore James Onwualu is technically the starting “Sam” linebacker in Notre Dame’s base defense, but defensive back Matthias Farley has been on the field more in sub-packages.
Schmidt has exceeded expectations with his consistency and ability to hold up against the run as a 6’0.5”, 235-pound middle linebacker. Smith, who has missed his share of tackles, has still built on a strong freshman season and continued to strive toward his high ceiling.
With a little more consistency from Smith, this unit will grade higher as the season progresses.
Grade: B
Defensive Back
8 of 9
After safeties Max Redfield and Elijah Shumate were widely noticed—not in a good way—for their play against Rice in the season opener, the two have solidified and gone relatively unnoticed.
While Redfield and Shumate haven’t made a lot of jaw-dropping plays, both have been fairly sure-handed as tacklers and have limited their breakdowns in pass coverage.
Cody Riggs and Cole Luke continue to hold down the cornerback slots, and Farley is having a sturdy bounce-back season.
Depth will continue to be a concern moving forward for this unit, as freshman Drue Tranquill and Farley are the only options at safety with Austin Collinsworth and Nicky Baratti injured.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
9 of 9
After a smooth start on special teams to begin the season, Notre Dame hasn’t made many big plays.
The kick return unit seems to be constantly stagnant, and the punt return unit hasn’t fielded many returnable punts. On the other side, Kyle Brindza has done an outstanding job of keeping the ball away from dangerous return men like North Carolina jitterbug Ryan Switzer and Stanford burner Ty Montgomery.
Brindza has missed four field goals this season, as there were problems with the holding against Stanford.
By and large, however, the unit hasn’t done anything to seriously harm the Irish.
Grade: C+
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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