Notre Dame Football: Ranking the 6 Best Candidates for Irish's Team MVP
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With the stinging end to a 10-2 regular season still fresh, Notre Dame football will be in wait-and-see mode this week as the rest of the college football landscape comes into focus.
In a few weeks, Notre Dame will host its annual end-of-season awards banquet and dish out various honors, including the team’s most valuable player award. Let’s toss out some candidates for Notre Dame’s most valuable piece, placing an emphasis on production, fit within the entire offense or defense and ability to be replaced.
6. C.J. Prosise
1 of 6
Not many would’ve expected C.J. Prosise to land on this list at the beginning of the season, in the fall and, certainly, not in the spring.
But the converted slot receiver stepped into an enhanced role in the absence of Greg Bryant and, more notably, after starting running back Tarean Folston suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener against Texas. From there, Prosise piled up 1,032 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games (nine starts). The 220-pound speedster posted big games against Virginia (155 yards, one score), Georgia Tech (198 yards, three touchdowns), UMass (149 yards, two touchdowns), Navy (129 yards, three touchdowns) and USC (143 yards, two touchdowns).
After a slow night against Temple, Prosise was banged up the following week against Pitt, didn’t play against Wake Forest, left the Boston College game with a high ankle sprain and didn’t play Saturday versus Stanford. Prosise may have been higher if not for the play of true freshman running back Josh Adams, who produced in Prosise’s stead and further cemented the importance of Notre Dame’s offensive line.
5. DeShone Kizer
2 of 6
For some teams, losing the starting quarterback can be catastrophic. Losing the top two signal-callers may be insurmountable.
Rewind to the spring, when Everett Golson and Malik Zaire were jockeying for Notre Dame’s starting job. DeShone Kizer was firmly entrenched as the No. 3 quarterback. But Golson, of course, departed for Florida State, and Zaire suffered a season-ending fractured ankle in the second half of Week 2.
Kizer wasn’t perfect in place of Zaire—the first-half fumble versus Stanford, three interceptions against Boston College and two more against Temple stand out—but his value was still near the top for the Irish.
Kizer, in effect, kept the Irish offense humming, as it tallied 36 points against Stanford, 42 against Pitt and 41 against both USC and Navy. The redshirt freshman led a 15-play, 88-yard drive to catapult Notre Dame in front of Stanford in the final 30 seconds Saturday. He engineered a 75-yard drive with two-plus minutes left against Temple on the road and capped it with a 17-yard scoring strike to Will Fuller. And in 58 seconds against Clemson, Kizer helped produce a scoring drive and gave Notre Dame a chance to tie the game with a two-point conversion.
Not bad for your third-string spring quarterback.
4. Offensive Line
3 of 6
Talk to any Irish offensive lineman, and each will profess the importance of continuity and chemistry among the five behemoths up front. So we’ll group Ronnie Stanley, Quenton Nelson (with a side order of Alex Bars), Nick Martin, Steve Elmer and Mike McGlinchey together.
Sure, Notre Dame struggled to run the ball (32 carries for 111 yards) against Clemson’s loaded front and needed Kizer’s 79-yard touchdown sprint to reach 168 rushing yards against Temple. But the Irish finished the regular season ranked 24th in the country with 215.2 rushing yards per game.
On Saturday, the Notre Dame front throttled Stanford for 299 rushing yards on 35 carries.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
3. Will Fuller
4 of 6
It got to the point where Notre Dame fans and media alike wondered what the other teams and opposing coaches were thinking. Who really thought they could defend against a deep ball to Will Fuller with simple man-to-man coverage?
Well, Fuller kept gashing opposing defenses, as the junior speedster notched 56 receptions for 1,145 yards and 13 touchdowns, checking in at an impressive 20.4 yards per reception, the 15th-highest average in the country among qualifying pass-catchers.
It’s reasonable to ask for more from Fuller, who continues to be hamstrung by pivotal drops and had quiet evenings against Clemson (two catches for 37 yards), Wake Forest (three grabs for 37 yards) and Boston College (three receptions for 72 yards).
Yet in a flash, he can come through with a big play few on the Irish can replicate. His 73-yard catch from Kizer late in the second quarter Saturday handed the Irish their first lead. His game-winning touchdown against Virginia speaks for itself.
Despite the few flaws, Fuller offers a unique big-play ability and forces defenses to account for him.
2. Jaylon Smith
5 of 6
There are only so many ways to describe the play of linebacker Jaylon Smith. He has the athleticism and speed to be a force in pass coverage and the strength and power to be a constant presence against the run and rushing the passer.
Smith produced a team-high 113 tackles—well above Joe Schmidt’s second-place mark of 65—including nine tackles for loss, and he tacked on five passes defended, rare numbers for an Irish linebacker.
Consider Stanford’s opening drive Saturday. The Cardinal were positioned with 1st-and-goal from the Notre Dame 1-yard line. At the snap, Smith ran all the way around the right side and, along with Jarrett Grace, combined to stop Remound Wright. Two quarters later, with Stanford setting up for 2nd-and-goal from the 3-yard line, the Cardinal pitched it out to star running back Christian McCaffrey running to the right side. Smith had both the recognition and speed to track the Heisman candidate and force him out of bounds before reaching the pylon.
It’s those sorts of plays, ones that Smith made all season, that are irreplaceable on the Notre Dame defense.
1. Sheldon Day
6 of 6
For as great as Smith is and will be whenever he moves on to the next level, senior defensive tackle Sheldon Day turned in a remarkably productive and consistent season, keying a front seven that caused few headaches for Brian Kelly and Brian VanGorder, at least compared to the secondary.
Day racked up 41 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss, the most by a Notre Dame player since 2006. Most importantly, he remained healthy for the Irish, providing a steady presence each week along the defensive line.
“Sheldon Day is playing off the charts,” Kelly said earlier this month. “I don’t know if he’s getting enough credit for the way he’s playing.”
Smith and Day were two incredibly valuable pieces on the Irish squad, not just the defense. Day earns the slight edge for his consistency and leadership.
All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco on Twitter.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
