The offseason is in full force, with the Notre Dame staff focusing on spring practice and recruiting, it’s been a great time for analysts to look ahead at what to expect for this upcoming season.
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Well, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg did us one better, he looked at the next three years (insider) looked at the next three years and tried to predict the best upcoming offenses in the country.
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How did the Irish fare in Rittenberg’s future estimation of offenses? Short answer, they’re one of the best, but not nearly as good as we’d all like them to be coming in ranked as the 14th best offense in the country.
With last season being offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ first full year calling an offense, he’s established a solid base for Brian Kelly. During the shortened 2020 campaign, the Irish were just outside the top 25 in total offense, 26th, averaging 33.4 points-per-game, good for 30th nationally.
Rittenberg saw what we all did in the Irish’s final two contests, “that the program clearly needs more explosiveness on offense to win titles. The Irish must continue to build on their strengths — offensive line, tight end, running back — and get more from the perimeter game and ultimately quarterback.”
Hard to disagree with that assessment, quarterback in my estimation, is the biggest weakness of the offense at the current moment. Rittenberg views transfer Jack Coan as “a solid option for 2021, but Notre Dame needs incoming recruit Tyler Buchner to be as advertised to help elevate the unit for the future.”
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What about the guys the quarterbacks will ultimately throw to? Rittenberg sees that group as one that “must step up this fall.” The collective of Avery Davis, Kevin Austin Jr., and Braden Lenzy needs to help Coan. Also mentioned was the young duo of Jordan Johnson and Deion Colzie potentially being the “big -play spark Notre Dame desperately needs.”
Aside from that position, Rittenberg is high on the rest of the offense. Michael Meyer is mentioned as a Mackey Award candidate, the depth at tight end being impressive beyond the rising sophomore. He see’s the line returning “versatile veterans such as Jarrett Patterson and Josh Lugg,” along with Zeke Correll.
Although the ranking isn’t what many of us wanted to hear, the nice part about it is that the Irish have room to grow. Even with the so-called offensive deficiencies, the Irish have been to the College Football Playoff’s two of the last three years and are on the cusp of breaking through to join some elite company in the college football world.