Reaction to Notre Dame’s showing in Pete Prisco’s Top 100 NFL Players List
What I find to be most interesting of the four Notre Dame players listed on the previous page is the gap between Quenton Nelson and Zack Martin, the two best offensive guards in the NFL. Has Nelson surpassed Martin? I think most believe that although I’m not so sure it’s by that wide of a gap as Martin is still playing at an All-Pro level as well.
Ronnie Stanley checks in as the second rated offensive tackle, trailing only Ryan Ramczyk of the Saints who came in 23rd. Lamar Jackson might have won the MVP last season but without a shadow of a doubt, his year wouldn’t have been nearly as impressive had he been playing behind a replacement level left tackle instead of Stanley, who had a historic season in terms of pass blocking in 2019.
And finally, Harrison Smith getting love that he deserves. I know he wasn’t quite the same player in 2019 for the Vikings as he has been his now eight year NFL career. So instead of being the best safety in the NFL he is now merely, “one of” the best safeties in the league. How he wasn’t named to the NFL All-Decade Team is still laughable to me.
For what it’s worth, Notre Dame’s four representitives actually matched Alabama and Cal for the fourth most of any school on the list. LSU led the way with an absurd eight while Mississippi State and Ohio State both had five players a piece.