Notre Dame has only played two games so far this season and their opponents in those two are a combined 1-6 on the season but praise is still being thrown in the direction of two Fighting Irish players.
Pro Football Focus has graded every Power Five player and today released their rankings for the highest graded non-quarterbacks this season that play at Power Five programs.
In that list, two Notre Dame players showed up in the top five.
Highest-graded power-five non-QBs in College Football:
1. Kyle Pitts, Florida TE – 95.6
2. Liam Eichenberg, Notre Dame OT – 93.7
3. Christian Darrisaw, VA Tech OT – 92.3
4. Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame C – 91.4
5. Teven Jenkins, Oklahoma St OT – 90.8 pic.twitter.com/I2MbhnP8xD— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 7, 2020
Only Kyle Pitts, who already has six touchdown receptions in two games, outranks Liam Eichenberg who mans the left tackle position. Then just two spots behind him is Jarrett Patterson who mans the center position seemingly as well as anyone in the nation.
This speaks to what we’ve said a lot here, that the best unit of any on Notre Dame is easily their offensive line. The question with it that will come into play eventually is how it does in the run game against strong defensive fronts?
It was far from special against Georgia a year ago and downright disasterous in the late October affair at Michigan.
Can it take a significant step there when Pitt and Clemson show up on the schedule in the next month?
If the answer to that question is yes then you might be looking at a Notre Dame team that returns to the College Football Playoff.
If it’s a no then things are likely headed towards another plenty good, but far from truly great season for the Fighting Irish.