Tag: Aaron Banks

Notre Dame offensive line named best through 4 weeks

Pro Football Focus has graded every college football offensive line in the nation a month in and you-know-who is rated first.

The first four weeks of college football have come and gone and as we turn our calendars to October, we look back a bit on the first month of the season of college football.

When you do that with Notre Dame a good place to look in terms of performance level is their offensive line unit.

Why?

Well, it’s not just because the program has developed into “O-Line U” in recent years but because this was the unit that was supposed to be the strongest of any for Notre Dame entering 2020.

Now a month in (just two games in this case) Notre Dame’s offensive line is graded by Pro Football Focus to be the best so far early on in this young college football season.

The Pro Football Focus writeup on the Notre Dame offensive line:

1. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

LT: Liam Eichenberg — 93.7 PFF grade
LG: Aaron Banks — 82.2 PFF grade
C: Jarrett Patterson — 91.4 PFF grade
RG: Tommy Kraemer  — 72.9 PFF grade
RT: Robert Hainsey — 88.6 PFF grade

The Fighting Irish came in at No. 1 in our preseason rankings, and they have certainly played like it thus far. On true pass sets (i.e., no play action, screen, quick throw, etc), The Irish have the highest-graded offensive line (88.5) in the country among those with at least 25 such reps. For perspective on how good that is, second place has a 76.2 grade. As you can find in CFB Premium Stats, the Irish offensive line is also the highest-graded unit in the run game.

Starting left tackle Liam Eichenberg leads the unit and is the highest-graded tackle in the country. He’s the only tackle to produce grades above 85.0 in both pass protection and as a run blocker. Center Jarrett Patterson also leads his position in PFF grade, while guard Aaron Banks and tackle Robert Hainsey each crack the top 10 at their respective positions. Guard Tommy Kraemer may not have a top-10 grade like his peers, but it’s still a solid mark relative to his counterparts. He has also allowed just one pressure in 2020.

Because of questions at running back coming in and injuries and a lack of production early on from the wide receivers, it’s more important than ever to get great results from the offensive line and through a pair of games its safe to say that Notre Dame is getting exactly that.

Joining the Irish in the top 5 were:

2. BYU
3. Appalachian State
4. Clemson
5. Marshall

Notre Dame named top offensive line of week

It wasn’t a pretty start but it got dominating as it went on Saturday for Notre Dame’s offensive line against Duke. See how dominating here

It didn’t start very pretty but it sure did end up so as Notre Dame went from three-and-out their first three possessions on Saturday to just three punts the entire rest of the game.

Why?

Part was likely play-calling while shaking off some rust certainly applies but an offensive line that dominated as the game went on was a large part of that as well.

Tuesday saw Pro Football Focus rate the best offensive line units for the college football weekend and Notre Dame topped the charts.

On the first three possessions Saturday we saw Notre Dame gain -5 yards on the ground on seven attempts.  That’s because of the odd rule where sacks count as rush yards in college football and Ian Book was sacked twice those first three drives for a total of 12 yards lost.

The rest of the game Notre Dame ran the ball 36 times for 183 yards, an average of more than five yards per attempts, up significantly from their brutal start.

Also after allowing those two sacks on the first three possessions, the Notre Dame offense allowed just one the rest of the game, a noteworthy improvement.

It wasn’t perfect, especially the start, but the middle and end were a mighty impressive showing for Notre Dame’s big ugglies.

 

Notre Dame Football: Irish all over PFF’s Preseason All-ACC Team

What is particularly interesting to me here is that by simply counting, Notre Dame has three more members on the First Team than Clemson, with only Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne receiving that honor for the Tigers. 

This is weird to write.

Looking at Pro Football Focus’s Preseason All-ACC Team and seeing Notre Dame players listed is strange.  I’m used to seeing Notre Dame listed as an independent and not really looking much at it.

But it’s 2020 and Notre Dame is playing in the ACC as a full-time member this season.  The Irish are all over the list with five players earning First Team status, a pair more making the Second Team, three more being named to the Third Team and one player earning an Honorable Mention.

Notre Dame’s First Team Selections:

OT – Liam Eichenberg
Eichenberg already earned the 18th-best pass-blocking grade among FBS tackles over the entire season, but his grade from Week 7 on actually cracked the top-10 (7th).

C – Jarrett Patterson
Patterson finished as the 19th most valuable player in the FBS at the position and produced an above-average pass-blocking grade on his true pass sets.

OG – Aaron Banks
He allowed zero pressures in seven of his 13 games and dominated against Power 5 competition. He actually produced an 85.6 pass-blocking grade in those matchups, third in the country among those with at least 175 such snaps.

LB – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
From Week 10 on, Micah Parsons and Isaiah Simmons were the only Power 5 linebackers who earned a higher PFF grade.

S – Kyle Hamilton
The 6-foot-4 safety allowed only seven catches on 23 targets in coverage while making four interceptions and breaking up another five passes en route to a 1.3 passer rating allowed.

Notre Dame’s Second Team Selections:
OG – Tommy Kraemer
K – Jonathan Doerer

Notre Dame’s Third Team Selections:
OT – Robert Hainsey
Edge – Ade Ogundeji
LB – Drew White

Notre Dame’s lone Honorable Mention:
QB – Ian Book

What is particularly interesting to me here is that by simply counting, Notre Dame has three more members on the First Team than Clemson, with only Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne receiving that honor for the Tigers.

Clemson had four players on the Second Team, six on the Third Team and one player receive honorable mention.

Notre Dame actually has more players combined on the first and second teams than Clemson does but the Tigers have 13 players mentioned in total to Notre Dame’s 11.

Is the Notre Dame Offensive Line the best group in the country?

Five returning starters give the Irish a very formidable group, but just how good are they when compared to other top groups?

A long history of putting offensive linemen into the NFL has obviously gotten the notice of plenty of national pundits. Mike Farrell, the Recruiting Director over at Rivals, has ranked the best group of five offensive linemen in the country and the Irish came out on top of the list.

It’s not just one elite player on the line that Farrell likes its everyone “from Liam Eichenberg to Aaron Banks to Robert Hainsey, the front is loaded with talent and should pave the way for a strong running game and a dangerous offense under Ian Book.” The Irish will depend on the offensive line to pave holes for a very green running backs unit. They will also have to give Book enough time to find his also green wide receivers.

It is a very good luxury to have all five returning starters, with the aforementioned three along with Tommy Kraemer and Jarrett Patterson, to help ease the offense this coming season. Having a line that has been through the trials of a season together will surely help as Book finds go to targets and who will be the lead running back. You can add in Josh Lugg into the mix as well in case an injury occurs. Winning the battle on the trenches is often a good sign for great teams, and if the Irish offensive line plays up to expectations, you can expect very good results.

Lindy’s Names Notre Dame’s Offensive Line Best in Country

As college football presumably creeps closer to a new season, it’s time for the outside experts to rank everything possible.

As college football presumably creeps closer to a new season, it’s time for the outside experts to rank everything possible. That includes the best units at every position. In the opinion of at least one publication, Notre Dame is the best in one area.

In its annual preview issue, Lindy’s has ranked Notre Dame as having the best offensive line. Bryan Driskell of Irish Illustrated has highlighted the paragraph indicating this honor. The paragraph mentions the five returning starters for the Irish’s unit, four of which are pro prospects: Robert Hainsey, Liam Eichenberg, Tommy Kraemer, Aaron Banks and Jarrett Patterson. Special mention is given to backup Josh Lugg.

Eichenberg already has been named a preseason second team All-American. With him and a few others ranked among the best in the country at their respective positions, it won’t be shocking if a few more media outlets follow suit in high praise for the O-line. Regardless, if this unit is as good as advertised, Ian Book’s going to have an easy final season in South Bend.

247Sports: A Super Team would Consist of an Notre Dame Positional Group

An Irish positional group is included as part of a super-team of units across the country.

This should not come as much of a surprise to anyone, especially from the school that hold’s the mantle of Offensive Line U, that Notre Dame’s group of 5 road graders would be named among the best in the nation. As 247Sports continues their preview of the upcoming season, Chris Hummer chose the Irish offensive line as his group when building a super team.

The talented group of linemen all return boasted by some impressive stats they as a group accumulated last season. Pro Football Focus was very high on “all five Irish starters return off a unit that ranked 13th nationally, per PFF College. Notre Dame was particularly good as a pass-blocking group, ranking second nationally in PFF’s grading system.” Those numbers equal a very formidable group heading into this season.

Of the five returning starting offensive linemen just one, guard Tommy Kraemer, didn’t make PFF’s top 30 returning offensive linemen. The rest of the group, tackles Liam Eichenberg and Robert Hainsey, guard Aaron Banks and center Jarrett Patterson combine to make the best group in the country.

There was some negative about the group however, as they we not particularly great as a run-blocking unit. Hummer noted that “Notre Dame finished a respectable 28th nationally in yard per carry last season. But that’s a little misleading. The o-line finished just 62nd nationally in line yards per carry – a Football Outsiders stats that gives the line credit on a percentage basis depending on the length of the run – indicating much of the Irish’s rushing success was due to running backs creating chunk runs instead of the line consistently creating holes.” If that is the one issues with the unit, then the Irish are in great shape. Run-blocking can be seen as a mentality, one that former Irish star Quenton Nelson has plenty of. If this current line can get that nasty streak going, there is no doubt in my mind they can fix their perceived run-blocking issues and be the best group in the country.

Notre Dame’s Playmaker? A Group of Five

It isn’t just one Irish player that is considered a playmaker by CBS Sports, it’s a group.

It seems as if every day the hope for a season gets larger and larger. With than many people are getting excited about what could be and it was CBS Sports Barrett Sallee that looked ahead to which players are the best playmakers at their positions.

It wasn’t just one Notre Dame player to make Sallee list, it was the offensive line as a unit. Although the big men up front aren’t normally seen as playermakers “they’re play facilitators. With that said, let’s give this award to a Notre Dame unit that is loaded with returning talent.” That loaded talent is led by Liam Eichenberg who is seen as a potential first round draft pick.

What was interesting is that Sallee mentioned the goal for every top program in the nation, getting into the Playoff’s. He believes that “if they’re (Notre Dame) going to get back to the College Football Playoff, it’ll be up to the big guys up front to get the job done.” Sallee isn’t wrong, as the Irish do return senior QB Ian Book but have to replace every skill position starter from last year. Leaning on the veteran line early should help Book find his go-to guys this coming season.

The health of the line shouldn’t be understated, as tackle Robert Hainsey and guards Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks each suffered an injury at some point in the last year. Keeping the group injury-free will be a key for the Notre Dame offense. If the quintet is healthy, expect phenomenal play from Jeff Quinn’s group and the possibility of getting back to the playoffs for the second time in the Brian Kelly era.

It seems as if every day the hope for a season gets larger and larger. With than many people are getting excited about what could be and it was CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee that looked ahead to which players are the best playmakers at their positions.

It wasn’t just one Notre Dame player to make Sallee list, it was the offensive line as a unit. Although the big men up front aren’t normally seen as playermakers “they’re play facilitators. With that said, let’s give this award to a Notre Dame unit that is loaded with returning talent.” That loaded talent is led by Liam Eichenberg who is seen as a potential first round draft pick.

What was interesting is that Sallee mentioned the goal for every top program in the nation, getting into the Playoff’s. He believes that “if they’re (Notre Dame) going to get back to the College Football Playoff, it’ll be up to the big guys up front to get the job done.” Sallee isn’t wrong, as the Irish do return senior QB Ian Book but have to replace every skill position starter from last year. Leaning on the veteran line early should help Book find his go-to guys this coming season.

The health of the line shouldn’t be understated, as tackle Robert Hainsey and guards Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks each suffered an injury at some point in the last year. Keeping the group injury-free will be a key for the Notre Dame offense. There’s a reason Notre Dame got the moniker of O-Line U, groups like this. If the quintet is healthy, expect phenomenal play from Jeff Quinn’s group and the possibility of getting back to the playoffs for the second time in the Brian Kelly era.

Notre Dame’s 2020 O-Line Loaded with Talent in PFF’s Eyes

did anyone else catch a theme that seemed to fit perfectly into the 2019 Notre Dame offense?

When the 2020 college football season arrives Notre Dame will enter it with one of the most-experienced offensive lines in the entire country.

Common sense tells you about the experience but according to Pro Football Focus, the amount of talent should be near an elite level as well.  Let’s examine what they had to say Monday when they ranked the“30 Best Returning Offensive Linemen” and why I’m still a bit skeptical of the unit overall.

Here’s what they had to say as they ranked four Notre Dame linemen in their top 30, more than any other school.  For comparison only Kentucky even had three while Air Force and BYU both had a pair of representitives.

Here’s who PFF ranked from Notre Dame in their top 30 and what they had to say about each – read it and then see if you can guess why I’m still a bit concerned:

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