Tag: Jarrett Patterson

Notre Dame offensive line starter suffers season ending injury vs BC

Unfortunate news this morning has reports that Notre Dame’s starting center Jarrett Patterson will be lost for the remainder of the season.

The win at Boston College will come at a price, as this morning Tim Prister of Irish Illustrated is reporting that center Jarrett Patterson will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a foot injury.

It seems like redshirt freshman Zeke Correll could be next in line as Pete Sampson suggests, but either way whoever replaces Patterson will have big shoes to fill.

If there is a silver lining coming out of this is the fact that the Irish will have two weeks to work the next man up into the starting lineup. The offensive line has performed at an extremely high level this year, so we’ll see how they deal with some adversity within the position group.

Notre Dame vs. Clemson: Positional breakdown advantages

A breakdown of each position for Notre Dame and Clemson and who has the advantage.

This is the game of the year in the ACC, if not all college football, at least in the regular season. No. 1 Clemson travels to South Bend to take on No. 4 Notre Dame. This highly anticipated game will feature a number of future NFL stars.

A look at each position and which team has the advantage in Saturday’s huge contest.

Don’t forget to take a look at each of our tales of the tape as well (wide receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks)

(Some photo’s courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)

Notre Dame offensive lineman makes prestigious watch list

Notre Dame center Jarrett Patterson makes the Rimington Award watch list, an award given to the best center in the nation.

The vaunted Irish offensive line has gotten plenty of publicity this season and rightfully so. When you don’t hear a lineman’s name being called on a Saturday, it’s usually a good thing. Today, center Jarrett Patterson has been named to the Rimington Award Watch list.

The award is given out annually to the nation’s top center, and if Patterson was to win the honor, he would be the first Notre Dame center to win since it’s inception in 2000.

Typically, watch lists are released prior to the season, but due to obvious circumstances, their committee waited. Hopefully, Patterson continues to be on their last as they whittle it down later in the season.

Notre Dame offensive lineman makes prestigious watch list

Notre Dame center Jarrett Patterson makes the Rimington Award watch list, an award given to the best center in the nation.

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The vaunted Irish offensive line has gotten plenty of publicity this season and rightfully so. When you don’t hear a lineman’s name being called on a Saturday, it’s usually a good thing. Today, center Jarrett Patterson has been named to the Rimington Award Watch list.

The award is given out annually to the nation’s top center, and if Patterson was to win the honor, he would be the first Notre Dame center to win since it’s inception in 2000.

Typically, watch lists are released prior to the season, but due to obvious circumstances, their committee waited. Hopefully, Patterson continues to be on their last as they whittle it down later in the season.

PFF gives pair of Notre Dame linemen massive praise

Notre Dame’s offensive line has played at a high level we know, but just how high two members have played may surprise you.

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.

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.

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 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.