Our annual preseason list of the top 25 Notre Dame football players for 2021 is live! As always this is a collaborative effort with the staff as we discuss and debate who will have the biggest impact on the upcoming season with fall camp underway. How is the balance between offensive and defensive players? Which players make the list from crowded positions like linebacker, cornerback, and wide receiver? Can Kyle Hamilton be rated something we invent to be higher than #1? These questions need answers.
Required reading: before jumping into our list, check out the wisdom of the beat-writing and blogging crowd at Inside the Irish, along with Doug Farmer’s terrific analysis and commentary.
Performance Review: 2020
You can find our ballot from last season here; overall I have to say it’s aged pretty well! There was only one bust within our top ten, as Braden Lenzy struggled throughout the season with injuries. We had the entire offensive line within the top 16, and they lived up to the hype. We missed on Kyren Williams (15th), Michael Mayer (NR) and Javon McKinley (NR), but few saw those breakouts coming (at least to that extent that took place). We didn’t have a good feel for the secondary, probably going too high on Shaun Crawford (13th) and Tariq Bracy (17th) and missing Clarence Lewis (NR).
Still, with a weird pandemic offseason, this was far from our worst effort. Relative to consensus we were high on Tommy Tremble, who became an integral part of the team’s identity, and Drew White, who led the team in run stuffs on a team among the nations best disrupting the run.
2021: A Deeper Roster & Closer Battles Than Ever
This exercise was harder than ever this fall. The roster is deep and talented but simultaneously in flux as many position groups like wide receiver, cornerback, and offensive line are in intense competition. Even at proven strengths like the defensive line its hard to know who will emerge, play the most snaps, and have the biggest impact.
For many years filling out the last few names on the ballot has been a challenge. This year you could easily go to 35 players that could make a significant impact – missing from our ballot were so many players that could be critical pieces. A rundown: Shayne Simon, Tariq Bracy, Justin Ademilola, Howard Cross, NaNa Osafo-Mensah, C’bo Flemister, Lawrence Keys, Lorenzo Styles, Deion Colzie, George Takacs, Jacob Lacey, Rocco Spindler, Bo Bauer, JD Bertrand, DJ Brown, and Ramon Henderson.
Below you’ll find the 18 Stripes site ballot, created by an average of the votes from me, Eric, and Brendan. In parentheses was the official poll rank on Inside the Irish, creating with our ballot and nine other beat writers and bloggers.
25. Rylie Mills (23)
Despite a wealth of defensive line talent in the 2020 roster, Mills was still able to force his way into meaningful action as a true freshman. With a more normal offseason, he’s made significant physical strides (appearing lean / strong at 6’5 / 283) and should push Jayson Ademilola for snaps at defensive tackle.
24. Cam Hart (21)
It’s early in fall camp but Hart looks like he’s cementing a starting role at corner. At 6’2 he’s the most physically imposing corner and seems to be right up Mike Mickens and Marcus Freeman’s alley. It’s very possible Hart is Notre Dame’s best cornerback this fall and makes this rating look far too low.
23. Josh Lugg (19)
Rating the offensive linemen this year is difficult, as most are unproven to some degree. Lugg has always had prototype size, but has stayed at second string as opposed to a time share as he has developed his technique and improved his mobility while also battling some injuries. He feels like a very high floor player in a position group in need of some stability – in his limited appearances he has appeared solid with a strong line around him. He appears to truly be in the stereotypical “best shape of his career” and is one of the few offensive linemen Kelly has already stated has locked down a significant role.
22. Houston Griffith (NR)
The range of outcomes for Griffith is massive, as he nearly transferred over the offseason and despite his status as a former top-100 recruit hasn’t made an impact in his first three seasons. Still, the safety position opposite Kyle Hamilton appears to be his and he appears to be thriving with a fresh start in Marcus Freeman’s defense. In the fall and spring he appears to be in much better position and making many more plays around the ball – if this translates to the regular season it will be a massive boost to the secondary.
21. Zeke Correll (NR)
Our site voting took place before the beginning of fall camp, and I’d think about flipping Lugg and Correll now. At center, Correll held his own in some big games after Jarrett Patterson’s season-ending injury. With the announcement that Patterson will return this year at center, Correll is now thrust into a battle at a new position for a starting guard spot. Brian Kelly voiced his optimism about the move despite the junior not possessing ideal size, but he’ll need to hold off Rocco Spindler and others to secure a starting spot.
20. Braden Lenzy (15)
After a lost season primarily due to injuries out voters were conservative with Lenzy’s ranking this year. Can he take the leap forward we expected a year later? The upside with a healthy Lenzy is that he doesn’t necessarily need a ton of touches per game to have a strong impact. If early in the season he can display the same form as the end of 2019, he’ll become a player defenses have to constantly account for and worry about leaving one-on-one, opening things up for other players.
19. Jack Kiser (18)
Kiser burst onto the scene last year with a standout performance against USF, taking advantage of some COVID absences, then had to battle for snaps the remainder of the year. The roster has intense competition with so many quality linebackers battling for snaps, but Kiser’s skillset and versatility against the run and pass have made him the favorite at Rover. Last week Brian Kelly mentioned the defense hoping to stay in their base personnel as much as possible, with a Rover instead of a nickel back, which could provide even more opportunities for the Indiana native.
18. Jordan Botelho (25)
For all of the strengths Notre Dame returns in the front seven, pure pass rushing remains the greatest need. Marcus Freeman preaches defensive aggression and Botelho brings that in spades – if anything needing to harness and control it. It’s telling how high the staff is on Botelho that a player as talented as Isaiah Foskey hasn’t yet been handed the Vyper starter job, and both of them should ideally take the field together on obvious passing downs.
17. Jayson Ademilola (17)
Another player with top-10 upside, Ademilola hasn’t had a smooth linear career progression. As a sophomore in 2019, he ascended into the two-deep and was fairly disruptive in his snaps with four TFL. In 2020 he battled injuries but finished extremely strong with two of his best games of the season in the Clemson rematch and playoff game against Alabama. With Myron Tagavailoa-Amosa moving to the “Big End” position, Ademilola is now the guy at 3-technique.
16. Avery Davis (16)
It was a minor upset the Davis grabbed the slot receiver role from Lawrence Keys last year and never looked back, at one point the most efficient and explosive wide receiver on a per-target basis last year. After terrific performances against Clemson and Boston College last year Davis trailed off, finishing with just six catches and 45 yards in the last four games. If he plays he’ll be impactful, and if he’s not receiving as many snaps that may generally bode well for the Irish offense that a player is exceeding the high floor Davis provides.
15. Cain Madden (12)
A preseason All-American, holding down the 15th spot? It’s hard to rate Madden, who excelled at Marshall but will be asked to be more multidimensional at Notre Dame and face steeper competition. He’s a powerful guard but much shorter than most of the Irish linemen, and there were some questions after his transfer decision about his ability to move in space. In the only open practice of the year, beat reporters seemed encouraged by his movement and fit. The right guard spot appears to be his, and his rating depends on how effective he’ll be this year as he seeks to cement a solid draft position.
14. Isaiah Foskey (9)
Foskey leads the team in returning sacks after 4.5 in 2020 and has every physical tool needed to become a dominant pass-rushing force. He checked in at #45 on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks” list with a 4.65 in the 40 at 257 pounds. The questions are really about translating the raw physical gifts into technique, consistency, and the ability to round out his game against the run. The pass rush has been a major offseason focus, but fans shouldn’t forget that Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji were also both extremely strong run defenders. Where he belongs on this list may depend if the Vyper position ends up being a timeshare with Botelho or a full-time gig.
13. Jack Coan (7)
With the ambiguous nature of these lists – there’s no set criteria for what defines “top players” – quarterbacks are usually highly rated due to positioning importance. Coan appears on the verge of being named a starter and has been praised for his early leadership influence. He brings experience and stability to the passing game and likely greater downfield aggression than his predecessor. Can he keep the same accuracy he showed at Wisconsin when asked to drive more of the offense? And can he be effective creative explosive plays in the pass game without sacrificing too much efficiency or losing turnovers?
12. Marist Liufau (20)
Our group is really high on Liufau, who really excelled down the stretch in 2020. It’s safe to say we see him winning out battles against guys like Shayne Simon for snaps and a strong fit for Freeman’s defense, which often uses linebackers very aggressively in the run game and blitzing. He’s added size this offseason and will be a key piece Freeman can easily line up at multiple places to confuse and terrorize opponents.
11. Kurt Hinish (11)
Having a player like Hinish return for a bonus year of eligibility is a huge boost for the Irish, even with the riches in the interior of the defensive line. He led the Irish DL in run stuffs a season ago with 7.5 while also eating up blocks and making life easy for the linebackers behind him.
10. Blake Fisher (14)
What a ranking for the true freshman! This was a congested area – the Foskey through Fisher group was separated by just two points with some tiebreakers employed. Fisher is in line to start at left tackle from the first game and demonstrated in the spring game he is ready to jump in and contribute immediately. Physically he has all the tools and appears in great shape for his first fall in South Bend.
9. Clarence Lewis (13)
It was an impressive campaign for Lewis’ debut as a true freshman, as he finished 2020 fifth on the team in tackles and second in pass break-ups. Where should the bar be set for his sophomore season? The expectations have gone from “wow, he’s holding his own!” to “this is our best cover corner” extremely quickly. Still, the lofty standard isn’t unreasonable if you add together a season of full strength and conditioning, his first real offseason of practice, and the tools he flashed last fall.
8. Chris Tyree (10)
The former five-star lived up to the hype as a freshman, averaging 6.8 yards per carry and flashing his world-class speed. The room for improvement was in his efficiency, as Tyree was stuffed the most and had the lowest success rate of the Irish running backs. After 81 touches in his first year, how often will the Irish get Tyree the ball? It seems like doubling his catch output (8) from a season ago is a lock along with an uptick in carries.
7. Kevin Austin (8)
The only thing preventing Austin from breaking into the top five is his ability to stay on the field. We’ve been waiting for the breakout campaign from the former top-100 recruit for three years now, only to be deterred by suspension and injury issues. While he may be eased back into full-time duty, by all accounts Austin has been dominant in practice for a while now and should grab WR1 status quickly so long as his body holds up. Knock on all the wood.
6. Myron Tagavailoa-Amosa (5)
It’s safe to say our team (and the other voters) believe in MTA’s transition to defensive end and his ability to thrive under Marcus Freeman. Tagavailoa-Amosa has slimmed down a bit for his new gig, and should only become a more disruptive pass rusher and penetrator as a result.
5. Jarrett Patterson (4)
Now that he’s returning for a third season at center, Patterson is the clear leader of the offensive line and a favorite for All-American status at his position. He’s been a solid component of the line since taking over the center position early in his career and improving steadily each season. It appears Patterson has recovered well from his foot injury and should be ready to put together his finest season yet.
4. Drew White (6)
Maybe it’s his former recruiting ranking or lack of draft prospect hype, but White somehow still feels underappreciated. He’s been rock solid the past two seasons in the middle of the Irish defense, and edged out JOK to lead the team in run stuffs last season. In his fifth season and as a team captain he’ll have a strong leadership role and should rarely leave the field in Freeman’s defense.
3. Michael Mayer (3)
As a true freshman, Mayer put up a receiving season that was highly comparable to Cole Kmet’s junior year before he was the first tight end taken in the draft. He wasn’t quite as explosive as Kmet but was extremely efficient, catching 72.4% of his targets and a success rate of 63.8% when targeted. Working with a quarterback like Coan, who appears to be a little bit more of a rhythm passer, is there any reason Mayer shouldn’t be targeted 10 times a game? Look for Rees to also leverage Mayer’s ability to work downfield more this season.
2. Kyren Williams (2)
With a somewhat murky backfield situation, Williams burst onto the scene last year and was one of the best backs in the nation. He had the benefit of a Joe Moore Award finalist O-Line, but routinely created yards after contact and causing defenders to whiff on contact altogether. Adding on to his impressive breakout was his well-rounded skill set, with his pass protection a vital part of the regular season win over Clemson and stellar throughout the year. The only reason Williams may not build on his incredible 2020 campaign would be more of an even split of snaps with Tyree and other backs. I’m skeptical that will be a factor, as Tommy Rees will look to get two of his best players on the field together and likely leverage both players more in the passing game this fall.
1. Kyle Hamilton (1)
Let’s all just enjoy every game with Kyle we have left. The floor with a healthy season feels like an All-American caliber season, and the ceiling is the Thorpe award, and if things break the right way, Heisman votes. Freeman seems likely to deploy Hamilton as more of a Swiss Army knife as opposed to last line of defense, especially if cornerback play is solid. If that’s the case Kyle should wreak all kinds of havoc and be free to use his terrific instincts to create turnovers after only one interception in 2020.
Who did we leave out? Which spots on our ballot leave you shaking your head? Over or underrated players? Let us know in the comments.
Very hard team to rank after about top 8 or so.
To me, under-rated: Bo Bauer (NR), Josh Lugg (23)…It will also be a really great sign for the team if Lenzy has been slept on here, but I think as a preseason ranking it’s totally justified. Even if he stays healthy, Lenzy’s going to get, what 5 touches per game max with all the other weapons? Can break any given play, which is great, but I don’t see a lot of opportunity for him.
Over-rated: Lewis (9, really?), Kiser (19, possibly, but I think the rotation of LB will get others a chance to eat into his role)
agree that as I look at our list Lewis and MTA stand out to me personally just in some questions if their ceiling is as high as other guys and how likely they are to achieve it. I was a little lower than E and Brendan on Lewis, but some of it could be the subjective nature of “top players” because positionally he’s definitely high on the guys who you really wouldn’t want to have to replace.
I like the 4 v 3 pic at the top.
I think Kyren might be the most overrated player on this list, but also that could make me look silly by the end of the year. Dude was an absolute menace at times last year, but also after the first Clemson game, he was merely good. In those final 5 games, he didn’t finish with any games over 5.5 YPC. That makes me a little concerned, as the top backs in college are regularly breaking out for 6+ YPC. On the flip side, 2 of those 5 games were against Clemson and Alabama.
In 2020, it felt like Kyren was a clear RB 1 to Tyree’s RB 2. I think there’s at least a decent chance by the end of 2021 we’re looking at Tyree as RB 1A to Williams’ RB 1B.
Agreed, however I must add the caveat that I do think he is really good. But, he did get to run behind a talented o-line with some good TE blocking and a scheme that focused on running. Again, I really like him as a player, but I am not sure if he is at a preseason list level (in contrast, Hamilton is definitely at that level)
I generally wouldn’t use game-to-game YPC as a very good benchmark for RB play….how much of that is in a backs control? Breece Hall was a top 10 Heisman vote getter and finished going 4.0, 3.4, 4.4, 4.6 yards / carry.
A couple reasons for optimism for this year – while our offense was super efficient and took advantage of our personnel strengths (TE + blocking WRs), using 2 TE sets as much as we did was an open invitation for teams to bring lots of bodies into the box for Kyren. If we’re using more 3 WR sets (or messing with defenses shifting Mayer wide, or even Tyree in two back sets) that opens things up a lot.
I think you’ll also see Kyren used much more in the passing game, I think they were cautious wearing him down with carries + receiving last year and didn’t take as much advantage of his versatility. But the 8 catches against Bama were no accident and I think with Tyree taking on more carries that opens up some space for him catching the ball and being used in more ways.
Well put. I don’t think Williams is over-rated or much pause based on the end of the season. That UNC game after Thanksgiving he was better than “merely good” at 23-124-2 TD with another receiving TD he was still a major driver of the offense to beat a good team on the road.
It’s certainly fair to wonder how much a weaker OL this year might hurt him compared to last season, I like Patterson-Madden-Lugg when running to the right side. That sounds pretty stout.
While Tyree will be a bigger factor, we know Coan will run a lot less than Book did, so Williams should be a bigger factor of the rushing game in 2021 then he was in 2020. Williams “only” got 17.5 carries per game last season and 20.5 total touches with receptions added in.
Maybe a modest uptick up will come with expectations for an increased passing game presence beyond blocking. Though he’s so good at blocking, I do wonder how much they’ll still have him do it.
It wouldn’t take much for the player ranked #2 to not live up to that expectation, though. Like nd09 said, other than Hamilton it’s not like the top 5 or 10 are really huge star players entering this year. kinda unique collection of a very deep team but no standouts. Could be a good thing if Austin somehow catches 60 passes and emerges as the true impact player we’ve all imagined, but we’ll see.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Kyren a lot. His pass blocking last year might have been the best by a RB in the Kelly era. His ability to make the first guy miss in the backfield is fantastic. I think he’s a very good player, with a ceiling that is lower than Tyree’s.
Kyren averaged 5.3 YPC last year; that’s nothing to sneeze at. Breece Hall only averaged 5.6 YPC. My issue there is simply that I also think Hall is overrated. Tyree averaged 6.8 YPC; Dex and Josh Adams both averaged about 6 and a half for their careers!
Williams may be more efficient, but I like some explosiveness in my backs as well. If Williams can take more of them to the house this year (or if he really gets things going in the passing game), he will make my comments here seem silly. If he doesn’t, he will still be a very good back who is likely one of our top 10 players on the roster.
*Ranked Kyren No. 1 overall on his list*
You seem love the guys who are more efficient, I love the guys who are more explosive. Against 80% of our opponents, efficiency will lead to wins. But against those teams that are just more talented than us, I feel we need more explosive plays. My hope is Tyree can be that guy.
(Or maybe Kyren becomes that guy and we see more of those 65 yard TD runs he snapped off against Clemson).
I actually think Kyren’s efficiency could go down this year but we’re going to use him so, so much.
1,180 rushing
430 receiving
1,610 total yards
16 total TD
For the record, Kyren’s 4 40+ yard runs last season were tied for fourth in Power 5. Some of the guys tied with him were such illustrious names as Texas’s Bijan Robinson, Iowa State’s Breece Hall, and North Carolina’s Michael Carter. Najee Harris had two (no idea who one of them came against, please don’t ask). Kyren had another 65 yarder last year, btw, against FSU. Also had a 46 yard TD against them. Tyree had a 45 yard TD of his own against FSU, plus a 94 yarder against Syracuse that made him one of only four FBS players to record a 90+ yard run last season (returning Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder was one of the other three, yay).
All that said, I think long runs from scrimmage actually aren’t a great stat. You generally (hi Tony Jones!) can’t break one of those off unless you have some explosiveness, but it’s a little bit of a fluky stat. To drive that point home, Kyren’s four 40+ yard runs ranked him eighth in FBS and Najee Harris’s two ranked him 35th. If a two unit difference creates a 27 place gap in the standings, you have a less than ideal metric.
And I had Kyren 2 on my list behind K-Ham. Love the dude. So much fun to watch him undress people.
Speaking of Tony Jones, I was watching the Saints preseason game the other night and almost couldn’t believe it was him out there. He was way slimmer than I remembered at Notre Dame, like gasp level and pay attention to make sure that “Jones” on the field was actually TJJ.
He looked pretty fast on an NFL field (against lower level guys, but still), and I never ever thought that about him in college. Also fumbled though 🙁 hoping the best for him, he like shockingly looked like a whole different player than what we saw.
I gasped when he beat everybody to the edge on that run! I had no idea he had that speed in him. Sure would be fun if he and Book both made the Saints roster together.
Big picture comment: it seems like 1-10 on this team is noticeably not as good as most of the recent good teams (well, okay, 2-10), but 11-40 might be better than any of the BK teams… kind of an interesting season if/when some of those lower-ranked guys inevitably make moves.
Overrated: Lewis (per hooks’s comment: really?), Fisher (over Hinish? Like, today?), Coan (he’s not one of the 15 best football players on the roster, even if I was very happy they got him in the Portal)
Underrated: Hinish, Avery Davis, Justin A.
As Mike noted in the article, there’s no standard for how to value guys for this list, so like MVP voting it depends largely on how each voter wants to define it. My metric (I think we were on the same page but I don’t want to speak for Mike and Eric) was a fuzzy logic algorithm of “how good is this guy in a vacuum + how much would it hurt if we lost him.” That’s how a guy like Coan ends up so high; I wouldn’t say that in a vacuum he’s a better football player than most of the guys behind him, but he’s fine and if he goes down it’s a major problem IMO. I had him at 12, incidentally. Guessing a lot of the other sites did the same calculation with more weight on the how-screwed piece, since Doug’s composite list had him at 7.
Also as Mike said, we did these rankings just before camp started, and I kinda wish we did them just after because I would’ve changed some things. Cam Hart, for example, was my first honorable mention, and based on practice reports I should’ve had him higher. Similarly, the strength of Hart’s early performance (and Bracy’s apparent resurgence, and to lesser extent some positive vibes on Ramon Henderson) significantly lowers the how-screwed input for Lewis, so I would’ve dropped him down a bit from 8.
I feel good about having Liufau at 16, but reports on him have been so outlandishly good that I’m thinking Shayne Simon, who I had at 23, might end up in the honorable mention category. Conversely, I feel slightly vindicated by practice reports in ranking Botelho ahead of Foskey – I had a gut feeling that he would make more of an impact this season. He hasn’t outshone Foskey in camp but Foskey hasn’t outshone him either, it seems.
Finally, I had Hinish at 10 and Fisher at 11, so don’t get mad at me, lol. Keep in mind the same how-screwed metric plays in here, as there’s more playable depth at DT than LT. That gives Fisher a pretty sizeable boost.
That’s all fair – I suppose I am more inclined to believe it should be a “who are the best players in a vacuum” ranking, but different strokes for different folks.
As to Fisher, I guess he does earn some “how screwed” points, but man that’s a little disappointing – I thought Tosh Baker was going to be a big hit, but he has gotten basically zero buzz over the course of the last year. Plus the II guys were (to my mind, surprisingly, but still) very high on Kristofic a couple years ago.
I think Baker is doing fine. He got some notice in the spring – which, remember, was the spring of his freshman year still – and did reasonably well as RT1 with Lugg out of commission. Mostly he looked like a kid getting his first extended run against first teamers, with occasional flashes of more than that. I’m not too surprised that he couldn’t unseat a fifth year senior with 37 career appearances. I hope to see him get some extended garbage time run this year though, because he’ll be needed somewhere on the 2022 line.
Kristofic was a plus athlete with a good frame, which is probably why II was so high on him, who needed to fill out and sharpen his technique. It’s just tough to know if those guys are going to develop into McGlinchey or, well, not McGlinchey. He got some garbage time run as a guard last year and as noted is the backup center now, which is interesting. Always thought of him ending up on the edge.