Midweek Musings: Notre Dame And Position Group U, Wide Receiver Recruiting, Clemson vs USC

Thoughts on Notre Dame football, Fighting Irish recruiting and college football.

POSITION GROUP U

One of the phrases used in college football circles is nicknaming a program based on a position group. So Notre Dame has earned the phrase "O-Line U" and "Tight End U" in some circles due to its dominance at producing outstanding lines/linemen and tight ends. You earn this moniker by dominance over a period of time, not just having one great unit/player or one great draft class.

I've had some interesting discussions lately about what positions is or should Notre Dame claim in the position group U discussions. This week I'm going to focus on the offense, and rank the position groups in order of most importance to Notre Dame to be dominant at on a consistent basis. (Note: Next week I'll use this space to discuss the defense)

Offensive Line - For Notre Dame it always has to begin up front. I could list every position group and how important they are, and every one would be neutralized by not having an elite offensive line. I don't think every program has to be elite up front, but I do believe if Notre Dame is going to be a championship caliber program on a consistent basis it absolutely must have elite line play.

Also important is the fact that this is one position group where you can field an elite unit without having to consistently dip into the South, Southwest or West Coast for top players. Every year you'll find many top-notch players in the Northeast, Midwest and other areas that are far more favorable from a recruiting standpoint.

Quarterback - Notre Dame has justifiably earned the O-Line U and Tight End U nicknames, but the Irish have yet to put an elite offense on the field. During that stretch the Irish have had very talented pass catchers, but what it lacked was a top quarterback. I believe Notre Dame is on the verge of changing that, but work is needed.

The presence of Tyler Buchner on the current roster, and the possibility of landing Dante Moore in the 2023 class could be what Notre Dame needs to get this turned around. Buchner has to turn his potential into production and Notre Dame needs to close on Moore, but if these two players are who I think they are they could begin a quarterback tradition that could rival what we've seen in recent seasons from Oklahoma and Clemson.

Wide Receiver - This is where I think I might get an argument from some folks, who will likely make the case about the tight end position needing to be here. You could make a similar recruiting argument at tight end that I made with the offensive line. For me, however, I think the nature of the modern game, and the best way to protect the line and the run game, is to have a big time wide receiving corps. I'm of the belief that if Notre Dame can start consistently producing op WR unit, and top receivers and not just flashes of it, it will make it easier and easier to land top players.

My evidence is the 2015 season. Notre Dame had a great line and a great receiving corps but had a true freshman at tight end and a converted receiver at running back. That was a dynamic, explosive offense that I contend was good enough to play for a national championship if it wasn't for the fact the starting quarterback went down in game two and the defense was run by a man who had no business being a coordinator at a place like Notre Dame.

Put that receiving corps on the 2017-21 teams with those defenses and Notre Dame could have been scary good.

Tight End - Notre Dame always needs to be good at tight end, but I'm not sure I can make the argument that tight end is the "must" that other positions are. I will say this, however, if Notre Dame is competing for that moniker with the offensive line and quarterback, and are at least good at wide receiver, they can have a special offense, no question. I think we could actually see that in 2022, but if they were elite at receiver and just good at tight end to go with being outstanding at QB and OL they would be even better.

Running Back - Somebody has to be last, right? The reality is you can't be bad anywhere to win a title or be an elite team, and you have to be good everywhere. You just don't have to be elite everywhere, and if Notre Dame is dominating up front the way it can and should it has a far, far bigger impact on the production at running back than having a great running back with a not as good OL can have.

Just look at the 2021 season. Notre Dame had very talented running backs but because the offensive line wasn't good it ruined the offense. Notre Dame absolutely must be good at running back, but it doesn't have to be elite in the way other offenses like Georgia and Ohio State need to be.

WR RECRUITING SUCCESS IS VITAL TO THE FUTURE

Staying in line with the previous theme I wanted to look at the 2023 recruiting class to discuss who Notre Dame must land in that class to start building those traditions.

Obviously the offensive line and quarterback are obvious. Harry Hiestand needs to do what he did the last time and land prospects like Charles Jagusah, Monroe Freeling, Samson Okunlola, Sullivan Absher, etc. And everyone that even remotely follows Notre Dame knows how important Dante Moore is to making this happen. Moore is arguably the most important Notre Dame recruit in a decade, if not longer.

But what about wide receiver? We've talked a lot about receivers recently, both on the message board, the website and our YouTube channel. There are a number of reasons, including the fact that arguably the two best receivers on the board visited campus last week. 

Obviously the current group needs to start playing to their potential, and there is really, really good talent on the roster, although the Irish lack ideal depth. The 2023 class, however, is vitally important to not only fixing the depth issues, but giving the Irish the kind of top-end talent it needs to not just be a really good receiving corps, but an elite one like we've seen at Alabama and Ohio State in recent seasons, and what we saw from Clemson when they were winning titles.

Chicago native Carnell Tate is obviously a huge part of that. Notre Dame can absolutely put a strong receiver class together without Tate, but he's the hands down top player on the board and he's a legit five-star recruit. He's also a local kid, which only adds to the pressure for Notre Dame to land him.

Landing an elite, five-star player like Tate, with his combination of talent + competitiveness, is exactly what Notre Dame needs to push the big boys at receiver. That has to be part of Notre Dame's pitch to him. Don't go to Ohio State and be the next in line, come to Notre Dame be part of starting something new.

Texas pass catcher Braylon James is my other "must-get" at receiver in this class. James has a ceiling that is just as high as Tate and he has game-changing potential. James has great size (6-3, 185, long arms), he has impressive long speed potential and I see a lot of Mike Williams (Clemson) in his game.

James is also a fantastic student that is mature beyond his years. When a Top 100 recruit with five-star upside also has those qualities he's the very definition of a must-get recruit for Notre Dame. A one-two punch of Tate and James would be about as good of a duo to sign with Notre Dame since Golden Tate and Duval Kamara signed with the Irish back in 2007.

The third must-get for Notre Dame would be Pennsylvania two-sport star Rodney Gallagher. He's the complete opposite to Tate and James in that he's a smaller, shiftier player that will do his best damage after the catch. Gallagher is a quarterback in high school and his body type is similar to that of Avery Davis, but Gallagher is a more explosive athlete than Davis was and he's even better with the ball in his hands.

Landing an outside duo of Tate and James to go with a slot like Gallagher puts Notre Dame in the conversation for the best receiver class in the country. Notre Dame is in the mix with all three of them, and they have to get it done and add them.

That's not all though, there are also talented players like Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores and Tyler Williams also on the board, but I want to see them get on campus first.

CLEMSON VS USC

Recently on our premium message board a question was asked about who would be the second best opponent on Notre Dame's schedule in 2022. The premise was that Ohio State was the clear No. 1 team. If we work with that assumption the discussion revolves around Clemson vs. USC.

I must admit, I was surprised at how many Irish Breakdown subscribers picked USC. While the arrival of Lincoln Riley and all the new transfers gives Southern Cal a big boost I'm still not sold the Trojans immediately become a dominant team, especially one of dethroning Clemson.

The Tigers had a down year in 2021, no one denies that, but that down year was a 10-3 season in which one of the losses was to the eventual national champs. Clemson held Georgia to a season low in points (10), yards (256) and yards per play (4.2) in that contest. In fact, not since 2019 had Georgia had a game with that few points or yards.

Clemson isn't the team it was with Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson at quarterback, and they have a lot of coaching turnover, but USC went 4-8 last season.

The Trojans have a long, long way to go before I'm buying into them being the second best team on the schedule.

USC will have much better skill talent and they certainly have a better QB than Clemson, at least based on what we saw from DJ Uiagalelei last season, but the Trojans are a hot mess along both lines and their defense doesn't have close to the talent that Clemson has. The Tigers will put arguably the best front seven in college football on the field next season, and USC won't have close to that. The Trojans also have to completely revamp their secondary, and that's from a defense that was awful last season.

Could Southern Cal be the second best opponent? I doubt it, it's possible, but I doubt it. Could the fact the Irish play USC on the road make it the second toughest game? That's more plausible, but even there I have my doubts. USC is a media darling right now, but they have A LOT to prove to me first.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Notre Dame released this tweet the day before it kicked off spring practice. In it you see how frequently, and how confidently, Notre Dame players (and its head coach) are embracing playing for a championship.