Notre Dame has a lot of things going for it but still needs a few more things to go right if its going to make noise in the CFP this year.
As Marcus Freeman prepares his third Notre Dame squad for the 2024 season and a critical week one matchup at Texas A&M, he knows that the only outcome that will be deemed acceptable for his team is to make the playoff and perform well once in it.With the field expanding to 12 teams, there is more leeway in terms of making the field, but as for succeeding once in it, things have changed.
As Spring football ended, three of Notre Dame's most important players were injured. Transfer quarterback Riley Leonard, tight end Mitchell Evans and standout cornerback Benjamin Morrison. Notre Dame cannot afford for any of these players to miss significant time this fall if they have any hope of making a playoff run. Each is just too important to what the Irish plans are on both sides of the ball.
Coach Freeman hopes that Riley Leonard can be that player as a big-bodied dual-threat leader. Leonard is well known for his running ability and also won the Manning passing academy challenge this summer. If he can truly be effective through the air and ground, he could be the answer Notre Dame thought it was getting last year.Notre Dame has not had playoff-winning wide receiver play in some time for a collection of reasons.
If this group can survive the opener without any game-collapsing calamities, it should be able to grow from there and become a fully formed unit later in the year. This is certainly a tall task and August camp will slip by fast but there is much work to be done.Notre Dame's defense was very strong in 2023 and has been the backbone of the program for many years. They are not the reason Notre Dame lost three games last year.
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