There is no question that Notre Dame must get better on offense if it is going to have a legitimate chance to win a national championship. To get to that level in 2019 there is no doubt that all of Notre Dame’s recruiting classes are going to play a crucial role, but if Notre Dame is truly going to get to the next level it will need an outstanding offseason from the 2018 class.
The odds are strong that the 2018 class will have the fewest starters on offense of all the non-freshman classes, but there is little doubt in my mind that no class will have a bigger impact on whether or not Notre Dame can make that next big step as a program.
This is true on both sides of the ball, but it is especially true on offense. Notre Dame will rely heavily on the 2018 class on defense, but that side of the ball is already playing championship caliber football, so the goal is to just build on the strong foundation. On offense, however, the 2018 class must play a role in take the unit to a level we haven’t seen in Notre Dame in a very long time.
QUARTERBACK BATTLE IS A MUST
You’re going to read something from me that you likely have never read before. A quarterback competition this offseason is welcomed and would be good for the team.
Keep in mind I am not calling for a change at the position, and rising senior Ian Book absolutely showed he is capable of winning a lot of games in a Notre Dame uniform. But for Notre Dame to go from being a team that can dominate inferior opponents to one that can also score on the better teams on the schedule – something it has rarely done in the last decade – it absolutely must get even better play at quarterback.
The best-case scenario for Notre Dame is that rising sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovec – my highest ranked player from the 2018 class – has a tremendous offseason, and it would behoove the Irish coaches to work hard to get him going in the right direction. That means stop messing with his throwing motion and get him mentally to the point where he can master the offense, and then let him loose.
A strong offseason from Jurkovec would have a significant impact on Notre Dame’s ability to put a championship caliber quarterback on the field next season. This doesn’t mean that Jurkovec takes over at quarterback.
If Jurkovec has an outstanding offseason and Book remains the starting quarterback it means the Irish starter has improved his game. It means he is throwing the deep ball better, it means he is making better pre-snap reads, it means he is attacking all parts of the field, it means he is playing with great confidence.
