Four From Notre Dame Make PFF’s Top 101 Players Of 2020
At this point, Pro Football Focus is doing some of Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn’s recruiting for him.
PFF placed three Irish offensive linemen in its top 101 college football players list of 2020 — left tackle Liam Eichenberg, left guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Robert Hainsey. They joined teammate Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, the linebacker who hauled in several major postseason honors, including the Butkus Award.
Notre Dame was the lone Power Five team to have three linemen make PFF’s top 101. Kentucky was the only other one with multiple members of its front five on the list. Buffalo had four of its five linemen make the cut, the only Football Bowl Subdivision team to do so.
Eichenberg landed at No. 36, the highest ranking of the four Notre Dame players. For the second straight year, he did not give up a sack, and his 90.1 PFF run blocking grade ranked ninth among FBS tackles. PFF also ranks him as the No. 50 overall prospect in the draft on its latest top 100 list.
“Eichenberg performed better than any tackle has against Alabama's ferocious defensive front this season, generating an 87.9 PFF grade for the game,” PFF’s Anthony Treash wrote. “That wasn't much different from what Eichenberg did all year long. He finished as the sixth-most valuable tackle in the FBS and earned a fringe-elite PFF grade of 89.9.”
Hainsey was 20 spots behind him, at No. 56.
"Hainsey bounced back in a big way this year from a 2019 season-ending ankle injury,” Treash wrote. “The beefier lines of Pittsburgh and Alabama gave him some fits, but we have few bones to pick with how Hainsey performed from start to finish. He earned an 89.6 PFF grade this season that ranked sixth among all FBS right tackles, and he was one of three Power Five players to earn grades above 80.0 as both a pass-blocker and a run-blocker.”
Banks landed at No. 68. He was the only Irish starting offensive linemen to allow fewer than one pressure per game and was not charged with a sack.
"Banks closed out his season with a hiccup against Christian Barmore and the monstrous Alabama defensive front, but he still remained one of two Power Five guards to produce a grade above 80.0 as both a pass- and run-blocker this season,” Treash wrote. “The Notre Dame left guard actually generated more WAA [wins above average] than any other guard in the FBS this season.”
Owusu-Koramoah, a PFF First-Team All-American, was No. 38. He’s also the outlet’s No. 2 ranked linebacker on its 2021 NFL Draft position rankings and its No. 19 overall player. He led Notre Dame with 11.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. He had 62 tackles, two fumble recoveries, three pass breakups and an interception.
“Owusu-Koramoah was a game-changer serving as the rover in the Fighting Irish defense,” Treash wrote. “He shined in every single facet of play, but especially so in coverage. In that role, Owusu-Koramoah predominantly manned the slot, from which he earned the third-highest coverage grade in the FBS. He allowed only five first downs across 200 slot coverage snaps in 2020 with an interception, four forced incompletions and four passing stops.”
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