Lindy's Sports Ranks Notre Dame No. 9 In The Preseason
Another preseason magazine and another preseason Top 10 ranking for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Lindy’s Sports listed the Irish No. 9 in their College Football National 2019 Preview.
Two Notre Dame opponents were ranked in the Top 5 (No. 3 Georgia, No. 5 Michigan) and another was ranked No. 22 (Stanford).
Senior defensive end Julian Okwara was named a preseason second team All-American by the magazine. Okwara was named the No. 6 overall defensive end in the country, and in another list fellow senior end Khalid Kareem was named as the third best senior end prospect for the NFL Draft.
Georgia had two players named to an All-American list, Virginia had a player on the All-American list, Michigan had two offensive linemen on the All-American lists, Boston College had a running back on the All-American list and Stanford had two players on the list.
There were three other Notre Dame defenders listed as Top 5 seniors for the draft. Cornerback Troy Pride Jr. (No. 3), senior safety Jalen Elliott (No. 5) and fifth-year senior outside linebacker Asmar Bilal (No. 5) all made the list at their respective positions.
Senior quarterback Ian Book was named to the top ten of the preseason Heisman Watch players. It was a list made up entirely of quarterbacks, and 2019 opposing quarterbacks Jake Fromm (No. 3) of Georgia and Shea Patterson (No. 6) of Michigan were also on the list. Book was named the No. 16 quarterback in the country in the position rankings.
Senior guard Tommy Kraemer (No. 5 guard), senior safety Alohi Gilman (No. 6 safety) and Pride (No. 8 cornerback) were also ranked in the preseason lists.
Lindy’s put out a list of 10 hot assistant coaches that could become head coaches in the near future. Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long was ranked the 6thbest assistant coach. The magazine wrote, “It’s about time for the offensive mind who blended a bunch of different parts into a playoff team. Entering his 10thseason as a Power 5 assistant.”
Three Notre Dame games were ranked in the Top 10 non-conference games. Notre Dame at Georgia on September 21stwas ranked No. 1, Notre Dame at Michigan on October 26thwas ranked No. 3 and Notre Dame at Stanford on November 30thwas ranked No. 6.
Notre Dame's defensive line was ranked the 6th best group in the land. Notre Dame's wide receivers/tight ends were ranked the 10th best group in the country. Notre Dame's secondary was ranked the 6th best group in the nation.
Georgia also had three groups in the Top 10: Offensive Line (No. 2), Backfield (No. 3), Linebackers (No. 10).
Michigan had three groups in the Top 10: Receivers (No. 3), Offensive Line (No. 3), Secondary (No. 9). Michigan's OL being ranked No. 3 and ahead of Notre Dame (whose OL wasn't ranked) was a major head scratcher.
USC had two groups in the Top 10: Receivers (No. 8), Defensive Line (No. 10)
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