Notre Dame Football: Midweek Musings

Midweek thoughts about the Notre Dame football program, its recruiting efforts and college football.

Every year there are players that go from solid contributors or rotation players to stars. Sometimes – like we saw with Miles Boykin last season and Will Fuller back in 2014 – a player goes from rarely used to dominant in just one season.

If Notre Dame ends up being as good as the preseason magazines say it will be, that being a Top 10 program, there will be players on the roster that emerge as stars for the Irish this season.

Only senior right guard Tommy Kraemer is considered a preseason All-American, but there are other players that I expect to finish the season as Notre Dame’s best players.

Robert Hainsey/Liam Eichenberg, Offensive Tackle – I expect the Notre Dame offense to be fueled by outstanding line play this season, and junior right tackle Robert Hainsey and senior left tackle Liam Eichenberg will be the driving forces.

Hainsey wasn’t named to the Outland Trophy Watch List (Eichenberg and Kraemer were), and it is Kraemer that is getting all the preseason All-American love, but the Irish right tackle was clearly Notre Dame’s best offensive lineman last season after Alex Bars went down.

Now a junior entering his third season as a starter, expect Hainsey’s game to explode this season. A source told me recently that Hainsey knocked out 29 reps of 225 pounds during summer testing. That added strength will be the driving force behind his jumps this season.

I was told two years ago from someone tied into the Notre Dame offensive line that the consensus was that the only player along the Irish line with more natural talent than Liam Eichenberg was Quenton Nelson. Eichenberg flashed that at times last season, but inconsistency and a lack of experience kept him from playing at a high level.

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