When it signed on the dotted line, I felt the 2018 Notre Dame recruiting class had an argument for the best class of the Brian Kelly era. Notre Dame landed top level talent, it met all of its positional needs and had excellent depth.

Outside of a few guys cracking the rotation and making an impact on special teams, the class wasn’t able to make much of an impact while they were all freshmen. That is expected to change now that they are sophomores.

Notre Dame’s veterans are crucial to the foundation of the squad, but the sophomores will be asked to play a far more important role this season. The two-deep will have a heavy 2018 class influence, and how much the group steps up could be the difference between Notre Dame being really good (10-2) or making another playoff run.

Part one of my preseason analysis of the sophomore class takes a look at the impact expected from the offensive group.

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Notre Dame is expected to have one of the best lines in the country thanks to the return of four talented starters. The Irish should be strong at the tackle spots and they return 25 starts at guard. All of that could be dragged down if the center position doesn’t get equally effective production.

Stepping into the starting lineup will be sophomore Jarrett Patterson, who played just 15 snaps in 2018 while preserving a season of eligibility. Patterson played left tackle as a true freshman, but the staff thought so much of his freshman year play that they moved him to center to give him a chance to compete for a starting role.