11/15/2023 football Edit

Notre Dame football left tackle Joe Alt named a Lombardi Award finalist

Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt is one of four finalists for the 2023 Lombardi Award. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

Tyler James • InsideNDSports

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Covering Notre Dame football, recruiting and other Irish sports. Email: tjames@insidendsports.com

Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt will likely be on the receiving end of many honors following the 2023 season. That could include the Lombardi Award.

On Wednesday, the Lombardi Award named its four finalists: Alt, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, Utah defensive end Jonah Elliss and UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu. The award recognizes the best overall player from four general positions: offensive line, defensive line, linebacker and tight end.

Alt, a junior, has anchored the Irish offensive line, which was named Tuesday as a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award. Pro Football Focus has given Alt the second-highest pass blocking grade (93.4) among FBS tackles who have played at least 250 pass blocking snaps this season. The 6-foot-8, 322-pound Alt, who has 314 pass blocking snaps, has allowed one sack, one quarterback hit, two quarterback hurries and four quarterback pressures, according to PFF. No one has allowed fewer pressures or hurries with that many snaps.

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Bowers, the 2022 John Mackey Award winner as the country's best tight end, caught 44 passes for 601 yards and five touchdowns through eight games played this season. He missed two games with an ankle injury. Bowers leads all tight ends in receiving yards per game (75.1)

Elliss tallied 37 tackles, 12 sacks, 16 tackles for loss and one forced fumble through 10 games. He ranks second in FBS in sacks per game (1.20) and is tied for fifth in tackles for loss per game (1.6).

Latu racked up 39 tackles, 11 sacks, 18.5 tackles, two forced fumbles and one interception through 10 games. He ranks fourth in FBS in sacks per game (1.10) and first in tackles for loss per game (1.85).

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Five Notre Dame players have won the Lombardi Award since its inception in 1970: defensive tackle Walt Patulski (1971), defensive end Ross Browner (1977), defensive tackle Chris Zorich (1990), offensive tackle Aaron Taylor (1993) and linebacker Manti Te'o (2012).

Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. won last year's Lombardi Award.

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