Somehow Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt didn't win the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) or Lombardi Award (best lineman, linebacker or tight end), despite being a consensus All-American.
He's arguably — and the list of dissenting opinions may be short — the top offensive lineman in college football in 2023.
Now the 6-foot-8, 322-pound Alt will learn where the NFL ranks him. Alt, a junior, announced Wednesday he will forfeit his final year of college eligibility to enter the 2024 NFL Draft pool. He will also skip No. 16 Notre Dame’s Sun Bowl matchup with No. 19 Oregon State on Dec. 29.
Three fellow Notre Dame starters — quarterback Sam Hartman, right tackle Blake Fisher and linebacker Marist Liufau — have also announced they will not play in the Sun Bowl as they get a jump on their NFL preparatio
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Alt, a captain for the 2023 team, has started in the last 33 games for Notre Dame at left tackle, but the beginning of that stretch came after the Irish gave opportunities to others in the 2021 season. Freshman Blake Fisher won the starting left tackle job to start the season, but he suffered a knee injury in the season opener. Sophomore Michael Carmody suffered an ankle injury after starting the second game of the season. Sophomore Tosh Baker started the next two games and was then sidelined with a concussion. Carmody returned for the fifth game of the season against Cincinnati, but Alt eventually replaced him in the game.
Alt, who spent his senior season at Fridley (Minn.) Totino-Grace playing both offensive tackle and tight end, made his first career start on the road at Virginia Tech. He allowed a sack to Virginia Tech defensive end Amaré Barno on Notre Dame’s first offensive series. The former three-star recruit hasn’t given up many since then.
According to Pro Football Focus, Alt has allowed only four sacks in his Notre Dame career. Three of them came as a freshman in 2021. He was credited with allowing one against Duke this season, but that may have been mixed up with a sack he allowed at Louisville.
The Associated Press named Alt a first-team All-American following the 2022 season. He received second-team honors from The Sporting News, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Walter Camp Foundation and American Football Coaches Assocation (AFCA).
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Alt should sweep all first-team nods for the 2023 season as the best part of Notre Dame’s offensive line, which was named one of the 12 best offensive lines in the country as a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award. Following conference championship weekend, the Irish rank No. 11 in the FBS in rushing yards per carry (5.33), sit in a four-way tie for No. 14 in sacks allowed per game (1.17) and slate No. 32 in rushing yards per game (181.5).
PFF gave Alt a 92.2 pass blocking grade, which ranks second in the FBS among the 208 offensive tackles who have played at least 317 pass blocking snaps. His 86.9 run blocking grade ranks second as well among the 167 FBS offensive tackles with at least 298 run blocking snaps.
Most draft analysts have projected Alt as a first-round pick with the potential of being selected in the top 10. Alt’s father, John, was the No. 21 overall pick for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1984 after playing at Iowa in college. John Alt was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and has been inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame.
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