Pro Football Focus Believes Notre Dame Is Poised For Another Playoff Push
Despite Notre Dame going 12-1 and advancing to the College Football Playoff in 2018, and the return of 19 players with starting experience, there remain many doubts about the Fighting Irish heading into the 2019 season.
Notre Dame was ranked No. 9 in both the Associated Press and coaches polls, and it remains behind Michigan — a team the Irish beat last season — in both polls.
There is one organization, however, that is much higher on the Fighting Irish than the national polls and the preseason publications. Pro Football Focus believes Notre Dame is poised to make another College Football Playoff run, ranking the Irish No. 4 in its own preseason rankings.
Author Anthony Treash wrote: “With Ian Book’s superb accuracy and having time to develop his pocket awareness alongside Notre Dame’s elite offensive line, edge unit, and secondary, the Fighting Irish have everything in place to finally dethrone the Power Five in 2019. Many are overlooking the Irish after their crushing defeat in the College Football Playoff and the losses on their defense (and it shows with their slight fall in the AP top-25), but don’t write off the Irish quite yet.
“All things considered, the Irish won’t have to wait long to prove their doubters wrong as they take on the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in Week 3 in what could very well be one of the best college games of the season.”
PFF praised Book for his accuracy and poise, mentioning that he is one of the nation’s most deadly quarterbacks, ranking fourth among Power Five quarterbacks in limiting negative plays when he has a clean pocket.
Teash mentioned that Book’s numbers dipped dramatically when he was pressured, which is something that will have to improve this season.
PFF is high on Notre Dame’s edge rushers, stating that it believes seniors Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem are the best duo in the country.
“It’s quite clear that college football’s best edge duo belongs to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as they are the only team that has two of the top 25 highest-graded players at the position with Julian Okwara (10th) and Khalid Kareem (22nd),” Treash wrote.
Treash noted that Okwara is the 14th best draft prospect in the country heading into the season, and he ranks as a top-three edge defender. PFF draft analyst Mike Renner named Kareem the most versatile edge defender in the 2020 draft class, according to Treash.
A secondary led by senior safeties Jalen Elliott and Alohi Gilman, along with cornerback Troy Pride Jr., was named by PFF as one of the top three in the country.
Gilman is the top returning safety in the nation according to PFF, at least in regards to his 2018 PFF grades, while Elliott ranks 14th in the country. Pride ranks 11th among returning cornerbacks in forced incompletion rate.
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