Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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70 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW OFFENSIVE LINEMEN H istory often has a way of repeating itself. For the 2017 Notre Dame offen- sive line, it might be earlier than usual. The situation along the 2017 Fighting Irish line mirrors 2015 in many ways. • The 2015 line had four returning starters from its bowl game and 68 career starts. The 2017 edition also has four of the five starters returning, with 76 career starts in the books (last year the offensive line had 27). • The 2015 edition had two top NFL Draft picks the next season in left tackle Ronnie Stanley (first round) and center Nick Martin (second round). This year, it potentially has two more with fifth-year senior left tackle Mike Mc- Glinchey and senior left guard Quenton Nelson, both of whom were Associated Press third-team All-Americans last year. • In 2015, two highly touted sopho- mores — Nelson and Alex Bars — were battling for the one vacated position along the line (left guard). This year, two more similarly esteemed pair of sophomores — Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg — have similar competition at right tackle. The 2015 offensive line was the stron- gest position group for the 10-3 team that finished No. 11 in the final Associated Press poll (the third highest at Notre Dame since 1994). The line was the centerpiece of a school-record 7.0 yards per play and 5.63 yards per rush attempt despite start- ing inexperienced sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer plus a backfield led by a converted wide receiver (C.J. Prosise) and a true freshman (Josh Adams). Potentially, this year's quintet could be the No. 1 strength of the team as well. Going into the 2017 campaign, the Notre Dame offensive line and linebacking corps have the best combination of game expe- rience, depth and potential star power on the team. But like in basketball, offensive line play is not necessarily about who are the five best players individually, but which five work best in unison. The Naval Acad- emy has been exhibit A for about 15 years while consistently overachieving and ranking among the nation's top three rush- ing leaders: It's not about pro talent for them, but understanding and functioning together in an effective system. If Notre Dame can achieve that like- wise, there shouldn't be any limit on how high this line can ascend as a group. ✦ REPEAT AFTER ME The 2017 unit almost seems like a carbon copy of the 2015 group After starting all 13 games at right tackle in 2016, senior Alex Bars moved to right guard this spring. He started twice at guard in 2015. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN