Notre Dame Offense 2021 Season And Player Predictions

Game week is here! Notre Dame is right in the middle of its preparation for Florida State, who the Irish play this Sunday as it kicks off the 2021 season. Before we dive fully into preparation for the Seminoles let's take one final look at preseason prediction for Notre Dame.

We already talked about the big-picture view of the team when we made our season predictions for Notre Dame, and also our College Football Playoff picks. Now we move onto individual predictions, beginning with the offense.

TOP FRESHMAN - BLAKE FISHER, OT

I believe Notre Dame will have at least five freshman make some level of impact this season, with Fisher being joined by Rocco Spindler, Lorenzo Styles, Logan Diggs, Deion Colzie and perhaps Cane Berrong at some point this season. But Fisher is the only starter of the group heading into the season, he's the most talented, he's playing a vitally important position and he'll be the best freshman for the Irish this season.

Not only that, Notre Dame NEEDS him to not only be the best freshman, but he needs to play beyond his years a bit. I predict that Fisher will certainly have some "freshman moments" this season and he'll make his fair share of rookie mistakes, but he's also going to flash brilliant play, be arguably their second best linemen by November and play his way onto Freshman All-American squads.

SUPER SOPH - MICHAEL MAYER, TE

Mayer was Notre Dame's top freshman a season ago and he'll not only be the sophomore in 2021, he'll emerge as the nation's best tight end this season. Mayer had the most productive freshman tight end season in program history and barring an injury he's got a chance to become Notre Dame's best offensive player this season.

Mayer is a freaky player, possessing a combination of size and athleticism you just don't see very often. He displayed an advanced feel as a route runner and pass catcher as a true freshman and now he has a season of weight room experience under his belt. Expect to see him be a much bigger part of the pass offense, especially down the field, and he puts up big-time numbers this season.

BOUNCE BACK PLAYER - BRADEN LENZY, WR

Heading into 2020 fall camp the expectation was that Lenzy was poised for a breakout season, and the Irish staff was ready to make the Oregon native a focal point of the offense. Lenzy got banged up in fall camp and was just never healthy throughout the season even when he was on the field.

Lenzy appears healthy now and if he can remain that way he'll be Notre Dame's biggest bounce back player on the roster. When healthy Lenzy is an explosive, big play weapon for the Irish offense. If healthy in 2021 he'll look more like the player that averaged 23.1 yards per catch and 15.4 yards per carry in 2019 than he will the guy who averaged 9.0 yards per catch and 2.7 yards per carry in 2020.

A healthy Lenzy will give the Irish the home run pass game threat it lacked last season.

BREAKOUT PLAYER - KEVIN AUSTIN, WR

There has never been a question about Austin's talent, the question was always about whether or not he'd actually be on the field. After being suspended the entire 2019 season Austin appeared ready to breakout a year ago, but a summer foot injury kept him out of the lineup for the first couple of games of the season and then he went down for good before Notre Dame got to game five.

Austin has just six career catches but he'll have at least three times that number before the Irish get to October .... if he can stay on the field. Austin has "alpha" talent and sources tell IB that he's been dominant throughout fall camp. His size (6-2, 215) and downfield ability will make him a favorite for quarterback Jack Coan, and the presence of Mayer, Lenzy and a pair of ultra-talented backs will make it hard for defenses to key on Austin.

VETERAN EMERGENCE - JOSHUA LUGG, OT

Hey, did you know that Notre Dame lost four starters and over 140 career starts from the offensive line? Yeah, I know you have, it's been talked about ad nauseam since analysis of the 2021 season began. With so much talent gone there are plenty of opportunities for new starters to emerge.

Lugg will be that guy at right tackle, a position he started five games back in 2019. The Pittsburgh native played good football that season but struggled to stay healthy, and play well, in 2020. If he can stay healthy Lugg will emerge as a steady player on the edge of the Irish defense and play his way onto the radar for NFL scouts.

If Lugg struggles or gets injured it will create major problems for the line.

STEP UP TIME - ZEKE CORRELL, OL

Correll came to Notre Dame as a Top 100 recruit and he finally got his chance to start last season, with the Cincinnati native getting first dibs at center against North Carolina and Alabama. Correll is talented but small, and he hasn't played much guard since his high school days. Notre Dame needs Correll to finally start playing like the Top 100 recruit he was.

Correll is a quality athlete and he battles, but consistency has been his issue. When Correll is one he's a very productive blocker, but when he's off he gets driven back or simply gets whipped on blocks. The more consistent he plays this season the better, obviously. Beyond that, however, Correll could very well be the key to Notre Dame's interior line playing championship caliber football.

MOST OUTSTANDING - KYREN WILLIAMS, RB

There are two great options for this pick, Williams and center Jarrett Patterson. I expect Patterson to anchor the offensive line and emerge as the nation's best center, which makes picking against him for this position very, very difficult.

But I have to go with Williams for this. I don't necessarily expect his rushing yards to jump up much from his 1,125 yards a season ago, and I don't know if he'll get more than the 13 touchdowns he had last season. What I do expect, however, is for Williams to become a more efficient runner and improve on his 5.3 yards per carry, which will make him an even more effective player even if the overall stats don't show it.

I also expect Williams, now a team captain, to see a big jump in the pass game. He caught 36 passes last season, but those numbers were inflated by him catching eight passes against Alabama. I predict Williams and Chris Tyree to be used in the pass game a lot more, and it will be this part of the game that we see Williams make the biggest statistical jump and become a dominant all-around football player.

HEISMAN HOPEFUL - JACK COAN, QB

Yes, Williams will be the most outstanding player, Patterson will be one of the nation's best blockers and I won't be surprised if both Mayer and Austin have monster seasons. But let's be honest, with few exceptions (2020 being one), the Heisman Trophy is a quarterback-driven award. Williams was Notre Dame's best skill player last season but it was Ian Book that finished in the Top 10 of the Heisman voting.

Coan is going to be a much better passer this season than Book was and I expect him to surpass Book's completion rate (64.6%) and his yards per game average (235.8), and I expect him to blow past Book's 15 passing touchdowns.

In our "bold predictions" feature both Vince DeDario and myself predicted at least 3,500 passing yards and 30 touchdowns for Coan. If that happens and Notre Dame wins at least 10 games he'll have a chance to push for a Top 5 spot in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule

Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Offense
Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Defense

2022 Big Board: Running Back
2022 Big Board: Slot Receivers

Notre Dame 2022 Scholarship Offers

Notre Dame 2022 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content, our premium message board and gets you a FREE subscription to Sports Illustrated! Click on the link below for more

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to our Irish Breakdown Rumble channel
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Parler: @BryanDriskell
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter