Notre Dame Offensive Line Will Be Battled Tested In 2020
The Notre Dame offensive line is getting plenty of preseason love, and from a talent and experience standpoint it makes a lot of sense. Jeff Quinn’s squad returns all five starters and Joshua Lugg, who played well in his five starts last season when injuries thrust him into the lineup.
Lindy’s Sports preseason magazine ranked the Irish line as the nation’s best, and Athlon Sports ranked the Irish line as the fifth best in the land.
If Notre Dame ends the season with one of the nation’s best lines it will have done so against a schedule filled with talented defensive lines. The Notre Dame line will certainly be tested, and that means that any level of success the unit achieves this season will be earned.
ALL-AMERICAN CANDIDATES
Reading through the preseason magazines and you’ll see plenty of Notre Dame opponents littering those lists. This is especially true along the defensive line.
Clemson is considered to have one of the nation’s best defensive lines. In fact, Athlon ranked the Tiger line as the nation’s best, while Lindy’s ranked it as the fifth best in the country. None of the Clemson defensive linemen were named preseason All-Americans, but Lindy’s is quite high on a number of their big men.
Defensive end Xavier Thomas ranked as the nation’s seventh-best defensive end, senior defensive tackle Nyles Pinckney ranked as the eighth-best defensive tackle and sophomore defensive tackle Tyler Davis ranked ninth.
Davis racked up 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks as a true freshman in 2019.
Pittsburgh ranked as the nation’s sixth best defensive line according to Lindy’s and Athlon. Defensive tackle Jalen Twyman was listed as a preseason first team All-American by Lindy’s and Street & Smith’s, and Athlon named him a preseason second team All-American. Twyman ranked as the second best interior player by Lindy’s
Defensive end Patrick Jones II ranked as the 14th-best end in the country by Lindy’s. Twyman, Jones and returning defensive end Deslin Alexandre combined for 34.5 tackles for loss and 24.5 sacks last season.
Lindy’s ranked the USC defensive line as the nation’s ninth best, and Athlon ranked it as the second-best defensive line in the Pac 12. Trojan defensive tackle Jay Tufele was named a preseason second team All-American by Street & Smith’s and a third team pick by Athlon. Tufele was ranked as the nation’s fourth-best defensive tackle by Lindy’s.
Rising sophomore end Drake Jackson ranked as the nation’s #14 player at his position according to Lindy’s. Both Tufele and Jackson were named preseason first team All-Pac 12 players according to Street & Smith’s, Lindy’s and Athlon.
Jackson led the Trojans with 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks as a true freshman in 2019.
Wake Forest senior defensive end Carlos Basham Jr. was named a second team All-American by Street & Smith’s, Lindy’s and Athlon. Basham ranked as the nation’s fourth-best end by Lindy’s and is a preseason first-team All-ACC player by Street & Smith’s and Athlon.
Basham racked up 18 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 2019, which followed a 2018 campaign in which he registered 11 tackles for loss.
Duke end Chris Rumph III ranked as the nation’s sixth best defensive end according to Lindy’s, and he was a preseason second team All-ACC pick by Lindy’s and Athlon. Teammate Victor Dimukeje was named a third team preseason All-ACC player by Lindy’s and Athlon.
If you go by Pro Football Focus rankings, the Duke end tandem of Rumph and Dimukeje is arguably the best pair the Irish will face all season. The pair combined for 23 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in 2019.
There is no doubt that Notre Dame will be tested this season, but if Quinn has his unit ready to play to their full potential the Irish line should be a dominant group no matter who they face.
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