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Notre Dame No. 9 in PFF Way-Too-Early Top 25

The Irish continue to get respect as a preseason Top 10 program
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Notre Dame cracked the Top 10 in the Pro Football Focus Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the 2020 season. The Fighting Irish ranked No. 9 according to PFF.

It marks the fourth major publication to rank the Irish in the Top 10 of their initial rankings for the 2020 season, with PFF joining Sports Illustrated, Sporting News and ESPN.

Here is why PFF ranked Notre Dame in its Top 10:

"There’s still a lot of room for improvement for Irish quarterback Ian Book. The stat book will show he threw 34 touchdowns and just six interceptions, but it’s important to put these things into context. Against Power-5 competition, Book had just a 67.6 passing grade while producing 13 big-time throws and 13 turnover-worthy plays. Against non-Power-5 competition, Book had a 92.5 passing grade while producing nine big-time throws and one turnover-worthy play. His pocket presence is poor, but luckily he’ll be behind an offensive line that returns four starters who all are featured in the top 30 returning linemen. If Book progresses in 2020, the Irish can easily creep up the rankings. They’ll also have one of the best young defensive backs in Kyle Hamilton, who impressed in his true freshman campaign by producing an 89.8 coverage grade."

Notre Dame actually returns five starting offensive lineman in 2020, but the note on the returners was interesting. Notre Dame had more Top 30 OL on the PFF list than any team in the country, and only three other teams had more than one (BYU, Air Force, Kentucky).

Three Notre Dame opponents were also in the Top 25. Clemson ranked No. 2 on the list with the Ohio State Buckeyes ranking No. 1. In the three previous Top 25's the Tigers were on top.

Wisconsin is ranked No. 10 and Louisville is ranked No. 18. Notre Dame plays Wisconsin in Lambeau FIeld on October 3rd, Clemson at home on November 7th and Louisville on Senior Day on November 21st.

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