Second Half Prediction: Breakout Players For The Irish Offense

Predicting the breakout players for the Notre Dame offense over the final six games.

Notre Dame is off today, but in the week the Irish kick off the second half of the season with arguably their toughest test of the final six games. Notre Dame must travel to Ann Arbor to take on the No. 16-ranked Michigan Wolverines.

With the week to look do a lot of self-scouting, to re-think the lineup and make adjustments I expect the Irish to look a bit different in some areas on both sides of the ball. Part of that means getting jumps in production and play from some players.

Here’s my prediction for the breakout players for the Irish offense in the final six games of the season.

RB Jafar Armstrong

Senior Tony Jones Jr. has been arguably the best offensive player for Notre Dame in the last six games and is coming off three straight 100-yard games. Jones will continue to be a bell cow for the Irish offense, but getting Armstrong back should help ease some of the burden for Jones. It was Armstrong, remember, who was supposed to be the top dog in the Irish backfield coming into the season.

With Jones playing the way he has, Armstrong can return and be used as more of an all-around weapon and not have to shoulder the load of being the team’s lead ball carrier. That should allow OC Chip Long to get creative with how he inserts Armstrong back into the lineup, and if Armstrong is healthy and focused that should mean the addition of a big-time playmaker into the lineup.

WR Braden Lenzy

Assuming he can stay healthy, don’t be surprised if the USC game serves as the coming out party for Lenzy. The talented sophomore is the most explosive player on the offense, and it’s not really close. I expect fellow sophomore Lawrence Keys III to also be a key figure in the offense during the final six games, but Notre Dame wants and needs the kind of home run ability that Lenzy brings to the offense.

The question is how can Notre Dame better use that speed moving forward? You can’t just run reverses and jet sweeps every game, eventually defenses will figure that out. That means getting Lenzy involved with more downfield routes and getting him working across the field in an attempt to outrun the coverage both vertically and horizontally. For that to happen, quarterback Ian Book needs to throw with more conviction in the final six games.

LG Aaron Banks

Notre Dame right tackle Robert Hainsey has been Notre Dame’s most steady blocker thus far in the season, and if he can limit the tackles the final six games will be big ones for left tackle Liam Eichenberg, the team’s most physically dominant blocker thus far. Sophomore center Jarrett Patterson is coming off his two best games, and I expect that to continue, and senior right guard Tommy Kraemer has been solid.

The most erratic blocker has been left guard Aaron Banks, but I expect that to change over the next month and a half. Banks doesn’t play with the maturity needed right now, and we even saw that against USC, which was arguably his best game. When his head is on straight and he plays with discipline, Banks is truly special. If he can play a more mature game in the final six weeks, Banks will be a truly dominant interior blocker.

QB Ian Book

Book has been solid the first six games, and against inferior opponents - New Mexico and Bowling Green - he has put up big-time numbers. Ten of his 14 touchdown passes came in those two games. If Notre Dame is going to run the table it needs Book to be better against the Power 5 opponents on the schedule Book has shown flashes the last two games, attacking downfield a bit more and getting back to properly handling pocket movement, but more is needed.

The Michigan game will be the first time all season Book has had a full complement of weapons, and the emergence of Lenzy and the return of Armstrong should give Book more confidence to spread the ball around like he did a season ago. The hope here being that Book having greater confidence in all his weapons allows him to confidently go through his progressions, attack all parts of the field and be more of a playmaker by getting the ball out to all of his playmakers.

If that makes Book more aggressive and throw with better timing the offense is going to explode over the final six games.

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