Notre Dame Football: What the preview magazines say about the Irish

College football preview magazines have officially hit the shelves, taking us one step closer to game action. What do they say about Notre Dame football?

It seems like college football previews come out earlier and earlier each year. That’s not a bad thing, pretty much any football is good football.

Phil Steele, widely regarded as the king of college football previews, doesn’t release his until mid to late June.

Not all magazines are made alike, nor are they always dead on. Last year, Athlon has Notre Dame pegged for 9-3 and a Tax Slayer Bowl against Texas A&M. None of the three magazines we’ll be looking at today had Notre Dame in the top 10, let alone having a shot at the Playoff.

Coming off a year that wasn’t expected by many, it certainly gives the experts a lot to think about. Will the Irish again outperform expectations? Actually, what ARE the expectations?

With the help of Street & Smith, Lindy’s and Athlon, here’s a look at what three of the top magazines have to say about the 2019 Notre Dame Football team.

Street & Smith

Street & Smith is the highest on the Irish of the three, placing them at number 7, between LSU and Florida. 2019 opponent Georgia is ranked third.

Overall, the magazine doesn’t go as in depth as the other magazines, but there’s still some good to say about the Irish.

There’s only one South Bend representative on the All American team, that being Tommy Kraemer on the offensive line.

Bill Bender, who writes the Notre Dame preview, eluded to the fact that no conference title game may once again be a talking point as to whether the Irish belong in the College Football Playoff or not. He does, however, say they would likely be in the hunt for the Playoff “even with one loss.”

Street & Smith has Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, facing number 8 Florida.

Lindy’s

Lindy’s also has Notre Dame in the top 10, this time coming in at number 9.

Lindy’s likes Ian Book this season, having Book ranked 10th in the Heisman watch list.

Notre Dame will play in 3 of Lindy’s top 6 non conference games this season, number 1 at (3) Georgia, number 3 at (5) Michigan, and number 6 at (22) Stanford. The magazine says that although there’s “not a lot of margin for error” for Notre Dame to remain a top 10 team, but it’s “doable.”

Again only one player makes an All America team, this being Julian Okwara on the second team defense.

They list Ian Book as the 16th best quarterback and Tommy Kraemer as the 5th best guard in the country. On defense, Julian Okwara is the 6th best defensive end, Troy Pride Jr. as the 8th best cornerback and Alohi Gilman the 6th best safety.

Overall, Lindy’s sees a good season coming for Notre Dame, mostly because of the recruiting successes Brian Kelly has had. They warn that the defense may suffer due to some of the big losses to the draft. They do say that after last season’s Playoff berth, the Irish are in a “more rock solid place.”

Lindy’s doesn’t specify what bowl Notre Dame is projected to, but it’s not a New Year’s Six Bowl.

Athlon

Athlon’s 2019 Preview is bigger and better than ever, coming in at over 300 pages for the first time.

Notre Dame is ranked 9th by Athlon. Alohi Gilman is ranked as a first team All American, while Julian Okwara makes the 3rd team. Ian Book was number 12 on the Heisman watch.

They rank Notre Dame as having the 10th best defensive line in the nation, and that’s the only top 10 unit ranking the Irish have coming into the season.

They specifically question if Notre Dame is “built to last, or back to square one.” They talk about how Notre Dame is in a more stable place to be able to remain a contender, but say that a test from Georgia is one “they need to pass.”

Athlon does go on to say later that Notre Dame is a team on the decline, but says it’s “more of a regression than decline” and Notre Dame could be “as good as last season” but only reach 9 wins.

They do project the Irish as a 10-2 team, and say another playoff berth is dependent on the big three road games, being Georgia, Michigan and Stanford.

Notre Dame is projected to the Cotton Bowl against 10-3 AAC Champion Central Florida.