Notre Dame Football: Predicting player superlatives for the 2019 season

With the season set to begin, it is time for a little fun with some player predictions for the Notre Dame football team.

Who will win Team MVP? Who is that breakout player ready to put his stamp on the college football community? What about the biggest wildcard in 2019? Will there be a dominant freshman or first year starter in 2019? Who will always just be steady and Mr. Reliable? Our Slap the Sign staff has those answers for you.

Those who had influence on these picks were Nathan Erbach, Jack Leniart, Carlee North, Mason Plummer, J.P. Scott and Corbin Whitney

Team MVP

The vast majority of the votes went out to Ian Book, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise. This team will go as far as the QB position will take them, and if 2018 was any indication we are in store for a really nice year offensively. The one additional vote for MVP went out to Chase Claypool from Corbin Whitney. Claypool has had an outstanding off-season camp, and should be in store for a huge season as Book’s go to outside threat. Regardless, if either of these two win Team MVP it likely means the other had an incredible season.

A surprising omission from this list was senior defensive end, Julian Okwara – although shout out to Jack Leniart for providing an offensive and defensive MVP with Okwara mentioned as the latter.

Mr. Reliable

The one consensus pick of the five categories – and somewhat surprisingly that is – was Chris Finke for the Mr. Reliable award.  Is Finke reliable? Of course…I am just shocked no one else was mentioned. With that said, Finke fits this bill to a tee and would have probably been announced Mr. Reliable for the 2018 team as well. He is not the fastest guy. He is not the biggest guy. He likely won’t lead the team in any particular offensive category. However, he will fill the stat sheet on a nightly basis and his end of year numbers will likely surprise those not familiar with the Notre Dame roster. The former walk-on will prove his doubters wrong once again and give Chip Long a steady force in the slot all year long.

Others deserving of mention: Alohi Gilman, Daelin Hayes, Kurt Hinish, Robert Hainsey, Troy Pride Jr.

Breakout Player

This category definitely allowed for more choices and that showed with 4 players receiving votes. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (JOK) received three votes (Carlee, Jack and Corbin), while Michael Young (J.P), Jack Lamb (Mason) and Jafar Armstrong (Me) received 1 vote apiece. Breakout can be defined differently and we see that in the voting. I am sure many Notre Dame fans don’t view Armstrong as a breakout candidate because of his first couple games last sesaon, however, he is still finished with under 400 yards rushing in 2018 and I am expecting a huge season from him this year.

I don’t know if J.P. would change his pick now that Young has been diagnosed with a broken collarbone and will likely miss at least the first 2 games if not more, but prior to the injury it was easy to see why he was on this list. Jack Lamb is an interesting choice by Mason, as we don’t know yet if he will be the starter, but he seems to be a perfect fit at BUCK on clear passing downs and has even been deemed future All-American by his teammates.

The winner of the vote however is Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as mentioned above, and if you read the practice reports or have had the chance to watch any of the practices, is certainly makes sense. JOK or “Wu” seems like the perfect fit for the – highly discussed on Notre Dame message boards – ROVER position. He was the first player under the new coaching staff to be recruited specifically for this spot, and after a few injury-filled seasons to begin his career, he looks poised to be a menace for opposing offenses.

Newcomer of the Year

When people see newcomer they think freshman, and for the most part, that is where our minds went too. Although, two of the six voters (Carlee, Jack) tossed in their votes for red-shirt freshman and starting center, Jarrett Patterson, and understandably so. He finished tied for first in the voting. Newcomer and breakout could provide the same players, but fortunately no players overlapped for this article. Tying Patterson for 1st (Mason, Myself) is everyone’s camp favorite, Kyle Hamilton. Hamilton came to Notre Dame with a ton of fan fair, and without even playing a game yet has kinda lived up to his hype. If I have the numbers correct, during the media portions of practices he has picked off 7 passes – 5 more than any other player – and he is a true freshman that enrolled earlier this summer.

The other two votes went to true freshmen as well. One to Kyren Williams (J.P) and the other to Jacob Lacey (Corbin). I was a little surprised to see Lacey with only one vote, but as an early enrollee that has already been talked about a ton since January it is easy to see why others were mentioned. Maybe just a case of player fatigue, but with that said, he is essentially entrenched in the 2-deep already and should be a spectacular player for Notre Dame throughout his career. Williams will likely have to wait his turn in the pecking order with Armstrong, Jones and conceivably at least one of Smith and Flemister ahead of him, but he has continually flashed in camp. If anyone goes down with an injury, expect the staff to have a ton of confidence in Kyren.

Wildcard Athlete

This is another category that can be perceived differently by many people, and ironically all 6 of us picked a different player. The point behind this was to pick an athlete that is considered a make or break type of player this season. Who can really elevate the team with their play, or maybe even a player that that can really hurt the team if he performs badly? Or who is someone that is not necessarily being counted on because of past injuries or performance, but if they step up will mean really good things. Take the term wild card with a grain of salt and make it your own. This was how it was described to the voters before voting.

Here is how the votes tallied: Donte Vaughn (Nathan), Johnathan Doerer/Harrison Leonard (Jack), Shaun Crawford (Carlee), Drew White (Mason), Avery Davis (J.P.) and Asmar Bilal (Corbin).

All of these players made the list for one reason or another. We all know the story on Crawford and Vaughn. Both have flashed while healthy, but the healthy part has been few and far between. We can hope that both are at full strength for the entirety of the season, and if they are, that could mean great depth for the Notre Dame secondary. Bilal is the only starter from last year on the list, but I think most would agree he was toward the bottom when it came to making an impact. However, the talent and athleticism is there and he entering his final season in South Bend.

If he can put everything together that would help the linebacker room immensely. The same can be said for White outside of the starting role from last season. He filled in admirably when Drue Tranquill went down last year, and looks like the new Navy killer – Notre Dame usually seems to have one. He’s more of traditional linebacker that plays a good downhill game without the insane athletic ability that controls football these days, but he could play a very big role for Notre Dame this season.

Then we get to the kicking situation, and maybe this is the biggest wildcard of them all. No one expect Doerer or Leonard to be as good as Yoon was this past few years, but if either are simply competent – making their extra points, hitting the chip shots, and then making a few crucial kicks here and there – people should be more than pleased. It seems as though Doerer has separated himself late in camp as well and will be the guy to start the year. If he ends up very good, what a wildcard that would be.

The last wildcard name, and perhaps the most interesting one on here is Avery Davis. Currently, Davis seems far off from having a role with this team, but that almost makes him the biggest of wildcards. If he does see playing time and plays very well, it was something not expected at all from him this year. There is always a player that surprised the staff and fans once the season begins. Sometimes that player is a plugged in starter like Jalen Elliott like last year, and sometimes that player is someone lower on the depth chart. Davis is an intriguing athlete at the very least.