Notre Dame Football: 2019 Mid-season Superlatives

Wildcard Athlete

Preseason Selection: Tie between Six Players with only Jonathan Doerer and Asmar Bilal voted again. 

The Wildcard was a lot like the breakout player in that many players were chosen. Taking the cake, however, was Braden Lenzy with 3 votes (Connor McJunkin, Matt Clark and Ryan Palmeri). The other 6 votes were to 6 different players, so obviously a lot to digest here. Other players receiving the votes were Ian Book, Asmar Bilal, Jonathan Doerer, Jamir Jones, Tommy Tremble and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.

During the process of asking all of the contributors for their player picks, I honestly didn’t expect Lenzy to be chosen, but after thinking about it a bit, I understand the thought process and how good of a selection for this award he really is. While he only has 7 total touches on the season, 2 of those touches have gone for touchdowns and every week it seems his impact is felt a little more.

I don’t know the exact snap counts from the USC game, but it certainly felt like he was on the field way more often than in games past. The staff is starting to trust him, understanding how the speed threat he bring is important for the offense — even if as a decoy at times.

For me, that is the definition of a true wildcard. Lenzy can truly impact the game at any point in time on offense, and that is a really nice weapon to have in an arsenal.