Notre Dame Football’s End of Season Superlatives: Team MVP
Before Notre Dame football season started, this award seemed like a forgone conclusion to go to Ian Book, but that opinion changed drastically as the season went on.
During our preseason superlatives piece, Ian Book won the vote by a landslide with only of our writers selecting a different player — Chase Claypool. At the halfway point of the season, our writers spoke again — this time giving the edge to Tony Jones Jr. At that point, he was coming off some really impressive performances and carrying the offense while Book was struggling to find his footing. Cole Kmet also received some votes. Now that the Notre Dame season is over, a third name has popped up as the overwhelming favorite.
Team MVP: Chase Claypool (4 of 7 votes)
Others receiving votes: Ian Book (2), Khalid Kareem.
First off, Congrats to our contributor Corbin Whitney for correctly pegging Claypool as the Slap the Sign Team MVP for the 2019 year way back in the preseason. While many of us thought Claypool would take a senior leap and become a really good college wide receiver, I don’t think many of us saw him as the best player on the roster — and that is exactly what he was. He led the team in receptions, yards from scrimmage and touchdowns while also being Book’s favorite target when big plays needed to happen. Two that come to mind are his big fourth down catch against Virginia Tech moments before Ian Book ran it in for the game winning touchdown, and his jump ball touchdown against Stanford right before the half to put Notre Dame up with all the momentum.
Claypool also did his best work in the month of November, finishing the 2019 campaign hot with 8 of his 12 touchdowns coming in the final four games and over half of his receiving yardage coming in the last five.
If he can get to 109 receiving yards in the bowl game, he will join some elite company in the Notre Dame record books, becoming one of only a few receivers to get to 1,000 receiving yards and 10+ touchdowns in a single season. If he has a huge day, and catches three scores, he will tie 4 others for the single season touchdown receptions record with 15.
We also shouldn’t forget or disregard Claypool’s impact on special teams — something that will entice many NFL teams. Chase was continuously one of Notre Dame’s best kick and punt coverage specialists — not only this year — but throughout his entire college career.
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Congrats Chase, and I think I speak for the entire Slap the Sign crew when I say, we hope you have a terrific final game in an Irish uniform, break some records, and continue your success into the NFL next season.