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Notre Dame football: 3 most impactful offensive players of the Brian Kelly era

By Daniel Morrison

Nov 7, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly leads his team out of the tunnel before the game against the Clemson Tigers at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame defeated Clemson 47-40 in two overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly leads his team out of the tunnel before the game against the Clemson Tigers at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame defeated Clemson 47-40 in two overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Offensive line
Quenton Nelson was a mauler upfront for the Notre Dame football team. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

No. 2 Quenton Nelson

It can be a bit more difficult to put a value on an individual offensive lineman than a skills player. After all, other than sacks allowed, they don’t really keep stats for offensive linemen. Even if you go by how many yards a running back runs for, how much of that is because of the back?

How can you single out one offensive lineman as being the reason an offensive line was good or bad as a whole?

All those questions just go to show how impactful Quenton Nelson was during his time at Notre Dame. Yes, he was a part of a Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line, which goes to the best offensive line as a unit. He was also the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft, which is absurdly high for an interior offensive lineman.

In his three NFL seasons, Nelson has been All-Pro in all three seasons.

The truly interesting thing about Nelson isn’t just his dominance, it’s what he meant to Notre Dame. Nelson represented a change in attitude at Notre Dame. Kelly made the change after the 2012-13 BCS Championship Game when the Irish were manhandled on the offensive line.

Nelson was bigger, tougher, and stronger than they had been. A member of the 2014 recruiting class, Nelson was one of the early players who moved Notre Dame towards the dominant line play that they’re known for today.

Along with being a Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line member, Quenton Nelson was a unanimous All-American in 2017.

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