Notre Dame Football: Top-5 offensive players returning in 2021
By Brad Weiss
Coming off another ten-win season, and a spot in the College Football Playoff, the Notre Dame football team has a lot of work to do in terms of the roster. On both sides of the ball, the Irish will have to replace some big-name players, many of whom were All-Americans, or will be selected in this year’s draft.
Luckily for the Irish, Brian Kelly has done a nice on in building up this roster in terms of depth, and there is a ton of good talent coming back. Also, Notre Dame football has brought in a tremendous recruiting class this offseason, and the recruits are only going to get better now that Marcus Freeman is on the staff.
As we look towards the 2021 college football season, Ian Book will need to be replaced at quarterback, and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, a top linebacker in the country, will also be missing from the defense. Also, four-fifths of the offensive line is gone, leaving the roster with holes to fill immediately.
Here, we take a look at the top-5 players returning on the offensive side of the ball.
Notre Dame football WR Avery Davis
Notre Dame is losing two key options on the outside this season, as Ben Skowronek and Javon McKinley will need to be replaced. One logical option would be Avery Davis, a versatile athlete who came in as a quarterback and has been moved all around, eventually settling as a slot receiver last season.
The Irish have a strong wide receiver class coming in, but making the jump from high school to the college game is never an easy thing to do. We will see the freshmen get their opportunities this season, but Davis has to be the leader of the group, and he did have some key moments last season.
Davis is a candidate to be a captain for Brian Kelly this year as well, and on the field, he has to emerge as a potential WR1.