Notre Dame Football: 3 biggest questions for Irish on offense in 2021
By Andrew Hall
How will Notre Dame football reshuffle the offensive line?
The Fighting Irish lost graduate senior left tackle Liam Eichenberg, senior left guard Aaron Banks, graduate right guard Tommy Kraemer and senior right tackle Robert Hainsey to the NFL Draft, this after the group proved to be one of the best in the country last season. The biggest question facing the Notre Dame football in the spring is how will offensive line coach Jeff Quinn reshuffle this line.
The Irish return Jarrett Patterson, Josh Lugg, and Zeke Correll, and all started contests in 2020. This alleviates the loss of the aforementioned quartet of Notre Dame blockers, as this new trio forms the core of the 2021 offensive line.
Former center Jarrett Patterson slides out to left tackle most likely to protect the blindside of the quarterback, and graduate student Josh Lugg moves to the other tackle spot, bookending the line in front of Coan, or whoever is the starting quarterback this season.
The real question is who fills in the remaining spots at guard. Graduate student Dillan Gibbons returns with some significant playing experience, as he played against Florida State after Eichenberg’s eye injury caused a left-side reshuffle. Among guards who played other than Kraemer and Banks, Gibbons played the best and took the most snaps.
Senior guard John Dirksen also received snaps at the position in 2020, though all reps came in mop-up duty. Dirksen, along with youngsters Blake Fisher, Rocco Spindler, Quinn Carroll, and Andrew Kristofic will fill the other guard position.
Carroll fits the mold of Banks and Kraemer – a former tackle with mass. At 6’6″ and 305 lbs., Carroll would be an imposing force on the interior of the offense, and it feels correct that he starts for the Irish in 2021.
An emergence of another tackle, like Tosh Baker, could move Josh Lugg inside to play guard where he started in the past. It truly does not matter what combination Jeff Quinn comes up with as long as it gets the best five offensive linemen on the field.