Notre Dame football: Returning production for Irish opponents and others

When it comes to returning production, the Notre Dame football program is one of the last in the country, but they have some good company there.

After losing 14 players to the NFL, either through undrafted free agency or the draft, the Notre Dame football team has a lot of work to do this summer. They have to replace key players in key spots, including the offensive line, and at quarterback, a task that has some believing it will be a down year in South Bend.

While that remains to be seen, the truth is, the Irish are losing a lot of production from last season, including Ian Book, the all-time winningest quarterback in program history. They are also losing their top two wide receivers from last season and some talent on defense, including All-American linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

All told, the Irish will be in a sort of rebuilding mode, but it is not like the cabinet is bare. There are still some elite players on this roster, and this will be a good indication of just how well the program is building its depth behind their starters from year to year.

Notre Dame football ranked near the bottom in returning production

Recently, Bill Connelly tweeted out a list of all the college football teams at the FBS level and ranked them based on returning production. As expected, based on all the losses to graduation and the NFL Draft, the Irish were ranked towards the bottom, No. 124 out of a possible 127 to be exact.

However, while being that far down could cause alarms, the truth is, this is what happens with programs that have consistent success, as Notre Dame has in recent years. They have been to two of the last three College Football Playoffs, and have won at least ten or more games over the last four seasons.

They may be losing a lot from their 2020 squad, but all indications are that there is enough talent for them to be a formidable force in college football once again in 2021.

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Based on the talent the Irish still have on the roster, and all the elite players coming in for the 2022 and 2023 classes, you can expect Notre Dame to be low on these lists for the foreseeable future. The program is in good hands with Brian Kelly, and they should be in contention for another ten-win season in 2021.