Notre Dame Football 2021: 25 Most Impactful Players, No. 20-16

Notre Dame Football 2021: 25 Most Impactful Players, No. 20-16

No. 16: Josh Lugg, Offensive Line

• High: 9, Low: Unranked

Josh Lugg enters his first full season as a starting offensive lineman this year, after playing significant roles in 2019 and 2020 as a backup and spot starter. In 2019, Lugg started the final five contests of the season; not yielding a sack and only three quarterback hits. In 2020, he shifted around to provide whatever support the Notre Dame football team needed, starting at center and guard in the two final regular-season contests and the ACC Championship.

The fifth-year senior from Wexford, Pennsylvania is one of the entrenched starters for 2021. Almost certainly, Lugg will hold down the right tackle position after reworking his body in the off-season, and this should allow him to stay healthier and move more functionally.

After a year where Notre Dame’s offensive line was one of the most experienced in college football, Lugg becomes the offensive line’s third most experienced starter with only eight total starts. He has the second-most starts at the Power 5 level, as projected starter Cain Madden played at a group of 5 school, Marshall.

Opinions on Lugg vary greatly. If he is the stalwart right tackle who played extremely well in 2019, the justification for him as a top 10-player is sound. However, his performance last year, mainly due to lingering injuries, left a lot to be desired.

Despite being one of the more experienced linemen, he might be the least effective of the group thus justifying his exclusion from the top 25 altogether.