Tosh Baker: Notre Dame football's secret weapon for a dominant 2024 o-line?
As the Notre Dame football team gears up for the 2024 season, there are some questions that are more prominent than others. Who will be the starting running back? Can Riley Leonard stay healthy? Will the offensive line be better than it was in 2023?
That last question is going to rely on a handful of players holding their own. Some others need to step up and put together a better performance in 2024. Tosh Baker falls into the latter category. Luckily there are some signs he's ready to make some improvements.
Baker is almost certainly going to be called to step in the wake of Blake Fisher being drafted. In Fisher’s place at right tackle, Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman has not officially named a starter but Baker took most of the first-team reps in spring practice.
Notre Dame football needs Tosh Baker to step up at right tackle
One of the reasons Baker is looked at as a likely starter at right tackle, is because of how he performed in very specific situations last season.
Baker produced a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking efficiency rating of 97.6 in 2023. He allowed 2 pressures, including a quarterback hit, in 41 pass-protection opportunities.
As PFF describes it, pass-blocking efficiency is a “signature stat measuring pressure allowed on a per-snap basis, with weighting toward sacks allowed.” Baker was not credited with a sack allowed this past season, so his was relatively high. He ranked second on Notre Dame among tackles, behind Alt (99.1) and just ahead of Fisher (97.4).
The caveat there is that Baker's numbers and rating were thanks to very limited playing time.
However, there are concerns that Baker may face challenges in his new role. During spring practice, coaches and journalists observed that Baker was too slow out of his stance to handle Notre Dame's quicker edge rushers. This led to constant pressure off the edge, a key factor in the defense's effective pass rush in the "jersey" scrimmage and the Blue-Gold game.
The performance of the Notre Dame football program's offensive line is a crucial factor in the team's success. While the question of improvement may not be answered immediately, if it's not addressed by the time they play their season opener, the team could face significant challenges.