Notre Dame Football: 5 breakout players to watch in 2018

Notre Dame football saw many players break out over the course of an encouraging 2017 season, leaving much anticipation for even more surprises in 2018.

Much like any other year, 2017 came with its fair share of ups and downs for head coach Brian Kelly. In terms of the season, the Irish started the year on a particularly high note, going 8-1 before coughing up losses to No. 7 Miami and No. 20 Stanford near the end of the regular season. Despite the disappointing finish, there’s still much to look forward to heading into next season.

Along with the ups and downs of a program often come the ups and downs of its players. In Notre Dame’s case, the Irish saw players such as Jerry Tillery, Josh Adams, and Te’von Coney take significant strides while players such as Equanimeous St. Brown and Alize Mack didn’t quite maximize their respective potentials under Kelly.

However, a new year always seems to offer some sort of shakeup in the landscape of any depth chart. Departing upperclassmen make way for the previous year’s recruiting class, while a brand new class waits to challenge their peers in the weeks to follow. Sometimes this change works out for the better, and this looks to be the case for a Notre Dame team looking to build off a solid year.

While the Irish have many players who fit the respective mold of a potential breakout player, here are five of the more interesting ones as the Irish head into the heart of the offseason.