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Notre Dame Football: 5 commits who’ll have an instant impact in 2018

By Andrew Miller

3ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 01: Notre Dame Fighting Irish players celebrate following the Citrus Bowl against the LSU Tigers on January 1, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. Notre Dame won 21-17. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
3ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 01: Notre Dame Fighting Irish players celebrate following the Citrus Bowl against the LSU Tigers on January 1, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. Notre Dame won 21-17. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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No area of the roster has greater turnover of key players for the Irish than the offensive line. Notre Dame has only one returning starter along the offensive line in rising junior right tackle Tommy Kraemer. That’s where three-star offensive tackle John Dirksen comes into play.

The losses of left tackle Mike McGlinchey and left guard Quenton Nelson will hurt the most. McGlinchey and Nelson should both be first round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, and helped open up a ton of running room for Adams and Wimbush in the ground game in 2017.

The biggest competition for Dirksen to win the starting position at right tackle will come from rising junior Liam Eichenberg. But, neither Eichenberg nor Dirksen has a real leg up at this moment. That’s good news for Dirksen since he has a brighter future with the program.

The transition from Adams, in the backfield, to splitting the carries between Tony Jones. Jr. and Dexter Williams will put some additional pressure on the offensive line. The pieces are not in place like last year, for the offensive line, entering the season. Dirksen can provide relief and give the offensive line another player to build around.

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