Notre Dame Football: 5 biggest concerns for Fighting Irish in 2019

Last season was very successful for Notre Dame football. Why should fans be concerned that success won’t carry into 2019?

Notre Dame football is in an interesting predicament every year. If they want any chance to win the National Championship, they have no room for error. While most teams in the Power 5 can lose a game and still have a chance, Notre Dame has to go 12-0.

They managed to go undefeated in the regular season last season, and they learned first-hand how hard it was. It will be even harder to make it back to the College Football Playoff this year with a tougher schedule and a loss of multiple top players.

Offensively, the Irish will have to replace Dexter Williams and Miles Boykin. Losing your top receiver and running back will be incredibly tough, especially when they were as good as Williams and Boykin were last year.

Defensively, the biggest loss is easily Jerry Tillery. Going without the pass rusher will be incredibly tough, but the team will be returning a lot of seniors for 2019.

The team will ride or die with Ian Book as their quarterback. Book was a game manager last year, but he will need to grow into that role as a senior. As the best returning player on offense, he will be the key to success or failure.

The Irish will also have to go through a much tougher schedule this season, playing teams like Georgia and Michigan. With this tougher schedule, the margin of error is razor-thin.

I’m sure fans are optimistic for this season, but there are a few reasons why they should be concerned. Here are some of them.