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Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will be contenders again in 2019

By Connor Muldowney

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and his team wait to head on to the field for the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and his team wait to head on to the field for the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

5. High expectations for 2019 recruiting class

The best teams in the nation get immediate help from incoming recruiting classes, and Notre Dame’s 15th-ranked 2019 group has some high expectations.

Although it’s not a typical blue-chip-loaded class like the ones Alabama, Clemson, Georgia or Ohio State piece together, it has some really nice recruits who could see the field early on and help the Irish get back to the big stage in 2019.

Guys like Kyle Hamilton, Jacob Lacey, Zeke Correll, Quinn Carroll, Andrew Kristofic and John Olmstead are all top-200 players in the class who’re already enrolled early and they’re joined by four other top-250 prospects and six players in the top-300, according to 247Sports.

Notre Dame doesn’t have a single skill position signee ranked lower than 650 in the nation and the only player who isn’t ranked that high is Jay Bramblett who is ranked the No. 1 punter in the nation.

This class is loaded on the offensive line, so the depth there is impressive and has some nice defensive back and line pieces. The focus wasn’t on already-loaded receiving corps or at running back, but Notre Dame filled some needs, which will be huge.

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