Notre Dame Football: 3 players who will be X-factors in 2019

The Notre Dame football team is looking for another trip to the College Football Playoff. Who are some X-factor players to take it there?

Notre Dame football is coming off a great season that saw them in the College Football Playoff. They overcame adversity in the schedule, a change in the quarterback early in the year, and many other tests to have an undefeated regular season. Since they are an independent, going 12-0 is crucial for them to end the year as one of the four best teams in college football.

This year will be different. The schedule is much tougher, playing teams like Georgia and Michigan on the road. They are returning their quarterback, but they lost their best running back, wide receiver, defensive linemen, and member of the secondary. It will be incredibly hard for the Fighting Irish to overcome these losses to go 12-0 in two straight seasons.

For this to happen, some players are going to have to step up and change the game. Whether it’s for an entire season or just against key opponents, certain players will have to play above what is expected of them and become X-factors.

One key X-factor last year was Ian Book, Notre Dame‘s starting quarterback for the majority of the season. After replacing Brandon Wimbush, he led the team to new highs. Without the majority of his supporting cast from last year, Book will certainly need all the help he can get.

It’s still over a month before the first game of the season, but there are some early candidates to be X-factors in 2019 for Notre Dame football. Here are three of them as college football season approaches.