Notre Dame Football: 3 position battles to watch for 2020
By Jacob Wilson
3. Running Back
As has been the case for the past couple of years, Notre Dame’s running back situation will enter the season with a fair amount of uncertainty. Uncertainty isn’t always a bad thing, however, as the Irish have found quite a few diamonds in the rough as a result of contested battles at the running back position.
Head coach Brian Kelly hasn’t shied away from taking a running back-by-committee approach during his tenure with the Irish, so there’s a pretty good chance that no Notre Dame running back sees 100 carries on the season when all is said and done.
As it stands right now, it would stand to reason that senior Jafar Armstrong would get the first crack at the starting job given his seniority and experience with the offense. However, injuries have held Armstrong out of eight games over the last two seasons, making his health a prerequisite for any time on the field, whether it comes as a starter or not.
Juniors C’Bo Flemister and Jahmir Smith could both challenge Armstrong for the starting job, but it’s more likely that we see a combination of the two before either one completely takes hold of the reigns. While sophomore Kyren Williams and graduate transfer Trevor Speights could bite into the workload as well, the three names to watch are Armstrong, Flemister, and Smith.