Notre Dame Football: 3 biggest questions for 2020 season

3. How will the young talent fare on offense?

The Irish head into the 2020 season with a particularly young receiving corps after the losses of Chase Claypool, Chris Finke, and Cole Kmet to the NFL. While the speedy Braden Lenzy fit in nicely during his sophomore campaign, there’s a valid concern for the lack of available depth should one of the Irish starters find themselves out of commission.

Lawrence Keys III figures to replace Finke in the slot following a reasonably productive 2019 season, but there are plenty of question marks surrounding the outside receiver position across Lenzy. Junior Kevin Austin Jr. was in line to earn some meaningful time for the first time in his college career, but a foot injury will likely make way for the likes of Javon McKinley and Ben Skowronek in the early going. The loss of Kmet will result in a lot more Tommy Tremble.

The opportunity will be there for the Irish’s young receivers to build confidence against the likes of poor pass defenses such as Boston College, Florida State and Syracuse, but the possibility for the passing game to handcuff the rest of the Irish offense is likely to exist in matchups with Clemson, Duke, Pitt and Georgia Tech.

Championship teams are those with very few weaknesses, making it imperative that the Irish passing attack is able to replicate the success they’ve had over the course of the past few seasons. Asking this much out of a group with such little experience is a tall task, but these are the cards the Irish have been dealt and they are determined to win in spite of them.