Notre Dame football: Devyn Ford could be perfect complement to Audric Estime

Notre Dame football added a transfer portal piece on Saturday in the form of former top-100 running back Devyn Ford.

Ford had his best season with Penn State as a true freshman in 2019, rushing for 294 yards and three touchdowns on 5.7 yards per carry and then his production dwindled. He went from 52 rushing attempts as a freshman to just seven in 2022. With other younger backs getting more touches in 2022, he decided to enter the transfer portal after four games.

All had been quiet on that front until after spring ball as he decided to transfer to Notre Dame shortly after the Irish lost Logan Diggs to LSU.

While he’s not quite going to replace Diggs’ production, he will be a nice complement to Audric Estime who nearly rushed for 1,000 yards last season and was an absolute bruiser of a back.

This will be a nice 1-2 punch in the backfield.

Notre Dame football will have a nice complement piece

Ford was the No. 79 overall player in the 2019 class and the fifth-best running back recruit for a reason. He’s talented, but just found himself buried behind some elite backs at Penn State.

Now, he’ll back up one of the best backs in the nation again.

Estime will handle the workhorse duties while Ford will give him a breather every now and then and bring a different skillset to the table. Estime can run through guys and carry a pile while Ford hits holes hard and has more quickness and acceleration. He’s a bit shiftier.

After losing Diggs, this is the perfect addition for the Irish as Ford won’t need a huge number of carries, but he’ll make the offense better regardless.