Notre Dame Is Poised To Continue Its Outstanding Running Back Production
With Audric Estime now off to the NFL after a brilliant 2023 campaign, Notre Dame will need to find a way to move on. Replacing Estime won't be easy, but the Fighting Irish have a loaded depth chart and a history of producing productive backs.
Back in 2015, converted wide receiver CJ Prosise ended a three-year drought for 1,000-yard rushers, but that began a stretch that continues to today of Notre Dame pumping out highly productive running backs.
Prosise rushed for 1,029 yards and 11 touchdowns in just 11 games that season. That same season freshman Josh Adams racked up a school record for a freshman with 838 yards. Over the next two seasons (2016-17), Adams racked up 2,363 yards on the ground, including 1,430 yards in his final season (2017).
Adams was replaced by Dexter Williams, who was the leading rusher on an Irish team that went 12-1 and earned its first-ever College Football Playoff berth. Williams rushed for 995 yards (6.3 YPC) and 12 touchdowns in just 12 games, including a 202-yard performance in a win over Florida State.
Tony Jones Jr. had a solid season replacing Williams, but Kyren Williams took over in 2020 and he did some really impressive things. Williams became the first running back since Darius Walker (2005-06) to rack up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Williams rushed for 1,125 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2020 as the Irish earned a second playoff berth, and then rushed for 1,005 yards and 14 touchdowns behind what was a struggling offensive line that season.
Notre Dame went with a strong one-two punch to replace Williams, and that was the duo of Estime and Logan Diggs. The pair combined for 1,742 yards and 15 touchdowns, with Estime going for 920 and 11 touchdowns, and Diggs going for 822 yards.
Once Diggs left for LSU it became Estime's backfield, and he was excellent this season, racking up 1,341 yards (6.4 YPC) and a team record 18 rushing touchdowns. Estime had six games with at least 100 yards, which tied for 7th all-time, and his yardage total was the 5th best mark.
With Diggs now gone, the Irish are positioned to once again go with more of a 1-2 punch, or more, as they look to replace their star running back.
Freshman Jeremiyah Love and sophomore Jadarian Price were second and third on the team in rushing this year, with Love rushing for 346 yards and Price going for 166 yards. Of course, Price was also the team's kick returner, and he showed his explosiveness in that part of the game as well.
Love and Price, along with sophomore Gi'Bran Payne and steady veteran Devyn Ford, give Notre Dame plenty of talent to work with in the Sun Bowl matchup against Oregon State. Moving forward, the potential of a Love-Price backfield is very exciting.
Love and Price are both explosive running backs with game-changing speed, and both have already shown that in a Notre Dame uniform. They are different runners, however, which mean they complement each other well, and the staff can mix up the runs they emphasize with each back, but they are also similar enough that they don't need to invent different game plans for both. But regardless of who is in the game, Notre Dame will have a potential game-breaker at running back when one of those two players are on the field.
Notre Dame will certainly miss Estime, and the wonderful talent he showed this past season, there is no doubt about that. The running back room will look a lot different without him, but that different is exciting. With Riley Leonard at quarterback, Notre Dame will have a signal caller that can run, which we saw in 2022 when he rushed for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns. Leonard was on pace for 848 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023 before going down with an injury in game five against Notre Dame.
Having that kind of threat at quarterback makes the backfield of Love and Price even more dangerous, as teams will have to account for them and the quarterback. That's what we saw in 2017 with Adams and Brandon Wimbush. If team's make a mistake trying to defend the running backs, Leonard can make them pay. If teams make a mistake trying to defend the quarterback Love and Price can wreak havoc.
Both are more dangerous weapons in the pass game as well, especially Love. Their ability to make plays in the pass game is why it would behoove Notre Dame to strongly consider having more looks in 2024 that have both of them on the field together. A creative offensive coordinator could have a lot of fun with the run game and throwing game with Leonard at quarterback, and backs like Love and Price on the field, especially together.
This is what the best programs do, right? You lose a star, a beloved player like Estime, and you reload after they depart. That is what Notre Dame will be doing with Love, Price and Payne ..... and wait until you see what incoming freshmen Kedren Young and Aneyas Williams bring to the table.
Needless to say, the future is incredibly bright for Notre Dame at the running back position.
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