Once you notice the first name in this year’s “Counting Down the Irish” is one of Notre Dame’s backup defensive tackles, you will presume both starters are also in the top 25. Spoiler alert: They are.. To put that into context, the lesser of last year’s two starters, Jonathan Bonner, ranked No. 25. (Jerry Tillery was slotted, appropriately at No. 2.)
There are two ways to view a third player at a position of two still cracking a projection of this season’s most-impactful players. Either it is a compliment to that backup or it reflects a lack of faith in the two starters.