It would be unfair to criticize the preseason’s “Counting Down the Irish” rankings blow-by-blow with 12 games of data in one’s back pocket. The dozen beat writers courteous enough to submit August rankings of Notre Dame’s expected most-impactful players in 2019 were offering their best guesses, well-informed and well-intentioned guesses.
Those guesses included faith in junior receiver Michael Young, who opted to transfer halfway through the Irish season. They praised Notre Dame’s offensive line, which certainly did not have the positive impact anticipated. And they expected junior running back Jafar Armstrong to be a key part of the season, a projection done in by an injury severe enough to inhibit an entire fall.