Our categories again are Team MVP, Mr. Reliable, Breakout Player, Top Newcomer and Wildcard athlete. In taking a look back at our preseason list, there are definitely some changes and surprises, but overall I think this is a list most Notre Dame football fans would agree upon and understand. The main difference I noticed while compiling this list is the variety of players that could have been chosen for each topic — and that is exactly what happened. There was zero consensus on any of the categories, a few players definitely stood out.
Team MVP
Preseason Pick: Ian Book
While Book has not been bad this season, he hasn’t taken the necessary steps that most expected when we chose him for team MVP — shout out to Corbin Whitney for being the only staff writer to pick someone different (Chase Claypool).