Newsstand: Greg McElroy analyzes Notre Dame’s ceiling, floor for 2024 season

Former Alabama quarterback and current ESPN pundit Greg McElroy spoke about Notre Dame during a recent episode of his “Always College Football” podcast among several other topics.

He discussed both the floor and the ceiling of the Fighting Irish for the 2024 season just after giving his takes on the Ohio State Buckeyes.

“Notre Dame’s floor is as high as Ohio State,” McElroy said. “I think their floor is. I just don’t think their ceiling is as high as Ohio State.”

McElroy dived deeper into both sides of the ball for Marcus Freeman’s squad, and his analysis lines up with what a lot of Notre Dame fans believe as well.

“If you look at what they have from a personnel standpoint defensively, they have one of the best pound-for-pound defenses in the country at all three levels,” McElroy said. “I feel very good about what they have at that position.”

“Until proven otherwise, there are still reasons to be doubtful about whether or not their receiver corps is going to be really, really good this year – until proven otherwise. Now, we’ve taken that bait before where we’ve said their receivers are going to be head and shoulders better than they were a year ago …There were moments of really good play [last year[ but there were also moments of inconsistency as well.

“I think the tight ends have a chance to be excellent. Love the tandem that you have at running back – that’s going to be a great group. The offensive line, with the exception of the tackle spot, from guard to guard, should be in really good shape.”

McElroy feels that it’s likely Notre Dame reaches at least 10 wins this season, but there’s one game that might define the season for the Irish.

“It really comes down to whether or not they beat the Aggies in Week One,” he said. “If they beat the Aggies? Ten at the bare minimum. If they don’t beat the Aggies? It could fall to nine. That’s a huge one hinging on the August 31st game at Texas A&M there in College Station.”

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Quote of the day

“From the beginning of the recruiting process when they offered me, I’ve heard from them consistently. It’s been every day, whether it’s from Coach [Marcus] Freeman, Coach [Mike] Mickens, Coach [Al] Golden or Chad Bowden.

“They’ve showed how much of a priority I am to them, even when they had other safety commits, and even though they got commitments from [defensive backs] Mark Zackery and Dallas Golden, they still wanted me. They view me as a missing piece to their program.”

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