College Football Rankings 2018: Alabama, Clemson top way-too-early Top 25

In college football, as in life, things are never as good or bad as they seem. Notre Dame was much better than its 4-8 record in 2016, and it showed as Brian Kelly guided the Fighting Irish into the College Football Playoff conversation in the first half of 2017, before finishing 10-3.

But what about 2018? The good: Notre Dame has the momentum of a 10-win season buoyed by a defensive turnaround and one of the most talented offenses in recent memory. The bad: defensive coordinator Mike Elko lasted just one season in South Bend before moving on to Texas A&M and the offense must be almost completely rebuilt. Also, Kelly started rotating quarterbacks again, for some reason.

Strengths:

Brandon Wimbush didn’t put up great passing numbers as a junior, having completed an ugly 49.5 percent of his passes last season, but the 6-foot-1, 226-pound signal caller can make big plays with both his arm and his feet. Wimbush threw for 1,870 yards with a 16-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio and added 803 rushing yards and led the team with 14 rushing touchdowns.

Weaknesses:

Notre Dame was hit hard by graduation and early NFL Draft entries. Running back Josh Adams (a midseason Heisman Trophy candidate) decided to leave after his junior season, as did top receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and guard Quinton Nelson. The loss of Nelson is particularly big because the Irish must now replace four starters from what was considered by many to be the best offensive line in the nation last season.

To make matters worse, multiple players expected to step up and take on a larger role in the offense in 2018, including running backs Deon McIntosh and C.J. Holmes and receiver Kevin Stepherson were dismissed from the team Tuesday for disciplinary reasons.