Notre Dame suffers catastrophic injury blow that doesn't bode well for Riley Leonard

Not going to lie, this does change the way I feel about Notre Dame a little bit heading into the season. One of the reasons I was so bullish on the Irish was their stout offensive line. He may be on the younger side of things, but Charles Jagusah could be special.

Unfortunately, Jagusah tore his right pectoralis muscle over the weekend. He plans to have surgery and will miss the entire 2024 season.

Even though I still feel the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to be a College Football Playoff team this year, not having their best offensive lineman for the entirety of it is not the least bit good. We may have a promising quarterback draft prospect coming in in Riley Leonard, but he is going to have to make it work in Mike Denbrock's system in a hurry. Together, they can do it, but this is a bit of a road bump.

Notre Dame has the schedule to where if it goes something like 10-2 most seasons, the Irish will be making the College Football Playoff in the expanded format. What I was not accounting for was any so-called roadblocks that will prevent Freeman, Riley, Denbrock and the rest of this team getting to where it needs to go. Football is all about overcoming adversity, but this is a tough first blow for sure.

Notre Dame also lost a defensive back and special teams player in Marty Auer for the season as well.

Let's discuss if Notre Dame has the upward firepower to overcome losing Jagusah for the season.

Notre Dame loses star offensive tackle Charles Jagusah for the season

I think from a cohesive offensive line standpoint, Notre Dame should be fine. After all, it is position group that is all about getting the five best guys in their to protect the quarterback and keep the running game going. Offensive line play has not dipped off in the years since Brian Kelly left to take over at LSU. However, I do see Jagusah's absence being a reason Notre Dame will not hit its ceiling.

I have Notre Dame in a group of about four of five teams that I think are playoff locks, but probably are not going to win the national championship. Penn State, Notre Dame and Ole Miss headline those teams for me, as well as a few others. Now that Jagusah is out for the season, I do not see Notre Dame being able to cultivate and develop such an offensive specimen as he was entering this year.

The only real problem I have with this is 2024 was probably going to be the only year that Leonard and Jagusah got to join forces in Notre Dame. Leonard feels like a one-year rental before he turns pro. Jagusah may still have first-round pedigree, but how he plays in a bounce-back year for him in 2025 will better help tell us the tale of his draft story. It is a shame he will not be playing this season.

Notre Dame can achieve all it can for this year, but it will have to do so without one of its best player.