Which Notre Dame upperclassman do you most want to step up in 2022?

The Jonas Gray effect at work

During the seasonal time of traditional offseason questions, a certain twist was posed to the members of the Irish Illustrated podcast that I enjoyed. Which upperclassman do you WANT to have a big year in 2022? Usually the question is posed in a way that tries to make a person some type of fortune teller.

It’s true that we’ve seen a lot of seasons in which an upperclassman has a huge year out of the blue. One of the most talked about cases is the one with Jonas Gray — who almost always gets brought up in these cases. One of these seasons that certainly happened but will likely continue to be overlooked was Javon McKinley’s 2020 campaign.

What those two season’s had in common was that most people didn’t see them coming. So again… let’s get to the question. Which upperclassman do you most want to step up in 2022?

Personally, my choice is Braden Lenzy. All of that speed and big play potential has been there since his arrival at Notre Dame from Oregon, but the overall results have been lackluster. To finally see a breakout performance from Lenzy over the course of the season would help the Irish tremendously against a tough schedule that is going to need some big plays in some big games.

Anyways — like I said — I enjoyed the question as a fun thought exercise. Who’s your choice?