Every time there is a position group that isn’t playing overly well, or there is generally something to complain about, fans tend to fixate on one player to pass along the blame. In reality, they are typically at best just a part of the problem, but rarely ever fully the whole problem. That has become freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp when discussing the inconsistencies of the Notre Dame offensive line this season.
Following the team’s 31-13 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets this weekend, there was a lot of negativity surrounding the unit’s performance, and there should have been. As a whole, the offensive line did not play well. Once again, Knapp took a brunt of that criticism but after watching the All 22, it was not close to warranted.
In fact, there is a very strong argument that Knapp was the best offensive lineman for the Irish on Saturday, both in terms of being assignment sound and winning reps. It was the interior offensive line that really had the much larger struggles, putting together just some awful reps. Most fans didn’t feel like mentioning their names, just Knapp’s…