Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame’s starting center for the past three seasons, will be back in the middle of the Irish offensive front in 2022.
The 6-foot-4½, 307-pounder out of Laguna Hills, Calif. was one of five Notre Dame players evaluated for consideration for the NFL draft.
Projected as one of the top 100 professional prospects were he to make himself available for the draft, Patterson chose to return to Notre Dame for another year of seasoning, this time with former Irish offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, who replaces Jeff Quinn on the Irish staff.
Patterson has started 34 games for the Irish at center which is the most among returning offensive linemen.
Projected as Notre Dame’s left offensive tackle of the future when he arrived in 2018 and played in three games, Patterson was instead moved to center, where he started all 13 games as a red-shirt freshman in 2019.
Patterson started the first eight games of the 2020 undefeated regular season before suffering a season-ending foot (Lisfranc) injury at Boston College in the middle of November. He was sidelined through spring drills but progressed ahead of schedule throughout his rehab.
He returned to the starting lineup for the 2021 season-opener against Florida State and was a mainstay for the unit throughout.
Notre Dame’s offensive line struggled through the first half of the season with four different starting left tackles and inconsistent guard and right tackle play. But the line eventually came together to help lead the Irish to seven straight victories to conclude the regular season and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State.
With the return of Josh Lugg in 2022 – he’ll move to guard after holding down the right tackle spot in all 13 games last season – Notre Dame will boast its starting offensive line from 2021, including Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, both of whom started the Fiesta Bowl as true freshmen.
Andrew Kristofic, a red-shirt sophomore in ’21 with seven starts at left guard, also returns. Lugg and highly-touted Rocco Spindler – a red-shirt freshman in ’22 — are expected to contend for a starting guard position.
Fisher started the opener against Florida State at left tackle and suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for the final 11 regular-season games. He returned to the lineup against Oklahoma State when Lugg – a 20-game starter for the Irish — suffered a December knee injury.
Alt was inserted into the starting lineup in Game Five at Virginia Tech and remained in the No. 1 spot at left tackle for the final eight games. In Alt and Fisher, the Irish have what could be the top young one-two punch at tackle in the nation.
