Ranking Notre Dame's most dangerous opposing offensive players

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Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey probably should've won the Heisman Trophy last year -- his record-setting 3,864 all-purpose yards were over 1,200 more than the second-highest total at the FBS level, for one -- with that honor instead going to Alabama's Derrick Henry. The Cardinal dynamo is back for his junior season this fall, and will square off against Notre Dame Oct. 15 in South Bend. 

The return of McCaffrey got myself and J.B. Long thinking on the Still Independent Podcast: Who are the best offensive players Notre Dame will face this year? McCaffrey, obviously, topped both our lists even though he actually wasn't all that statistically dominant against Notre Dame last November. In Stanford's walk-off win, McCaffrey rushed for only 94 yards, his third-lowest total of the season. 

But McCaffrey still impacted the game by forcing Notre Dame to scheme against him and sell out to stop the run. The result, unfortunately for Brian VanGorder & Co., was Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan throwing for 269 yards and as many touchdowns as incompletions (four). 

The other four guys on our respective lists are players who VanGorder will again have to scheme against this fall. These are the "game-wreckers," to borrow a Brian Kelly term, who could be the difference between Notre Dame winning or losing on a given Saturday. Here's my list:

1. Christian McCaffrey (Junior RB, Stanford)
2. Brad Kaaya (Junior QB, Miami)
3. JuJu Smith-Schuster (Junior WR, USC)
4. Adoree Jackson (Junior WR/DB/Returner, USC)
5. Isaiah Ford (Junior WR, Virginia Tech)

Check out our podcast for J.B.'s picks and our explanations of our rankings.

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