This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football: #71 Alex Bars

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about all of them. One Foot Down’s player profile series will take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2018 season.

#71 Alex Bars

Alex Bars is entering his 5th year on the Notre Dame football team. This will be his 3rd full season as a starter. Bars has been a very consistent presence along the line. With first round NFL draft picks surrounding him every year, it has been easy to forget the name Alex Bars when thinking of the offensive lineman. I think this will changed this year as Mike McGlinchey and Quentin Nelson have moved on to professional football.

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Three Things To Know About Alex Bars:

1. He has started 25 games in a Notre Dame uniform and played in a total of 31 games. With a healthy 2018, he will make 38 career starts along the offensive line.
2. Alex Bars comes from a football family. His father played as a linebacker for Notre Dame back in the 1980’s. He also has two brothers that played Big 10 football. Brad Bars played as a defensive end for Penn State from 2010-2014 and Blake Bars played offensive line at Michigan from 2012-2015.
3. Bars was a prized recruit coming out of Nashville, Tennessee back in 2013. He was a top 100 national recruit according to ESPN, CBS Sports and Rivals.

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Country, Condiment, or Canon

Identifying the player as either a country, condiment, or member of the Star Wars Canon.

San Marino.

Easy choice here. Alex Bars will be one of the oldest players on the 2018 football team. He is a 5th year senior, soon to be aged 23. What is one of the oldest countries in the world you may ask? The answer is San Marino.

2018 Outlook

Alex Bars has been overshadowed in his first 4 years at Notre Dame. He has been a good but not great offensive lineman for them. The expectation of some Notre Dame fans is that every offensive lineman the Irish put out there has to be a first round NFL draft pick. The reality is that sometimes players take longer to develop and understand the game of football at a complex level. Alex Bars was just named a captain for this season. He has two full years of playing experience. We should see the best version of Alex Bars in 2018.