Quarterback, Tight End Could Be Keys To A Championship Offense In 2023

Earlier in the week we discussed where Notre Dame ranks among the nation’s top programs, and our analysis is that the Fighting Irish rank as the No. 5 program in the country. That’s certainly a great position to be in, especially considering where Notre Dame has been in the past, but the standard at Notre Dame is to be a championship, not an almost program.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff must now focus on what must happen to continue to climb the national ladder. We followed up our discussion about where Notre Dame ranks with a breakdown of where the Irish are championship ready, what units can play a key role in a title, and where the Irish are currently falling short.

Let’s look at a position-by-position look at where Notre Dame stands, with each position group being categorized as a “Championship Driver”, a “Key Component” to a title team and a “Not There Yet” category.

We already broke down the positions we feel are already championship drivers, and now we'll focus on the next category. That would be positions where they might not be championship drivers, but they are very, very important parts to a team capable of winning a title. The reality is most championship teams over the last decade had more positions in this category than the first one. The stronger you are in the middle and bottom the better your team will be.

That's why you see teams with elite talent at certain positions struggle to compete with the best teams, because other teams can match their elite talent, but they best them down the rest of the roster.

Let's take a look at those two positions for Notre Dame.

QUARTERBACK

Full disclosure, I fully anticipate this position group being in the elite category once we get to games. The reason I have them here is because with this particular position, Notre Dame's track record - or lack thereof - and the fact we need to see just how well Sam Hartman adapts to the Fighting Irish offense and its personnel.

I wasn't really in love with the notion of adding Hartman for a number of reasons, but mainly because I cannot stand the offense he played in. The more I broke down his film, however, the more I realized he could be outstanding in this offense, and how great of a fit he was with the current personnel.

Now we need to see if Hartman can get up to speed in a hurry. He was incredibly productive the last two seasons at Wake Forest, and he led the Demon Deacons to the ACC title game in 2021 while throwing for 4,228 yards and accounting for 50 touchdowns. He followed that up with 3,701 yards and 38 passing touchdowns in 2022.

Hartman was a fourth and fifth-year senior on those teams, and he'd been in that offense his entire college career. I know he can put up monster numbers in that offense. In order to call him, or the quarterback depth chart elite, I just need to see how well he adapts to the offense. So far so good this spring, but I'm just trying to be cautious.

If Hartman does play to his full potential and quickly mesh with the personnel at Notre Dame he could certainly be a driving force in the offense, even if he's not truly an elite talent. A quarterback can be an elite producer and leader without having elite physical tools, and that's why Notre Dame brought Hartman in.

Excitement about the quarterback position isn't just about Hartman. The depth at the position is as good as it's been since 2014, and I'd still be excited about the offense in 2023 if Tyler Buchner was going to be the starter. Buchner had some rough moments in his first two starts, and he needs to protect the ball better, but we saw in the win over South Carolina that he can be a dynamic playmaker with his arm and legs. It's not easy to throw a pair of pick sixes and still lead your team to 45 points, 558 yards of offense and a 45-38 win over a SEC opponent, but that's exactly what Buchner did.

The one-two punch of Hartman and Buchner greatly increases the odds that Notre Dame gets big time production and play from the position in 2023, even if one of the two players goes down with an injury. That kind of depth, which also includes Kenny Minchey and Steve Angeli, is where you need to be at quarterback.

TIGHT END

I'll be honest, my argument here is a bit contradictory. The third installment of this series will talk about the positions that aren't there yet, or where there are still too many questions to know where to put them. Wide receiver will be in that category, and a key reason is the lack of proven production.

The truth is the tight end position has less proven production than the wide receiver group does, so why are they here? Well, to be honest, it's about tradition and history. Tight end gets the benefit of the doubt for me until proven otherwise.

Does anyone doubt that Georgia will be able to replace Jalen Carter? Of course not, because they have a track record of doing so. Does anyone doubt that Ohio State will be able to replace and reload at wide receiver every year? Of course not, because they've earned that reputation.

That is where Notre Dame is at tight end, and we got a glimpse of it in the bowl game. Right now there are injury questions behind Mitchell Evans and Holden Staes, but that duo showed what it can do in the bowl game. Both played solid ball and Evans was especially good. His stats won't blow you away (3 catches, 39 yards), but he had money grabs and was open for more than just three catches.

Evans and Staes return in 2023 and they'll both be a year bigger, stronger and they'll have another much-needed year of development. If we were simply talking about this duo I'd stand by having them in this category, but reinforcements are coming. Eli Raridon should return at some point this season after tearing his ACL and Kevin Bauman should return at some point as well.

Notre Dame will also welcome freshman Cooper Flanagan this summer, and Davis Sherwood's contributions go overlooked far too often, especially by me when talking about this position.

No, they don't have a Michael Mayer on the current roster, but neither does any other team in college football not named Georgia. The fact is Notre Dame returns a talented group of pass catchers at tight end, an improving group of blockers and I fully expect this to once again be a team strength in 2023.

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