Notre Dame Needs More Stars To Emerge On Offense In 2023

You don't win national championships simply because you have stars and standouts on your team, but you also can't win championships without them. Notre Dame returns one star to its 2023 offense in All-American left tackle Joe Alt, but the Irish need more stars to emerge if it's going to put a championship offense on the field this season.

There are plenty of candidates, and we'll find out over the next five months if other stars breakout along with Alt. Here is a look at my top candidates.

Audric Estime, Running Back - After touching the ball just seven times as a freshman, Estime broke out and racked up 1,084 yards of offense and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore. His sophomore campaign got off to a rough start, with Estime rushed for just 54 yards on 19 carries in the first two games, and he had a little bit of a fumbling issue in the middle of the season. But over the final 11 games, Estime averaged 6.3 yards per carry and become a force is the Irish offense.

Estime is no longer in a 1A/1B situation with Logan Diggs (822 yards in 2022), and Chris Tyree (444 yards) has moved to wide receiver. That means Estime heads into the 2023 season as the primary back in the Irish offense. If he can stay healthy and show he's capable of shouldering that kind of a workload, Estime should put up big numbers. The line has a chance to be better, but more importantly he'll likely get a lot more help from the pass game this season.

If Estime can protect the football and stay healthy I have no doubt he 's doing to emerge as one of the nation's top backs. Notre Dame fans are already very high on the New Jersey native, but he's going to be even better as a junior. Obviously good health is key, but if Estime is able to lace up the cleats each week I'm more confident in him becoming a star caliber player than I am any other player on the team, especially on offense.

Sam Hartman, Quarterback - Landing Hartman has given the offense a major jolt of energy. Hartman is one of college football's most prolific passers, ranking in the Top 20 all-time in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Despite leading Wake Forest to the ACC title game in 2021, Hartman did most of that damage in relative obscurity, at least from a national standpoint. Despite beating Florida State on the road and out producing Jordan Travis from a yards and touchdown standpoint, Hartman was relegated to third team on the All-ACC list.

Obscurity won't be an issue for Hartman anymore, as he is now playing on one of the biggest stages in college football. Notre Dame is banking on Hartman giving the offense a much-needed pass game. boost. Whether or not he can match his numbers at Wake Forest remains to be seen, but Hartman won't need to carry the Irish offense the way he did the Deacons. But Notre Dame still needs him to play at a very high level.

That means Hartman still playing with the gunslinger style that made him so effective at Wake Forest, but also cleaning up the turnover worthy plays a bit. If Hartman can play a bit more clean football while still being aggressive and willing to attack down the field he'll give the offense the boost it wants and needs, and he'll become the star player at quarterback the Irish haven't had in a very long time.

Tobias Merriweather, Wide Receiver - I am back and forth on which wide receiver to pick here, as both Jayden Thomas and even Chris Tyree could fit into this discussion. Thomas was Notre Dame's best receiver during the second half of last season and he had a strong Blue-Gold Game performance. Tyree won't be the volume player, but I could see him using his home run speed to be a game changer on offense.

I'm going with Merriweather for a few reasons. I think he's the player most capable of having a major production jump this season. I won't be surprised if Thomas ends the season with more catches than anyone on the offense, and I expect him to be a significant third-down weapon as well. I'm more confident in Thomas being a steady player at wide receiver than I am anyone else at the position. Merriweather, however, has the most star power, and this is a discussion about players emerging as stars.

Merriweather has a long way to go based on what we saw from him as a freshman, but the tools are there. He has length, he runs well, he's a quality route runner, his ball skills are impressive and he has the skill to be the next sophomore breakout at wide receiver for Notre Dame. I won't be at all surprised if Merriweather follows in the footsteps of past receivers like Golden Tate, Will Fuller and Equanimeous St. Brown as sophomore breakouts.

Blake Fisher, Right Tackle - Fisher is one of the more naturally gifted players on the roster, but so far in his career he's been more about flash and potential than he has been about steady dominance. That's not surprising considering how much of his freshman season that he missed. Now a junior, my expectation is that Fisher will become a more dominant player.

If Fisher can become that player it will mean the Irish run game will be even better, and he'll combine with Alt to give Notre Dame the nation's best tackle tandem. If that happens it will fuel Estime, Hartman and the rest of the skill talent into breakout seasons.

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