On January 5th this year Notre Dame received by far the best news of the off-season when Sam Hartman decided to graduate transfer from Wake Forest. Things have been particularly chaotic in other areas for the Irish since then but the program has to smile knowing they’ve upgraded at quarterback for 2023. Even though this preview is largely about Hartman’s impact there are other things to discuss with this position, as well.
Previous 2023 depth chart articles:
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Wide Receiver
Linebacker
Projected 2023 Quarterbacks
| Quarterback |
|---|
| Hartman, 6th Sr. * |
| Buchner, r-So. * |
| Angeli r-Fr. |
| Minchey, Fr. |
*Returning starters
Experience: A+
Depth: B+
Talent: B
Is Sam Settled?
Welcome to Notre Dame, Sam Hartman! After playing his entire career at Wake Forest under Warren Ruggiero, we saw Hartman commit to Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator, met with Collin Klein and Andy Ludwig on campus once Rees left for Alabama, and now will work under Gerad Parker and new quarterback coach Gino Guidugli.
That’s an awful lot of volatility and change in such a short time. As a graduate transfer, Hartman would be free to leave once the portal window opens up on May 1st and last 15 days. He would be able to complete spring practice with the Irish and then pick another school. That does feel incredibly unlikely but it’s still a possibility in this strange new era of college football.
The System
As I wrote about in my “Almost OC” article chronicling Andy Ludwig and his experience, it would’ve been an interesting marriage between him and Hartman for one season. The Utah man really relied on a very conservative passing game and would’ve been forced to make some drastic changes in certain areas to accommodate Hartman’s skills.
At the same time, Freeman has been pretty clear throughout 2022 and definitely this off-season about his desire for a scheme more in line with the conservative power running concepts.
He brought up words such as “pro-style”, “pro-style concepts”, “multiple”, and “multiple running schemes” during the introductory press conference for Parker while the new OC shied away from bringing up much talk on scheme.
I’d imagine things will be kept to a pretty simple and straightforward system in the spring, and Notre Dame can even keep things pretty close to the vest early into the 2023 season, too. The larger questions will be how Hartman is gelling with his receivers, what types of throws the offense is comfortably making with its skill talent, and how often Hartman will be included in the run game.
Extra Packages
True freshman Kenny Minchey is already on campus and will be available for spring practice. With the amount of practice coverage we’ve seen recently we’ll be lucky if any media are able to take a picture of him holding a football until next year.
Steve Angeli should be involved a little bit but also is likely to take more of a backseat this spring compared to last year when Buchner’s shoulder injury thrust the freshman into a larger role on varsity.
Managing reps between Buchner and Hartman will be something interesting to watch. Hartman has so much experience that you could give him plenty of rest during the off-season but at the same time you want to get him comfortable and acclimated with the team.
Will we hear straight away that Buchner will be involved in games to some degree? Will there be packages for him? With comfortable 2nd half leads will the offense be more likely to hand the keys over to Buchner to continue his development?
I’m still really curious as to what made Hartman commit to ND. The offense just doesn’t seem to have the personnel to accommodate an aggressive passing scheme. I’m happy we got him, and I think he’s going to be great for the Irish, but I don’t see much upside for him personally when it comes to elevating his draft status.
I’m intrigued by what happens with Buchner. If they use him like Rees did when Coan was the starter in limited packages, he has an extremely high upside. But if you pigeon-hole him into that role, does he transfer in the offseason? I don’t think that needs to be a major consideration in how you use him this year, but I am curious as to what happens with him.
My ideal world involves a gameplan where Hartman takes 85% of the snaps each game and Buchner takes 15%. That’s almost certainly not going to happen, since most coaches don’t like taking an elite starting QB like Hartman off the field, but I really think you could give some D Coordinators major headaches with a great Buchner package. Especially since we don’t exactly have elite playmakers at WR.
If Buchner stays or goes, it’ll be because mainly of his role/opportunities to play in 2024, not how much he did (or didn’t) play as a backup in 2023.
I don’t like your ideal, it over-values Buchner and under-values Hartman. Hartman could/should legit be one of the top 5 or 10 QB’s in college football next season. You don’t take that guy off the field. (Aside from maybe a red zone play here or there). Hartman is and should get 100% of the snaps, until there is blowout time — which is also never enough as it appears that it should be.
I do agree it’s weird Hartman chose ND. What did they sell him, be the next Ian Book? Have a chance to win a lot on a big stage, make a run for the playoffs and then be a mid round pick instead of a late round pick? I guess that is the advantage ND can offer that Wake, UF and other lesser SEC schools couldn’t, about a realistic shot and recent history of makingt the playoffs. Either that or there was a secret bag and NIL lined up too lol
I don’t really understand the idea that the red zone is the place to take out your starting QB. That seems like the most important time for Hartman to be the one pulling the trigger. If we need to put Buchner in sporadically let him run a bootleg on first and ten from our 40 and give him the option to throw a deep post, wheel, or run it himself. That’s a stressful additional package to prepare for and utilizes Buchner’s athleticism.
If Hartman was told that he was a late round pick right now and needed to raise his draft stock what he would want is to go to a place:
That seems like a pretty easy pitch for Notre Dame to make.
ND’s best past catcher from 2022 is gone. For 2023, their top 3 WRs are guys with 340 yards, 361 yards, and 674 yards last season. Their #1 TE had 39 receiving yards. That’s not exactly a group of pass catchers that are likely to make Hartman look like a star.
The question, of course, is what’s the alternative. That said – kind of seems like Hartman could also walk into the QB rooms at Alabama and Ohio State and be the unquestioned starter too?
I think there was a bag involved, and the II podcast has intimated that he’ll be taken care of financially. In which case, great! Now just start doing that for 5-star high school recruits!
Ha however we got him here, it’s undeniably fantastic news. I had just assumed he had clicked in some crazy way with Tommy Rees, and when he left, my first thought was immediately Hartman was gone. It still kind of blows my mind that he’s implied he’s definitely staying. Very very happy about that.
Right, it’s a hard sell on personnel and stats to try and convince a quarterback that Notre Dame can do something for him, compared to almost any alternative. That’s why I think it’s more team-based performance. “Hey, we’re the best place where you can start and lead a team to the playoffs and everyone in the NFL loves a winner!” And pro style offense, as gambit said.
To be fair, all those numbers have a huge asterisk based on qb play. There were many examples of guys getting open but not getting a catchable pass thrown their way as well as likely not even being given routes that were known to be impossible throws for Pyne to make.
Any film nerds want to discuss how many TDs Braden Lenzy should have had last year?
True, but that’s less about “taking starting QB out” and more about “utilizing run-first QB to make defense have to account for more in the red zone.” In theory I get and like what you’re saying to give random chances to Buchner all over the place, mixing him in like a curveball, but that’s too undefined to be used in the real world, compared to, say, having a package for him on a very set situation (2nd/3rd down in the RZ).
Yeah, I think most people would disagree with my gameplan. And if we had better pass-catching options, I think I would probably be on board with 100% Hartman. But I am concerned we could get bogged down here or there, and stressing a defense with a special package could help.
In that special role in 2021, Buchner was really excellent. Excluding the VT game (where he was playing as a standard QB getting the majority of the snaps and not as a special package), he passed/ran 53 times for 454 yards, over 8.5 yards per attempt.
Hartman was my #1 target for transfers at any position this offseason, so I certainly won’t be upset if he gets 100% of the snaps. But man, watching Buchner run the zone read is just so much fun. I’ll definitely miss that.
If Hartman (ND) struggles in the red zone having Buchner’s obvious abilities in the RZ would be a good 2nd option. Those struggles will occur, most likely, if the other positions don’t step up, not the QB.
I don’t quite understand Hartman to ND either, although I’m certainly not complaining. ND’s track record with NFL QBs recently is, well, it doesn’t exist.
My best guess:
1. ND’s outstanding OL play will protect him, i.e., keep him healthy for the draft.
2. ND does run something a bit closer to an NFL offense than Wake’s slow mesh.
3. ND pounds the crap out of ACC opponents at an almost 100% rate; Wake does not. Hartman and his stats will look better overall at ND.
4. Hartman may have a lot of freedom and control in ND’s offense, given our inexperienced OCs. Maybe he wants to show that he can run an offense himself with minimal hand-holding by his coaches.
and despite losing Mayer this is going to be easily far and away the most talented WR group he will ever have thrown to