Notre Dame is hoping that the secondary will be a major strength of the 2023 team, and maybe one of its biggest strengths overall on the whole team. In spots, things are certainly looking terrific but there are still a number of important of questions and personnel decisions that need to be made before hopping on the plane to Dublin.
Previous 2023 depth chart articles:
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Wide Receiver
Linebacker
Quarterback
Running Back
Projected 2023 Secondary
| Corner | Nickel | Safety | Safety | Corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hart, 5th Sr. * | Harper, 6th Sr. | Watts, r-Jr. | Brown, 5th Sr. * | Morrison, So. * |
| Lewis, Sr. | Bell, Fr. | Henderson, r-So. | Walters, R-So. | Mickey, So. |
| Riley, r-So. | Shuler, Fr. | Minich, Fr. | Tucker, r-So. | |
| Gray, Fr. | Barnes, r-So. |
*Returning starters
Experience: A
Depth: B+
Talent: B
Strength of the Defense
This is as good as the cornerback depth chart has looked in a very long time. Arguably, it’s the best I’ve seen it since 2007 when I started writing about Notre Dame football. Phil Steele and others better have this group in their top 5 positional units in the pre-season magazines.
That strength is bolstered by the addition Oklahoma State transfer Thomas Harper who has a lot of experience in the slot and lessens the sting of the Tariq Bracy era being over for the Irish.
Figuring Out Safety
Safety is not in the same type of situation as corner, though. The loss of Peyton Bowen in this most recent recruiting class removes a possible impact freshman or solid backup with incredible athleticism, to say nothing of the long-term prospects of this position. Notre Dame then received more bad news this Sunday night when hyper-athletic freshman Brandyn Hillman asked for and was granted his release from the program. There’s talk he may be headed to Michigan which would be truly awful news.
Early enrolled freshman Adon Shuler also had shoulder surgery to repair an AC joint sprain back in early February and will be non-contact for spring practice, too.
The Irish have 3 solid options in Brown, Watts, and Henderson with experience so things aren’t terrible by any means. Still, this back end doesn’t look to be remotely close to the corners in terms of ability unless there’s a big jump from someone.
Getting Away with 3-3-5
Last year Notre Dame played a ton of nickel defense but that was typically with a 4-man front. We saw a lot of Tariq Bracy in the slot which limited the reps of linebacker Jack Kiser. Presumably this season, we will see more of Kiser on the field but there are worries about overall lack of size using a 3-3-5.
For example, Thomas Harper is on campus and enrolled for the spring semester with Notre Dame listing his size at 5-11 and 180 pounds. That is just under an inch taller and 5 pounds lighter than Bracy.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Irish actually move towards the 3-3-5 as rumored or if things overall are going to be a lot more multiple. It’s possible someone like Harper will play a lot more traditional safety role while the longer-bodied Ramon Henderson is deployed closer to the line of scrimmage with 5 defensive backs on the field. Notre Dame could even take advantage of Cam Hart’s safety-like size and move him around in a really versatile role covering large parts of the field.
The Hillman news is sad, I was never really sure of how well of a fit he would be off the field or how well he would do or fit in. Sucks to lose him since he’s a promising player.
I was seeing on the paid sites how academics/admission could have been part of the issue but wasn’t the entire reason either, maybe we’ll never know for sure the full details, but I guess only the end result matters now.
And it’s a huge hit to the future depth chart, I know things often look bleak and then they move over others from other positions but the post-2023 safety group looks terrible at this point (and I know many who aren’t fans of Brown would say it’s not necessarily that great right now either).
I’ve seen it suggested that Clarence Lewis get moved to safety if some of the younger corners can step up. I can see him thriving there, the question would be if it improved the overall defense.
True, and I suppose he does have eligibility in 2024 as well, so that could be potentially be a decent patch if it all works out. I guess if Mickens trusts one of Bell or Mickey to be good enough to hold up behind Morrison-Hart, it makes a lot of sense.
And, luckily, CB recruiting is bringing in better athletes and there’s not much reason to not give those younger guys a shot at playing time if they earn it and seeing how it goes.
And the CB -> S move works out for a lot of people. So keep bringing in blue chip CBs and there should at least be enough talent for S, even if it isn’t instant impact talent.
I suspect the idea we would move to a traditional 3-3-5 excitement is mostly internet make-believe. We’ll almost certainly play nickel as our base again next year. Harper has the reputation of being a strong downhill NB, like Bracy was. Our Vypers are likely smaller stand-up DEs, but our experiments with moving the Vypers to Mike for certain alignments didn’t work at the beginning of last year and I don’t think we’ll se it more than as the occasional wrinkle this year.
On Lewis, he’s such a good tackling defensive back that getting him on the field 30 snaps a game between nickel and safety would probably be accreditive to the team. He’s always had a tough time turning and running with receivers, but he’s a sure tackler and a smart player.