Reviewing the Redshirts is an off-season project meant to resurrect discussion about the 2022 Notre Dame freshmen who retained a year of eligibility and discuss their possible impact in 2023 and beyond. The Fighting Irish were able to redshirt 17 players this past season while 1 player medically retired (Joey Tanona) and another player has transferred already to Syracuse (Jayden Bellamy).

Today we’ll take a look at a 5-star recruit who will lead the linebacker corps someday.

LB Jaylen Sneed

Hometown: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Height: 6-1 1/8
Weight: 215

247Sports Composite Ranking: 5-star, No. 3 LB, No. 2 SC, No. 34 National, 0.9835 score

18 Stripes Grade: 96.3

Murtaugh’s Blurb from the Class Grade:

A terrific mix of speed and strength. Excellent footwork and burst. Not quite as twitchy as Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah but in the same mold as a lean and explosive outside linebacker you’ll never want to take off the field. Big developed shoulders and muscular legs sit between a skinnier midsection that could add some weight, but not too much. If he’s at Rover the position has so many responsibilities but it wouldn’t be shocking if he’s a part-time starter as a true freshman. Sneed has a ridiculously high ceiling.

Notre Dame is hoping Sneed lives up to the hype because he’s one of the most highly rated recruits in recent memory for the Irish. He’s the 15th highest rated Notre Dame commit since 2000 and quite a bit more highly rated than the next best recruit still on the roster in Blake Fisher (43rd) from the 2021 class.

Need at Position: Medium

Sneed enrolled early last year and his high expectations were thwarted by coming in under 200 pounds for his first roster update. However, he embarked on an impressive off-season of weight gain plan and bulked up to a much more solid 215 pounds for Notre Dame’s outside linebacker Rover position.

Expected Spot on the 2023 Depth Chart: 2nd String

Is it fair to expect Sneed to have a JOK-like career? The ceiling appears to be that high for sure, but let’s remember that Owusu-Koramoah struggled with injury and getting down the finer points of the playbook at the challenging Rover position before making an impact in his third year on campus.

Sneed will be “stuck” behind Kiser for 2023 and that’s not the end of the world. It’ll be another season of learning under a very good and extremely smart linebacker.

In that light, I can see how it’ll be a little frustrating for a 5-star recruit not to make a big impact until 2024. But who knows, maybe Sneed puts on even more weight and is used at the Will linebacker spot more as a redshirt freshman? Maybe he keeps his 215-pound frame and develops into this athletic hybrid linebacker who stays on the field as a jumbo nickel? It’s exciting to think about the ways in which Sneed could be used in a modern defense and not necessarily just keeping him in the Rover box the rest of his career.