Notre Dame picked up big news for 2023 as it broke today that Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman is expected to grad transfer to Notre Dame for his final season of eligibility (per IrishSportsDaily, Irish Illustrated/247, and Blue & Gold Illustrated/On3, among others). Hartman was a 2018 3-star (0.8626) recruit for Wake Forest and was the 32nd rated pro-style quarterback in his class behind the likes of Trevor Lawrence, JT Daniels, Tanner McKee, Matt Corral, Cam Rising, Devin Leary, Michael Penix Jr, and Will Levis. In their current transfer portal rankings, 247 has Hartman re-rated at 0.9400 and ranked fifth overall in the portal (tied with Devin Leary as the top QBs).
Onward. #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/cUfPyqQlQ6
— Sam Hartman (@sam_hartman10) January 5, 2023
Is he saying he’s committed to Notre Dame? Is he a fan of animated characters voiced by Chris Pratt and Tom Holland? Hard to say.
He’s played a ton of football in his college career. Hartman won the starting job out of camp as a true freshman and threw for nearly 2,000 yards before breaking his leg and missing the final 4 games of the season. This was the only season Hartman faced Notre Dame when the Irish completely harassed the Wake offense in Ian Book’s first career start (Hartman left the game mid-3rd quarter after taking several big hits).
Hartman would lose out to Jamie Newman for the job in 2019 (playing in only 4 games to preserve a redshirt, which combined with the Covid year, provides him a 6th season of eligibility) but has been the Demon Deacons quarterback for the past 3 straight seasons. Right before this 2022 season, he had surgery to remove a blood clot and was expected to be out for a while, but only missed Wake Forest’s opener.
Hartman holds dozens of Wake Forest school records and is the ACC all-time passing touchdowns leader (110 TD) and is 2nd all-time in the ACC with 12,967 passing yards behind only Philip Rivers. According to PFF, Hartman is the most valuable Power 5 player in the country over the past 2 seasons using their wins above average metric.
Sam Hartman Scouting Report
*Rankings out of 100*
Accuracy: 86
Arm Strength: 84
Pocket Presence: 87
Escapability: 78
Anticipation: 81
Mechanics: 85
Leadership: 92
Decision Making: 83
Vision: 93
Size: 73
In many ways, this is about as good of a grad transfer option as Notre Dame was going to find–a veteran with a ton of production coming from a high academic-minded school with enough skills to make the Irish fan base excited. What he’s not (due to lack of size and NFL intangibles like arm strength) is a high-valued NFL prospect and while he’ll be turning 24 right before fall camp opens next season an audition for the pros at Notre Dame in a different system is a good decision.
Speaking of systems, should we worry about the offense Hartman ran at Wake and transitioning to Notre Dame? I don’t see a lot of problems after watching film. There will be worries about the “slow mesh” feature from his time at Wake but if my understanding of the Rees/Hiestand partnership is correct I don’t think we’ll see it at Notre Dame, and if so very sparingly.
Wake Forest’s “slow mesh” ran against Clemson this year.
One thing that I did like about watching the “slow mesh” and Hartman’s play in general is how often he will attack the middle of the field. He’s very good at using the play-action fake to great effect and punishing teams over the middle.
For someone not very tall, you have to be impressed with Hartman’s ability to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball over the middle. I was expecting Wake Forest’s offense to have a ton of screens, dump offs, quick outs, and a variety of throws close to the line of scrimmage. Those are but small features. Hartman at Wake Forest was really more in the mold of a controlled downfield gun slinger.
Hartman isn’t afraid to throw over the middle.
It doesn’t take long watching Wake to realize that what makes Hartman such a good college quarterback is his ability to throw the ball to every part of the field. As a defensive coordinator, you’re really stressed defending the whole width and length of the field. He really excels at putting great touch on balls to all 3 levels of the field.
Hartman doesn’t have great arm strength, though. However, it’s plenty good enough for college football and it’s allowed him to have one of the best deep passing games in 2022. I’m sure Tommy Rees will be excited to open up the playbook a bit. For example, Hartman throws this long comeback route to the far side of the field:
For NFL standards, that’s nothing to write home about. A better throw would have more accuracy and get there a little quicker to allow the receiver to make play against the corner. Still, it’s a 1st down and the type of throw he’d be comfortable making at Notre Dame.
When it comes to making throws to all areas of the field, it’s tough to beat this throw down the sideline:
Dropped it in a bucket.
When given time in the pocket, Hartman’s mechanics are on point. He has an effortless and quick delivery and can put some zip on the ball to most parts of the field. He also has a good base which allows him to be accurate on shorter throws to running backs and on slants to wideouts.
Perhaps nothing sticks out more when watching Hartman than his presence in the pocket.
He’s freakishly calm in the pocket. And he slides around and steps up in the pocket with the best of the quarterbacks across the country. Although, at times he can be a little too patient and it leads to far too many hits taken. I think a lot of Notre Dame fans will think it’s due to a poor offensive line but in 2022 Hartman took a lot of hits because he’ll sit in the pocket to try and make a throw. Hartman definitely needs to work on recognizing pressure and avoiding more sacks and fumbles.
This weakness is also part of his strengths as a player, and I get the sense he held on to the ball too long for Wake Forest knowing he had to make a play too often. There are so many times when it looks like he’s getting swallowed up by the defense only for the ball to come out of his hand for a completion.
Ideally, you’d like to see him take off and run a little more, too. Often, he’ll slide up in the pocket and wait 1.5 seconds before something bad potentially comes his way. Still, you can’t argue with some of the results:
Hartman is smooth in the pocket.
Look at how calm his feet are when sliding up away from pressure. He wastes very little energy, keeps his eyes downfield, and delivers a dime for a touchdown against Clemson.
I like Hartman’s ability to escape and make plays outside of the pocket. It’s not a huge strength and he’s not quite the explosive athlete you’d maybe think he could be at just under 6’1″ and 208 pounds. But, he can move and is not afraid to find receivers late after the snap.
Hartman can improvise pretty well.
As a runner, I don’t think Hartman is going to wow anyone. He’s a bit stiff. He’s pretty good avoiding pressure from a free defender (see above with his pocket skills) but he’s not the type of athlete with speed and juking ability in the open field. I would say he’s more of a “take what you can get” type of runner.
Wake Forest didn’t run Hartman quite as much in 2022 as 2021, dropping down from 11 touchdowns to just 1 score on the ground this past season.
Scootin’ a little bit.
Nevertheless, when he does run good things have happened. With sacks removed over the past 2 seasons, Hartman has carried the ball 147 times for 889 yards, good for a 6.04 average.
If we’re looking at some weaknesses, Hartman has a tendency to throw high quite often. He’ll occasionally short a throw (lack of elite arm strength) but more often than not any accuracy issues were with the ball sailing too high. At times, he will throw off his back foot too much and it leads to the ball throwing without enough velocity and over a receiver’s head.
Hartman needs to tighten up the high throws.
Obviously, interceptions have been an issue for Hartman at Wake Forest.
Over the last 2 seasons he turned it over through the air 26 times on 936 throws, or a 2.7% interception rate. That’s compared to Notre Dame quarterbacks throwing 21 interceptions on 789 throws since 2021, or 2.6% overall. It’s not a huge difference (Notre Dame’s figure drops down to 1.9% when you remove Buchner which is a bit of a difference) and the comparison highlights just how often Wake Forest asked Hartman to throw the ball and be the main focus of their offense with a pretty modest running game in support.
I’ll link to all of his interceptions over the last 2 seasons in the comment section. When looking at his turnovers there’s a very clear problem with throwing the ball high or not reading zone coverage effectively.
Sometimes you’ll see Hartman lock in on a receiver and his arm strength isn’t elite enough to get away with it all the time.
The Louisville game was rough for Hartman.
In addition to throwing to all parts of the field and moving adeptly in the pocket, the 3rd thing that jumps out with Hartman is that he’s going to throw the ball down field to wide receivers who are not wide open. The Wake offense thrived on receivers making contested catches, hauling in back shoulder catches, adjusting and coming back to the ball, and drawing pass interference calls. If Wake Forest didn’t lead the country in pass interference calls, they had to be near the top. They drew a ton of flags.
At times, Hartman floats the ball down field, too.
Floating for flags.
That’s complete with this really slow delivery trying to drop a pass over the top of defenders. It’s not something you’ll see on deeper throws but more on some short-to-intermediate throws. He also seems a bit nonchalant on some quicker throws (like the above pick 6) where he’s not putting as much heat on the ball as you’d like.
***
Prior to really digging deeper into Hartman’s playing I wasn’t that high on him. After watching him more, I’m much more of a believer. I can see why he wouldn’t be super coveted at the NFL level and people wouldn’t be enamored with his ceiling at this point in his career. That was kind of the angle I took prior to writing this, too.
You have to think great things could happen for Hartman at Notre Dame in a system with a better offensive line and a running game that hopefully can take a lot of the pressure off that the lack of help he received at Wake Forest to always drag the team down the field his his arm. For all of his flaws, Hartman threw a half dozen or more of the prettiest passes in the nation this past season and that’s enticing to bring aboard for the blue and gold.
It will be important not to take too much of the playmaker out of Hartman or ask him to get too conservative trying to cut down on the interceptions. He loves to throw the ball to receivers in 1-on-1 situations and tries to put the ball where his teammate can get it. It’ll be important for Notre Dame’s receivers to make those plays. It will lead to frustrating incompletions, and yes some picks, but you have to trust Hartman’s experience in executing those plays through the air.
Also, this guy is handsome.
Good looks equals 1.5 more wins per Vegas.
There’s been quite a bit of debate and even consternation in some corners about A) taking a transfer quarterback B) not sticking with homegrown products C) fears of currently rostered quarterbacks leaving the program and D) skepticism about Hartman (too many interceptions, lack of elite skill set, stat padding against questionable ACC schedules, etc.) being a true difference maker.
As I mentioned at the top, this is just about the ideal scenario for Notre Dame. It’s one year, so it’ll have no effect on the incoming Kenny Minchey. Peanut Butter Angeli will probably feel a bit hard done by the move as his eligibility clock will start ticking in 2023 and he’ll be unlikely to get many reps with varsity until spring 2024.
I think this is exactly what Tyler Buchner needed, and he should probably be as excited as anyone! Thanks to his shoulder injury in September, Bucnher didn’t burn a year in 2022 and he’ll have 2 more opportunities in 2024-25 to be the starter. I think you could argue pretty reasonably that having him start the 2023 season while still being pretty raw as a passer was going to carry a lot of risk, especially with completely unproven backup options behind him.
Now, Buchner gets so much more time to develop, get comfortable, likely be inserted in some packages for 2023, learn behind a top 20 all-time passer (Hartman needs 3,680 more yards to jump from 19th all-time to 3rd all-time which will be an interesting march to watch–Tommy Chang at 4,105 yards away may be too far for 2nd place) and build a lot of confidence for 2024. In my view, this is the way we’ll get the best Tyler Buchner in college and that’s exciting to think about while Hartman starts in 2023.
Outstanding news. Excellent job by the coaching staff, including and particularly Rees.
@@
This was my #1 transfer target. Extremely happy Tommy didn’t settle for anybody else. Great work here.
As promised, all of Hartman’s INT’s over the last 2 seasons:
1-5:
INT’s 6-10:
INT’s 11-14:
INT’s 15-20:
INT’s 21-26:
Excited to watch him light it up in person on 9/2.
I’ll be interested to hear why he chose Notre Dame over SEC schools, especially weeks after the Clawson comment of (paraphrased): “he is leaving and probably going to the NFL, but who can blame him if he gets a lot of money to go play for a different college?”
But, thrilling news and great end result to get a dynamic quarterback plugged in and ready to go. Great day, go Irish!
Not that complicated honestly, with all due respect to Clawson, lol. There are questions about him in NFL circles because of his size and the Wake Forest system. He’s coming to ND to play in a more pro-style (in the modern sense) system to quiet those questions. He would probably be a late-round guy this season, maybe can play his way into the second or third with a big year at ND.
Having the most handsome coach and QB in the country will push us to a top-5 pre-season ranking, I guarantee it.
Wake’s midfield logo at night looks like it’s Minnesota colors
Great news! Congratulations to the coaches. This adds lots of stability to the quarterback position. Thorough write-up Eric. As always. Can’t wait to see him perform for ND.
Uhm well ackshually Book’s first career start was 2017 @ UNC because Wimbush was hurt
lol
Trueee. First as ‘the full-time starter’ I should’ve said.
that UNC team was so awful i remember walking into the stadium not even worried lol
having that run game and OL to lean on didn’t hurt
Thus beginning a long and storied career of caving in the heads of overrated UNC teams.
lest we forget his greatest accomplishment
being the most attractive ND QB of all time
?v=8CD6E843C01D740
https://youtu.be/F4ZFwqzxMog
For anyone interested in a sam Hartman (mostly WF slow mesh) deep dive from a former nfl QB. Lots to be stoked about, I love his mental processing in all this!
Biggest winner here is Jayden Thomas. Hartman loves giving receivers a chance to win 50/50 balls; the big guy is going to get a chance to prove he can be a weapon.
I hope Buchner gets 3+ series per game. He was fantastic in that role in 2021. I know a lot of people don’t like QB rotations, but I would love this.
Hartman can make every throw. He’s going to make mistakes, but there isn’t any throw he can’t make. Tommy is going to have his chance to run his ideal offense. I’m excited to see what that looks like. I would bet Tommy isn’t here for 2024 (either gets a head coaching job offer after a great year or he parts ways with ND after a disappointing season).
Agree that Thomas seems a perfect fit with Hartman. I wonder if this will help any of the freshmen will get more of an opportunity too because of their size. It sounds like Greathouse might be ready to go right away and he’s listed as pretty big at 6,1.5 and 220 (5 more lbs than Thomas is listed at with the same height).
Yea, after next year we will learn a little more about Rees goals in coaching. Is he going to wait for a top-tier gig, go for the middle-tier, or go the NFL route maybe? If things don’t go well then definitely moving in another direction is likely to happen – esp. given such a high-end QB play is likely.
There is no way Buchner gets 3 full series a game. If Hartman’s healthy, I would predict he sees approximately zero non-garbage time/non-redzone series all season as the primary QB.
Yeah, I don’t see how or why Buchner is playing much at all in 2023 at Notre Dame with this move. Doubt it takes long for everyone to realize that Hartman as a sixth year and with his skills isn’t a guy that should be taken off the field or rotated out if at all possible (and I’m sure the coaches won’t need any convincing at all).
Yea the only way Buchner plays in non-garbage time will be from injury to Hartman.
If we get a turnover inside the ~7 yard line, I could see them putting in Buchner for that drive. Otherwise, no. Can’t wait for months of offseason debates about whether Buchner is going to start when the answer is obviously no.
I sincerely doubt anybody thinks Buchner is going to start over Hartman. But I think it would be silly to waste a weapon like Buchner on your bench all season, especially when Hartman is a guy who gets himself into ruts every few games and struggles to pull himself out. The Wake-Louisville game this year was one of the funniest sporting events I’ve ever seen.
And Hartman was still my #1 transfer target! But I don’t think he’s a guy who elevates this offense to a playoff offense by himself. Hopefully I’m wrong.
I’m certainly happy about this but, if he could “make every throw” he’d be entering the draft.
How does this year’s QB draft shape up vs. next year’s? It’s like how Foskey waited another year to get into a less loaded class. Lemme take a look.
A quick glance shows Hartmann rated 12th this year, behind Stetson Bennet, Spencer Rattler. It’s pretty stacked, especially if Hooker gets healthy.
For next year, the top is Caleb Williams, then Drake Maye, then…Michael Penix, Quinn Ewers, and Bo Nix? Would make sense to me to wait.
NFL draft is weird, just look at Book, got drafted in the fourth round and then cut after just one season. Kellen Mond was a third rounder and cut after one year too.
From 2020, all seven QB’s drafted after the second round have all been cut from the team that drafted them. Basically, unless you’re a stud 1st/2nd round QB that teams have to devote time towards, it’s not a long shelf life.
Unless like Brendan said above, Hartman has a goal of being a very high pick in 2024 due to a great 2023 at ND (which I find to be debatable outcome, though a plausible mindset to have), I don’t see if he truly benefits by staying in college. It’s to be a very uphill battle for him in the NFL no matter when he comes out.
Love it for Thomas but for all the receivers, really. Merriweather as ND breakout player of the year is pretty much a lock if he stays healthy.
I’m trying not to get my hopes up for any WR with little proven production, after coming into this year thinking Styles was going to explode. But I think by the end of camp, we’re going to have so many great reports on Merriweather that I’m going to have All-American expectations for him.
Good point. In hindsight, maybe we should have seen why tOSU didn’t want Styles as a WR and saw him as a DB (hands not up to par) but you’re right he was a “surefire” breakout player gone wrong. I guess I didn’t leave much wiggle room on Merriweather, but that’s just hope too that someone steps up.
I’ve been thinking that all year about Styles. Sadly, he could have been our best WR since Fuller and not been a starter at tOSU.
One better, Styles isn’t even in the WR room at tOSU. Probably says more about them, given the unreal strength of their production line of first round picks though.
Given his actual performance, no way he’s still in that WR room. My point was more that even Boykin and Claypool probably wouldn’t be seeing the field much.
There was a point in 2021 where I thought the trio of Buchner/Diggs/Styles was going to put up production never before seen at ND. Now Buchner is the likely backup QB, Styles is a massive question mark, and Diggs, while very good, might be our 2nd best RB behind Estime. It’s wild what a difference a year can make.
2019 LSU-esque expectations, one might say
This is very good. And by that I refer to the writing, analysis, and Hartman committing – so much winning.
Watched QB1 on Netflix many moons ago when S. Hartman was a senior in high school. He came off as a good person and good leader. Hoping for good things and hoping Buchner remains patient and recognizes that this is another great learning opportunity.
Was Spencer rattler on this too? I remember seeing some clips of him from a show, and he didnt strike me as a nice person, but I dont want to speak too much on it.
He was, but a different season if I remember correctly.
All I remember is he was always busting the balls of his backup.
Transfer Tommy getting it done.
You know who else has only succeeded with transfer QBs? Lincoln Riley. Ergo, one must deduce that TFR is the second coming of Lincoln Riley.
What do people think of Thomas Harper from Okie St.? He was just CBed to us. Obviously we needed a little more experience at safety next year. I imagine he’ll be a backup who will get some snaps. But hopefully one of the freshmen will make a splash and get some serious snaps. Safety right now seems to be a concern for next year.
Reportedly profiles as a contributor at nickel, where he mostly played for the Pokes. I would imagine he could also rotate in at safety if needed. I’m going to guess that when spring camp starts the top safeties will be Henderson and Watts with maybe Barnes and Lewis (just a guess, no intel) moving over plus the freshmen – Shuler and Minich will be early enrollees.
Really hope Barnes or Walters makes a jump this year. We need at least one DB from the ’21 class to be a contributor. We took 6! (counting Gee, even though many projected him to rover).
What’s up with Riley? Seems like no one pre-’22 will ever be a starter at CB, so could he get work at S? He was the highest ranked DB from the ’20-’21 classes.
We give Rees crap about the QB room, but can you imagine the DBs if Freeman and Mickens hadn’t stepped in?
I don’t think Walters made many (if any) road trips traveling with the team. Seems like even with a jump he would be way on the outside. Same with Riley, unless I’m confusing him with a different DB. Development happens, but I wouldn’t count on internal growth for Notre Dame there, beyond Henderson and Watts and unless they go outside the box and do move Lewis back.
Believe ND was looking at another safety too from the portal, would make sense if the Okie State kid is more of a nickel.
We really need 2. S is not a position where I would want any of our freshman playing much. Bowen would be another story, but there’s too much going on back there for Shuler/Minich/Hillman to be contributing much.
I have two words for Sam Hartman and my fellow Irish fans.
Matthew Stafford.