In just a few days the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will complete the 2022 season in Jacksonville, Florida, against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl. There were some roster moves that happened since Notre Dame last played a game of football which has caused some depth chart changes.

OFFENSE

Notre Dame starting quarterback Drew Pyne quit the team and transferred to Arizona State. While this certainly helped open the door for Tyler Buchner to become the starting QB for the Gator Bowl, it’s my understanding that he would have received some playing time regardless in the bowl game. Even with the “OR” Steve Angeli likely remains QB2, but the chances of seeing him in the Gator Bowl have increased significantly. Michael Mayer’s decision to forego the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft elevates Mitchell Evans and Holden Staes to TE1 and TE2. The offensive line, running backs, and receivers remain intact — although we should expect an even heavier rotation than what we even saw in Notre Dame’s last two games of the season.

DEFENSE

Isaiah Foskey, like Michael Mayer, is foregoing the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft. This elevates Justin Ademilola as the starting Vyper with a rotation with Jordan Botelho. It also puts more pressure on the other side as Rylie Mills has been moved inside quite a bit while NaNa Osafo-Mensah sees more time. Brandon Joesph is back on the back end, but we will still likely see a healthy rotation that sees a lot of Ramon Henderson and Xavier Watts (who is not listed on the depth chart).

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jon Sot didn’t win the Heisman — which is practically criminal. BTW... did you know that Chris Tyree was the 3rd worst kick-returner in the country?