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It’s been a wild week for rosters all around college football this week with the official opening of the transfer portal on Monday. While I certainly expected a little more news on the Notre Dame front, there’s still plenty to digest as we move forward.
Let’s take a quick look at what happened over the past few days if only to understand Notre Dame’s position and upcoming moves.
IN THE PORTAL
Notre Dame saw three players jump into the portal on Monday, but technically that number is five when you add the departures that happened during the season.
DL Jacob Lacey
Lacey left the team and announced his intentions of jumping into the transfer portal back in October. After initially predicted to end up with the Kentucky Wildcats, Lacey transferred to the Oklahoma Sooners on November 24.
WR Joe Wilkins
Wilkins left the team and announced his intention of jumping into the transfer portal back in the first week of November. There’s been very little news about where his next landing stop might be.
QB Drew Pyne
It wasn’t going to be a surprise that Pyne would jump into the transfer portal at some point this offseason, but it was a little shocking that Drew decided to do it before Notre Dame’s Gator Bowl game against the South Carolina Gamecocks — which is exactly what he did on Monday. His next home is still very much a mystery.
DL Osita Ekwonu
Ekwonu was one of the players that had eligibility left to use, but ran out to be honored on Notre Dame’s senior day, so this move was very much expected.
DB Jayden Bellamy
Bellamy entered his name into the transfer portal on Monday. The New Jersey native didn’t see any action with the Irish as a freshman as he struggled with injuries. He is currently predicted to end up back in his home state with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
2023 Notre Dame Football Scholarship Chart
| Position / Year | Freshmen | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | 5th/6th Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position / Year | Freshmen | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | 5th/6th Year |
| Quarterback | Kenny Minchey | Steve Angeli | - | - | Sam Hartman |
| Running Back | Jeremiyah Love | Jadarian Price, Gi'Bran Payne | Audric Estime | - | Devyn Ford |
| Tight End | Cooper Flanagan | Eli Raridon, Holden Staes | Mitchell Evans, Davis Sherwood | Kevin Bauman | - |
| Wide Receiver | Braylon James, Rico Flores, Jaden Greathouse, Kaleb Smith | Tobias Merriweather | Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas | Chris Tyree | Matt Salerno |
| Center | - | Ashton Craig | Pat Coogan | - | Zeke Correll |
| Guard | Sam Pendleton, Joe Otting, Chris Terek | Billy Schrauth | Rocco Spindler | - | Andrew Kristofic |
| Tackle | Sullivan Absher, Charles Jagusah | Ty Chan, Aamil Wagner | Blake Fisher, Joe Alt | Michael Carmody, Tosh Baker | - |
| Defensive Tackle | Boubacar Traore, Devan Houstan | Tyson Ford, Donovan Hinish | Gabe Rubio | Aidan Keanaaina, Rylie Mills | Howard Cross |
| Defensive End | Brenan Vernon, Armel Mukam | Joshua Burnham, Aiden Gobaira, Junior Tuihalamaka | Jason Onye | Jordan Botelho | NaNa Osafo-Mensah, Javontae Jean-Baptiste |
| Linebacker | Drayk Bowen, Preston Zinter, Jaiden Ausberry | Nolan Ziegler, Jaylen Sneed | - | - | Jack Kiser, Marist Liufau, JD Bertrand |
| Safety | Adon Shuler, Ben Minich | - | - | Xavier Watts, Ramon Henderson | D.J. Brown, Thomas Harper, Antonio Carter |
| Cornerback | Micah Bell, Christian Gray | Jayden Mickey, Benjamin Morrison | Ryan Barnes, Chance Tucker | Clarence Lewis | Cam Hart |
| Specialists | - | Bryce McFerson (P) | - | - | Michael Vinson (LS), Spencer Shrader (K) |
| Totals | 23/85 (23) | 43/85 (20) | 56/85 (13) | 66/85 (10) | 83/85 (17) |
OFFERS
Notre Dame is very active in its search of players in the transfer portal, and over the coming weeks, will hand out offers to those in the portal that can help the Irish. Here is the list of offers Notre Dame has out at the moment:
DT Braden Fiske Western Michigan Broncos
Notre Dame has offered transfer DL Braden Fiske following his visit to South Bend.
— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) December 3, 2022
He remains open though and has quite a few in-homes booked for the coming week. (VIP) https://t.co/lR9wrtuiDY pic.twitter.com/DeRZStlVjI
WR Dante Cephas Kent State Golden Flashes
Notre Dame made a move for portal help at wide receiver, offering transferring Kent State WR Dante Cephas today. He's a grad transfer with 2 years left and a 2-time first-team All-MAC selection https://t.co/mrSduanUyb
— Patrick Engel (@PatrickEngel_) December 5, 2022
WR Keagan Johnson Iowa Hawkeyes
#NotreDame is making a strong run at former #Iowa receiver Keagan Johnson.
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) December 6, 2022
Here's some background on his time with the Hawkeyes as well as ND's pursuit before he signed, why I was so high on him out of HS, and much more.
Story: https://t.co/foa3gdSrCr @_keaganj @247Sports pic.twitter.com/bt6eVmOpFS
There will be more to come.
QUARTERBACK SITUATION
More so than any other position, the quarterback is the biggest priority for Notre Dame — and also the one that is decidedly uncertain. Hudson Card, Brennan Armstrong, Spencer Sanders, Devin Leary, and a handful of other names familiar to Notre Dame fans are in the portal. You can see the full list HERE.
No official public offer has gone out to any one quarterback — which is more about strategy than reality. Unfortunately for those that want this wrapped up sooner than later... that likely won’t be the case. Notre Dame will likely be in pursuit of a quarterback in the portal well into January.
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