Notre Dame Football: Scorching Hot Summer Takes

The Onefootdown Podcast absolutely peaked my attention this week as it highlighted the “Crappiest Notre Dame Football Hot Takes”. As the Notre Dame Football Hot Take guy, I was sucked in and naturally got me thinking of my Hot Takes for the upcoming season.

As today is a 85+ degree day in Chicago, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to fire off some Scorching Hot Summer Takes to take you into the weekend. Without further adieu, let’s get cooking.

Defense

Xavier Watts leads the team in INTs with over 5

Photo by Kiyoshi Mio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Last Season Watts came on late in a big way. He seemed to be more comfortable, but still not completely in his element. This was clearly due to all of the cross training. This upcoming stretch will be his longest stint at one position and will allow him to let his natural athleticism and elite ball skills take over. I fully expect him to rejuvenate the backend and be a hard hitting ballhawk type of safety. He is also wearing #0 this year, which is a much faster number than 26.

Jaylen Sneed has 6 + sacks, but does not start

Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Unio / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sneed will be cut loose this year, but not as a traditional linebacker. Sneed will be used in in blitz packages and third down passing situations. He is an elite athlete and has added a lot of bulk from a year ago. I am very excited to see him come off the edge and have some violent hits. Similar to Watts, he is in a new number which immediately makes him a better player. 3 is an ELITE number for a LB.

Offense

Sam Hartman breaks at least 2 passing records

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I am zeroing in on Single Season Touchdowns (Brady Quinn at 37) and Single game passing touchdowns (Brady Quinn 6). Hartman is dynamic and showed in 1 half of the Spring Game why he is going to be a stud this year. He will throw picks, but will throw wide receivers open in a way we haven’t seen in what feels like a very long time.

That make you happy?

Audric Estime accounts for over 15 TDs

Estime stands alone at 1A in the running back room with the departure of Logan Diggs and Chis Tyree switching to WR. He will also have more room to run as a result of Hartman. Teams were not worried about Drew Pyne beating them through the air and would stack the box. That simply won’t work with Hartman behind center. Estime will break through the first level quicker and I think we see a bit more juice as he has lost a bit of weight.

I would die for that man.

YOUR TAKES

I’d love to hear your hottest takes in the comment section! GO IRISH