Counting Down the Irish 2023: 25 to 21, led by examples of modern college football roster construction

The beginning of this annual countdown of Notre Dame’s expected most impactful players this season, as voted on by nine media members, serves as a microcosm of college football in 2023. Either find transfers who can contribute right away and recruits who can chip in as well, or get left behind.

The Irish have notoriously struggled with transfers, a deeper conversation than should be had in the preseason, but they have found some success in seeking graduate transfers. Aside from their academic standing, those players generally have enough experience at Power Five programs to set a high floor for their season(s) at Notre Dame, and they usually have something to prove, looking to improve their NFL draft stock immediately.

With three such players on the roster in 2023 — and a fourth solely missing that Power-Five qualification in Rhode Island transfer safety Antonio Carter — the Irish are hoping for quick impacts. Two of those three fit into the top 25, though not by much. The third, well, quarterback Sam Hartman was arguably the most notable transfer in all of college football this offseason, and his eventual ranking in this exercise will reflect that.

But first, a freshman looking to make an immediate impact …

No. 25 Jaden Greathouse, freshman receiver — 18 points, four out of nine ballots, high of No. 17.
Notre Dame history is littered with Blue-Gold Game stars who then hardly contributed the following fall, with a few of them never breaking out at all on the Saturdays that matter. That disclaimer has yet to stick to Greathouse after his impressive showing this past April, catching 11 passes for 118 yards in the spring finale.

The sheer number of receptions left the feeling that Greathouse would find a way onto the stat sheet as a freshman, and neither his beginning of preseason practices nor the media’s expectations of him have dampened that thought. To further it, Greathouse lost nine pounds over the summer, impressing offensive coordinator Gerad Parker.

“You can see him being slim where he can be slimmer and trimmer,” Parker said last week. “Then his prep of knowing what to do and now knowing how to do it.

“There are a lot of things he did well, based off just good play and feeling the position. Now he knows it, and he knows how to do it better. You can see that in the first two days.”

Greathouse remains unlikely to start, thanks to senior running back-turned-receiver Chris Tyree finding a home at slot receiver, but the freshman’s ability to offer a big target in the middle of the field will get him playing time. Greathouse may be only 6-foot-1, but his tendency to present his chest to his quarterback creates a greater window for the pass. On third downs, for example, that could become beneficial.

Notre Dame is once again short on receivers, with just eight healthy scholarship receivers. But it should be pointed out, only the three expected starters finished higher in this exercise than Greathouse did.

No. 24 Holden Staes, sophomore tight end — 21 points, five out of nine ballots, high of No. 18.
The expectation in South Bend entering this offseason was that the receivers, however few there may be, would need to step up in 2023 because the most prolific tight end in Notre Dame history had left for the NFL. There is no way the Irish tight ends could produce anywhere near the stats that Michael Mayer did, right?

Well, of course not. Mayer led Notre Dame with 67 catches for 809 yards and nine touchdowns last season, numbers no two other Irish players could combine to meet. Not even three other players could combine to match his nine touchdowns.

But, Staes may assuage some of the worries. And he is Notre Dame’s No. 2 tight end, behind junior Mitchell Evans.

Let’s peel back the curtain for a moment to give an idea of how Staes has quickly impressed this spring. These ballots were loosely due midday Sunday. Early on Monday afternoon, one beat writer (who can reveal himself if he sees fit) sent a follow-up message looking to move Staes into his No. 25 spot. The request was granted, of course. If a follow-up question had been asked, a hunch says that beat writer would have moved Staes up further than No. 25.

Parker may not be Tommy Rees, always devoted to jumbo packages, sets with multiple tight ends and an all-around old-fashioned offensive approach, but Parker is also the Irish tight ends coach. If anyone is likely to continue leaning on the tight ends, it is him. And that immediately elevates Notre Dame’s No. 2 tight end.

“I was very honest with him at the front end of spring, where I thought he could have been better in preparation and how he finished some things,” Parker said. “He got there at the end of spring, and we really challenged him to have the same summer and same fall, and he’s well on his way right now.”

In the spring, Staes was the No. 2 tight end mostly because he was one of two healthy tight ends. Heading into the season, he appears to be the No. 2 tight end because his play has leveled up.

No. 23 Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Ohio State transfer defensive end — 26 points, five ballots, high of No. 17.
Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden made it pretty clear where Jean-Baptiste should most impact the season.

“We’re hoping he’s a one on third down,” Golden said last week. “We’re hoping he’s a legitimate one, which we believe he is. And that should help.

“You can’t pressure all the time, that’s not the way football is anymore. So you have to have different packages and the ability to get home with four. He gives us that opportunity.”

Let’s put that into more straightforward terms: Jean-Baptiste is so adept at rushing the passer that he should allow Notre Dame to hassle opposing quarterbacks on obvious passing downs without needing to blitz. Getting into the pocket with only four pass rushers creates a math problem for opposing offensive coordinators, given they can send out a maximum of five pass catchers, now guarded by seven defenders.

In theory, that results in some sacks for Jean-Baptiste, but the more pivotal statistic will be quarterback hurries plus sacks. If he notches one each week, consider that a massive success. That would have ranked No. 2 on the Irish roster last year, trailing only Isaiah Foskey’s 17 (11 sacks + six hurries) and ahead of defensive tackle Howard Cross’s 7.5 (2.5 sacks + five hurries).

No. 22 Thomas Harper, Oklahoma State transfer safety — 33 points, five ballots, high of No. 16.
At some point, this space will stop referring to Harper as a safety and instead mention him as a nickel back. That change may wait until Notre Dame releases its game week depth chart before heading to Dublin, but it is a pertinent semantics issue, whenever it occurs.

Harper looks like the starting Irish nickel back, which should set him up for more playing time than at least one of the “starting” linebackers. Defenses call upon five defensive backs more than any other package in college football in 2023, and as long as Harper holds off senior Clarence Lewis for this leading role, he will be one of the key pieces to the Irish defense.

“Even though he didn’t practice in the spring, he’s gotten to really understand the defense and the expectations,” Freeman said. “He’s played a similar position when he was at Oklahoma State.”

No. 21 Jaden Mickey, sophomore cornerback — 34 points, five ballots, high of No. 14.
If Harper had not arrived on campus, Mickey would be competing with Lewis for that nickel back role. Instead, he looks like the No. 3 cornerback behind fifth-year Cam Hart and preseason All-American Benjamin Morrison.

Yet, Mickey finishes ahead of Harper in this balloting. Well, dime packages are used frequently. And Mickey played 248 snaps last season, as Freeman made a point of noting last week.

“I had a conversation with him, actually, and his father, that he started for Notre Dame as a true freshman, especially when we played USC,” Freeman said. “That’s hard enough to do. That’s accomplishing some things that not many freshmen do. So I thought he did terrific.”

Mickey finished the season somewhat exploited by USC, yet he apparently entered spring and now preseason practices just as brash as ever, and that has always been evident with him: Mickey talks more trash in practices than anyone else on Notre Dame’s roster.

And he backed that up in the first practice of the preseason, reportedly intercepting two passes. No wonder one media member mistakenly included Mickey twice on his ballot. (Yes, that mistake was corrected.)

The names that stick out most in this annual exercise are the starters that do not make the top 25 and the reserves that do. Mickey is the latter. If he has this kind of impact, then the Irish secondary really may be the defense’s strength for the first time since perhaps 2018.

RELATED READING: Counting Down the Irish 2023: Others Receiving Votes

The voters, generously giving their time and insights in this annual exercise …

Michael Bryan, 18 Stripes
Greg Flammang, Irish Sports Daily
Tyler James, Inside ND Sports
Andrew McGuinness, The Observer
Tim Murray, Vegas Stats & Information Network, but more pertinent to his exercise, an irrational Notre Dame fan
Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune
Tim O’Malley, Irish Illustrated
Pete Sampson, The Athletic
Josh Vowles, One Foot Down

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