Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 7 Jaden Mickey, sophomore cornerback coming off big and small life lessons

Listed measurements: 5-foot-11 ½, 775 pounds.
2023-24 year, eligibility: A sophomore, Mickey has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Depth Chart: Mickey will most likely be the backup to fifth-year field (wide) cornerback Cam Hart. Mickey could work some at nickel back, but Oklahoma State graduate transfer Thomas Harper and senior Clarence Lewis should get the first preseason chances to prove themselves there.
Recruiting: The southern California native turned down plenty of programs in the Pac 12 when he chose Notre Dame over Oregon, Cal and Northwestern, only two months after Marcus Freeman began as the Irish defensive coordinator.

CAREER TO DATE
Mickey entered the 2022 preseason expected to be the most promising of Notre Dame’s freshman cornerbacks thanks to his early enrollment. Instead, Benjamin Morrison became a freshman All-American.

That should not have thrown a negative light on Mickey, but some viewed it as such. More accurately, Mickey was a strong freshman while Morrison was a starring one.

Mickey played 248 snaps across 11 games, about a third of the defensive snaps. He clearly had a role, no matter how much less of one it was than Morrison’s.

2022: 11 games; nine tackles.

NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS
Mickey’s mother, Nilka, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer three years ago. This winter, she needed treatments not covered by her insurance, sparking a GoFundMe fundraiser. In the past, publicity for that would have drawn NCAA scrutiny. Now, Jaden is able to loudly try to help his mother.

He put pen to paper to try to further help that cause, writing a book intended for middle schoolers.

That’s right, Jaden Mickey, a sophomore in college balancing the equivalent of a full-time job as a football player, has already written a book, like so many of us claim we’ll do eventually when we can find the time to get around to it.

QUOTES
Mickey has the most important trait for a cornerback.

“You want a confident corner, however you display it,” Irish cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens said this spring when asked about Mickey’s penchant for trash talk. “He’s more vocal … However you display your confidence and get in a zone, I’m good with it. I love to see that he’s competing, and he’s going to work and having a good spring.”

WHAT WAS PROJECTED A YEAR AGO
“Rarely can certainty accompany a freshman’s playing time, but for Mickey, there is no doubt he will play in 2022. Freeman has made that clear, both specifically in regard to Mickey and in general about playing freshmen.

“‘Jaden Mickey, he came in the winter and after 3-4-5 days ‘That dude’s going to play,’’ Freeman said to Irish Illustrated this summer.

Notre Dame needs him to. The Fiesta Bowl faceplant emphasized the growth the Irish need from their cornerbacks, and while much of that should come from Hart and Lewis developing, some of it will come from newcomers — namely, Mickey.

Even if it was not a position of need for Notre Dame, playing talented freshmen is an absolute necessity in modern college football. With frustrated players now able to transfer elsewhere and have immediate eligibility, rewarding them on the field is more vital to roster construction than ever. Even if a talented player should not start because someone else is better ahead of him, finding him chances to shine will help keep him on campus for years to come.

“‘I want to make sure they’re ready, but the ability to play freshmen is so important, because it’s two-fold,’ Freeman said to Inside ND Sports. ‘One, we’re going to demand that our players play at such a high level, give such a high effort, you’re going to have to play more than 11 guys on offense and 11 guys on defense. You’re going to have to roll guys in. …

“‘The other aspect of that is to make sure that they’re involved in the game. They come here to play. If they’re ready to play, let’s play them.’

“Mickey is ready to play.

“Keeping in mind that defenses use five defensive backs more often than any other alignment, there will be opportunities for Mickey. Furthermore, and this is going to be blunter than intended simply for brevity’s sake, fifth-year nickel back TaRiq Bracy has been played off the field in at least one game in at least three of his seasons. If another such afternoon begins to get away from Bracy, Mickey may find himself with a heavier workload for a week.”

2023 OUTLOOK
No cornerback is as bad as his worst moment, especially not his worst moment as a freshman. Exhibit A: TaRiq Bracy was played off the field at USC in 2018, to the extent that the press box could point out the mismatch two or three seconds before the snap and proceed to watch Bracy get beat. Fast forward a few years and Bracy was one of Notre Dame’s absolute best defenders last year.

That lesson has to remain in Mickey’s head to keep his confidence on the border of excessive. With Bracy and Hart sidelined by injury at USC last year, Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams targeted Mickey (in No. 21 last season) repeatedly with much success.

That is going to happen against such an explosive offense no matter who the reserve cornerback is if he is thrust into action. That it happened to a freshman should simply serve as offseason motivation for years to come.

If it did for Mickey the last eight months, then he should be improved. Sometimes that kind of proverbial punch to the face is needed. Mickey remains loudly confident, and his spring ended with a Blue-Gold Game interception. There is reason to believe he will be an able backup to Hart, a backup seeing plenty of action given how often modern defenses need three or four cornerbacks, not to mention Hart’s chronic shoulder issues.

DOWN THE ROAD
If healthy, Hart will almost assuredly spurn his final year of eligibility to head to the NFL after this season, and Mickey will get the first and longest chance at his starting gig. He has the physical skillset for it. Growing into the role will be the wonder.

If he does so, Mickey could be a two-year starter for Notre Dame before heading to the NFL, perhaps creating a three-year stretch of Irish cornerbacks hearing their names in the draft after Hart in 2024 and Morrison assuredly in 2025.

NOTRE DAME 99-TO-0
The summer countdown begins anew, Rylie Mills to Deion Colzie
No. 99 Rylie Mills, senior defensive tackle, moving back inside from end
No. 98 Devan Houstan, early-enrolled four-star defensive tackle
No. 97 Gabriel Rubio, junior defensive tackle, one of three Irish DTs with notable experience
No. 95 Tyson Ford, sophomore defensive tackle, up 30 pounds from a year ago
No. 93 Armel Mukam, incoming freshman defensive end, former Stanford commit
No. 92 Aidan Keanaaina, a senior defensive tackle now ‘fully healthy’ after a 2022 torn ACL
No. 91 Aiden Gobaira, sophomore defensive end, former four-star recruit
No. 88 Mitchell Evans, the next starter at ‘TE U
No. 87 Cooper Flanagan, incoming freshman tight end, four-star recruit
No. 84 Kevin Bauman, senior tight end coming off a torn ACL
No. 83 Jayden Thomas, junior receiver, probable No. 1 target in 2023
No. 79 Tosh Baker, senior tackle, again a backup but next year ...
No. 78 Pat Coogan, junior interior offensive lineman
No. 77 Ty Chan, sophomore offensive tackle, former four-star recruit
No. 76 Joe Alt, first-team All-American left tackle
No. 75 Sullivan Absher, incoming freshman offensive lineman
No. 74 Billy Schrauth, sophomore left guard, likely starter
No. 73 Andrew Kristofic, fifth-year right guard, likely starter
No. 72 Sam Pendelton, early-enrolled freshman offensive lineman
No. 70 Ashton Craig, sophomore interior offensive lineman
No. 68 Michael Carmody, senior offensive lineman
No. 65 Michael Vinson, sixth-year long snapper, four-year starter
No. 64 Joe Otting, incoming freshman offensive lineman, four-star recruit
No. 59 Aamil Wagner, sophomore offensive tackle
No. 56 Charles Jagusah, incoming freshman offensive lineman, four-star recruit
No. 56 Howard Cross, fifth-year defensive tackle, multi-year starter
No. 55 Chris Terek, incoming freshman offensive lineman, four-star recruit
No. 54 Blake Fisher, junior right tackle, second-year starter
No. 52 Zeke Correll, fifth-year center, third-year starter
No. 51 Boubacar Traore, incoming freshman defensive end, four-star recruit
No. 50 Rocco Spindler, junior offensive guard
No. 47 Jason Onye, junior defensive tackle on the verge of playing time
No. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka, sophomore defensive end, former linebacker
No. 42 Nolan Ziegler, sophomore linebacker, Irish legacy
No. 41 Donovan Hinish, sophomore defensive tackle following in his brother’s footsteps
No. 40 Joshua Burnham, sophomore linebacker-turned-Vyper end
No. 38 Davis Sherwood, junior fullback/H-back, former walk-on
No. 34 Drayk Bowen, early-enrolled freshman linebacker, baseball infielder
No. 32 Spencer Shrader, South Florida transfer kicker
No. 31 Nana Osafo-Mensah, fifth-year defensive end
No. 29 Christian Gray, early-enrolled freshman cornerback coming off a knee injury
No. 29 Matt Salerno, sixth-year receiver, former walk-on
No. 27 JD Bertrand, fifth-year linebacker, third-year starter, possible captain
No. 25 Preston Zinter, early-enrolled freshman linebacker, subtle recruiting win
No. 24 Jack Kiser, fifth-year linebacker, third-year starter, most efficient defender
No. 24 Jadarian Price, sophomore RB, reportedly recovered from an Achilles injury
No. 23 Jaiden Ausberry, early-enrolled freshman linebacker, four-star recruit
No. 22 Ben Minich, early-enrolled freshman safety, four-star recruit
No. 22 Jeremiyah Love, incoming freshman running back, four-star recruit
No. 21 Adon Shuler, early-enrolled freshman safety coming off shoulder surgery
No. 20 Benjamin Morrison, sophomore cornerback, preseason All-American
No. 19 Jaden Greathouse, early-enrolled freshman receiver, Blue-Gold Game star
No. 18 Steve Angeli, sophomore quarterback, competing for the backup role
No. 18 Chance Tucker, junior cornerback
No. 17 Brenan Vernon, incoming freshman defensive end, four-star recruit
No. 17 Rico Flores Jr., early-enrolled freshman receiver, four-star recruit
No. 16 Micah Bell, incoming freshman cornerback, speedy four-star recruit
No. 15 Ryan Barnes, junior cornerback
No. 14 Bryce McFerson, sophomore punter facing a challenge for a second straight year
No. 14 Braylon James, early-enrolled freshman receiver, four-star recruit
No. 13 Holden Staes, sophomore tight end, up 20 pounds in a year
No. 13 Thomas Harper, Oklahoma State graduate transfer safety/nickel back
No. 12 Penn State RB transfer Devyn Ford gives Notre Dame newly-needed backfield depth, experience
No. 12 Jordan Botelho, senior Vyper defensive end
No. 11 KK Smith, incoming freshman receiver, speedster
No. 11 Ramon Henderson, senior safety
No. 10 Sam Hartman, Wake Forest graduate transfer quarterback, QB1
No. 9 Eli Raridon, sophomore tight end coming off a second ACL tear
No. 8 Kenny Minchey, early-enrolled freshman quarterback, former Pittsburgh commit
No. 8 Marist Liufau, fifth-year linebacker, second season as a starter
No. 7 Audric Estimé, junior running back, bellcow, workhorse
No. 4 Rhode Island transfer safety Antonio Carter gives Notre Dame desperately needed backline depth

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