Notre Dame Football: Derrik Allen transfer hurts more than perceived

On Friday, Notre Dame football was hit with some tough news as Derrik Allen entered the transfer portal. This news hurts more than people think.

Notre Dame’s secondary may be a strength heading into the season with Jalen Elliott, Alohi Gilman, Houston Griffith and Troy Pride Jr. all projected to start, but behind them isn’t quite as pretty.

The two-deep depth chart took an even bigger hit on Friday with the news of Derrik Allen’s imminent transfer. He entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal and that usually means there’s no coming back, even if he wanted to.

Chances here are that Allen transferred because of a battle with freshman Kyle Hamilton at the safety spot, but either way, his career in South Bend was shockingly quick and not nearly as prolific as many had hoped when he committed in 2018.

In fact, Allen was one of the top-rated safeties in the entire 2018 class and No. 106 overall, per 247Sports, but he must not have liked his direction on the depth chart to transfer out even though Elliott and Gilman are both seniors. He likely would have been in the starting mix in 2020 and played some meaningful snaps for a playoff contender this season.

The departure hurts Notre Dame because of that depth at safety not being where Brian Kelly would have liked.

Hamilton might be a solid option to replace Allen in the two-deep, but the former four-star safety from Marietta, Ga., was set to be challenged with DJ Brown’s move to safety from corner this spring as well as Litchfield Ajavon entering his freshman season. There’s little experience and the depth took a hit, but give Kelly another recruiting class and it’ll be back to normal.

The talent is there, but if Notre Dame suffers any injuries at safety this season, the Irish could be in dangerous territory.