Notre Dame Football: 3 biggest concerns heading into 2022 season

2 of 3

Sep 25, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Wisconsin Badgers wide receiver Kendric Pryor (3) is under able to pull in a pass against Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Cam Hart (5) during the second half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The secondary could be a weakness again

A year ago, the Irish secondary was a weakness, ranking 64th in the country by allowing nearly 225 yards per game through the air. And that secondary is losing Kyle Hamilton.

The secondary struggled in big games against talented, athletic receivers and there’s a chance that could continue this coming season against teams like Ohio State, Clemson, and USC. Cam Hart, TaRiq Bracy and Clarence Lewis return at cornerback with some experience but behind those guys, there’s not a ton of proven depth.

At safety, All-American Brandon Joseph transferred in from Northwestern and will be a nice replacement for Hamilton, but there’s still the issue of depth there with experience.

Notre Dame would be good for a majority of the season with an average secondary against teams like Marshall, Cal, Stanford, UNLV, Syracuse, and Navy, but the rest of the games would be an issue, facing receivers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jordan Addison, and Joseph Ngata. And don’t forget quarterbacks like DJ Uiagalelei, CJ Stroud, Caleb Williams, Jaren Hall, and Phil Jurkovec.

We need to see the secondary take a major step forward but I don’t know if there’s enough experienced depth there to make it happen.

Home/Notre Dame Fighting Irish