Notre Dame football: 3 breakout candidates for the 2023 season

Marcus Freeman’s first season as head coach of Notre Dame football was a success. The Irish finished 9-4 and ranked in the final AP Top 25.

The Irish now head into the 2023 season with high expectations and a legit shot at making a run at the playoff, especially with Sam Hartman coming over from Wake Forest after a memorable and prolific career.

We know Hartman will have a big year, but who will join him as breakout candidates?

Jaylen Sneed was Notre Dame’s only five-star commit in the 2022 class and he played sparingly during his true freshman season.

Now, entering his second year, he’s still going to be in a backup role, but we should expect to see him in more than just four games. He’s too talented to keep on the sidelines, even with guys like Jack Kiser, Marist Liufau, and JD Bertrand returning to a veteran linebacker unit. I can see Sneed earning some legitimate first-team reps by the end of the year.

As a true freshman, he finished with just seven total tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. Sneed had a quiet first year but I don’t expect that to continue.

Buy stock in Sneed now before he becomes one of the best defenders on the team.