Notre Dame football: 3 transfers who'll have biggest impacts in 2024

Notre Dame football is coming off a successful second season under Marcus Freeman but the Irish still fell short of their ultimate goals of making the playoff and winning a national title.

The Irish are trying to get to that 12-team playoff next year and Freeman is assembling a roster that could compete for a national title. He's worked hard so far this offseason to push for that elusive title and he's brought in a handful of transfers who should have major impacts immediately.

These are the three incoming transfers who I believe will have the biggest impacts this season.

3. Rod Heard II, CB (from Northwestern)

One of the more underrated transfer additions this offseason has been Rod Heard from Northwestern and I think he's going to have a bigger impact on the Notre Dame secondary than anyone truly realizes.

Heard only played a couple of seasons at Northwestern, but man were they impactful.

In fact, Heard finished with 152 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, and six pass breakups during his two-year career in Evanston. He was one of the best defensive backs in the Big Ten and a guy who helped turn the Wildcats around from 2022 to 2023 when Pat Fitzgerald was fired.

The experience that Heard brings to the table against elite competition is going to help him transition seamlessly to Notre Dame.