Notre Dame missed the boat with these transfer prospects...

AtoZ Sports

Ryan Roberts discusses which transfer portal prospects the Notre Dame Fighting Irish should have pursued!

Transcript

00:00Notre Dame football was gifted some tough injury news over the weekend with Jordan Patelho.

00:05Let's talk about the latest there and why this past offseason has me second-guessing

00:10some decisions that were made transfer portal-wise.

00:15Ryan Roberts from A to Z Sports breaking down everything Notre Dame football folks.

00:19Unfortunately, tough break over the weekend to Notre Dame redshirt senior defensive end

00:26Jordan Patelho, who was already coming back from a season-ending knee injury early in the 2024 season.

00:33He was expected, though, to be back in the summer, very early on in the summer,

00:37and hope to be ready and go and be a huge part of the rotation and a big asset to this Notre Dame defense in 2025.

00:46Unfortunately, he has been dealt a pectoral injury, which is going to sideline him reportedly for four months.

00:53So while we will see him most likely some point during the next upcoming season,

00:58this was another tough injury blow to a defensive end room that is extremely talented,

01:03but we do know that there are some injury concerns.

01:06And I went back and I just kind of thought through my process this offseason of transfer portal

01:12and what I wanted Notre Dame to do.

01:14And to be honest, second-guessing a little bit of the decision-making process,

01:18it's not a massive deal, but I'm thinking now, now that we have Jordan Patelho

01:23and what is an uncertain return to the field at some point in 2025,

01:29you also have to think that it's not the only injury that Notre Dame is dealing with

01:32in the defensive end room, in the edge room.

01:35And that is, obviously, Bubakar Traore was coming back from a knee injury as well.

01:40And I remember thinking back to this offseason because you do have some talented defensive ends.

01:44I mean, you got Bryce Young, you got Joshua Burnham, you have Junior Tua LaMaca,

01:49you have Logan Thomas, although he still needs to get his weight up to be able to play a high volume of snaps.

01:54But the problem is that if there's another injury to that room, you're starting to get thinner and thinner.

02:00And then you might have to try to depend on someone, maybe like a Christopher Burgess,

02:03as a true freshman to play meaningful snaps in 2025, even if he isn't ready.

02:08And I remember thinking back to the transfer portal conversation.

02:10I know we've talked about it a little bit on this channel, also in written form of content.

02:15There were two defensive ends this offseason that if I was Notre Dame, and I said it at the time,

02:19I would have had interest in.

02:21And this is the reason why, to hopefully make your margin for error a little bit wider

02:26because these injuries are things that are going to be popping up at some point.

02:30We saw it in the 2024 season, God forbid, but there is going to be injuries in 2025 as well.

02:36The two defensive ends I want to talk about real quick that I would have had interest in,

02:39and I talked about it at the time, so don't say hindsight is 20-20.

02:43Hindsight might be 20-20, but not on this particular video.

02:46This was a conversation that we have had.

02:48One was former Purdue, now Clemson defensive end, Will Helt.

02:516'6", 265 pounds, 56 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss,

02:56and five sacks last year for Purdue as a true sophomore.

02:59Really talented player.

03:01Broke the bank a little bit to go to Clemson this past offseason,

03:04but was a player that is from the state of Indiana,

03:07and I was told that Notre Dame had very little interest in,

03:09and I never really understood why.

03:12Now, if they would have gotten started in the conversation,

03:14and they were just like, oh, the price tag is a little bit too high for us,

03:17totally understand.

03:18But I would have liked them to at least dig a little bit deeper with Will Helt.

03:21Another guy, David Bailey.

03:22After Troy Taylor was let go as the Stanford head coach,

03:26David Bailey entered, 6'3", 250 pounds.

03:28He has 14.5 sacks in his career, in his three years at Stanford.

03:32High academic kid, obviously.

03:35Went down to Texas Tech, and that just seems like a little bit of a waste of talent

03:38for a team that might go 9-3, maybe competes for a Big 12 championship game,

03:42but he might have been potentially Notre Dame's best pass rusher,

03:46just pure pass rusher.

03:47Not saying best all-around defensive end,

03:49but pass rush would have been a huge help there.

03:52Now that I'm kind of looking back at it too,

03:54the one other position that I'm having a little bit of a tough time with,

03:57because I think that it's in a similar wave of just conversation,

04:01is defensive end is obviously going to potentially get a little bit thinner now

04:04with Botello out.

04:05But tight end is a position that, and I understand,

04:07a lot of people are really excited about Eli Raritan.

04:10Eli Raritan has had multiple knee injuries in the past.

04:13He also only has 16 receptions for 141 yards in his career.

04:17People are excited about him,

04:18and there's a possibility that he breaks out and he becomes a star.

04:21But if he doesn't, what depth behind you right now,

04:25behind Eli Raritan, are you very confident in that will be high production

04:30or potential for high production?

04:32You have Arkansas transfer Ty Washington.

04:34You're hoping James Flanagan comes in as a true freshman.

04:36You're hoping that Jack Larson takes a step forward as a redshirt freshman.

04:40But if there is another injury to that room,

04:42that tight end group comes smaller and smaller.

04:44And I do know that they had interest in Max Clare,

04:47who's now at Ohio State with formerly Purdue.

04:5051 catches, 685 yards, four touchdowns last year.

04:53He's being hyped up as one of the breakout stars in college football this year

04:57for the Buckeyes.

04:58After watching his film, I think that he has that type of upside.

05:01There was interest from Notre Dame and Max Clare to some degree.

05:05Now, I think that there were promises that wanted to be made on that side.

05:08And I'm not just talking about NIL.

05:09I'm talking about playing time and starting opportunities.

05:12Might have been something that I would have considered a little bit heavier

05:15because I dream of a room now that would have potentially Max Clare

05:18and Eli Raritan because I do think there was a lot of interest for Clare,

05:21for Notre Dame, but not a team that necessarily pushed hard for Max Clare.

05:27So just thinking about this, guys, again, this isn't the end of the world.

05:30But thinking back to it, retrospect in mind,

05:33do you wish that Notre Dame maybe would have went after

05:35one of these transported defensive ends?

05:37What do you like them to go for a Max Clare at tight end?

05:42Put it in the comments right now.

05:44Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel on your way out.

05:46And as always, go Irish.

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