Jaden Mickey Transfer Depth Impact: Time for Freshmen to Shine

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman opened his weekly Monday press conference by announcing the surprising news of junior cornerback Jaden Mickey’s plans to enter the transfer portal. With Mickey deciding to redshirt the rest of the season to preserve eligibility, the Irish are suddenly in a bit of a bind at corner, though they have plenty of talent to fill the void. Still, depth will be tested over the final eight games of the season and, hopefully, in the playoffs.

Maybe Mickey’s transfer shouldn’t be overly surprising

Mickey’s decision initially surprised many, but perhaps it shouldn’t have. Mickey, a junior, entered the program at the same time as Benjamin Morrison as a similarly ranked prospect. Since then, he’s seen Morrison’s stock skyrocket to the point that he is widely considered a first-round pick in next year’s draft. Mickey, meanwhile, lost a camp battle with sophomore Christian Gray to start opposite Morrison. With transfer Jordan Clark locking down the nickel position, snaps and playing time were going to be tough to come by this year.

Mickey has been through a lot at Notre Dame, both on and off the field, with the passing of his mother last year before the Pittsburgh game. His journey was well-documented in the early episodes of Here Come the Irish on NBC, and his love for the University and the program was very evident. With a limited window to try and make it in the NFL, however, it seems as though Mickey felt his best path forward was a fresh start since there was no guarantee Mickey would start in 2025, either.

Freshmen corners rising

One of the biggest surprises of fall camp was the rise of Notre Dame’s freshman corners, Karson Hobbs and Leonard Moore. The staff was much higher on both than any recruiting service, but I don’t think too many people felt they would step in and immediately look like they belonged without much of a transition. Moore was on the field for five snaps in game one against Texas A&M.

The official depth chart for the Louisville game has Hobbs listed ahead of Moore in place of Mickey, but it’s probably safe to assume that they are very much in an “OR” situation, given Moore has seen more snaps through the first four games. Moore also played 27 snaps at Purdue and another 23 against Miami of Ohio to Hobbs’s 15 and 1. However, Hobbs’s one snap against Miami was nearly very memorable, with the freshman almost coming down with an acrobatic interception.

Based on early reports out of camp and the staff’s usage of both, it looks like the future is bright for both of them. Given how quickly Moore saw the field, there’s a chance that he would have been in the starting lineup in 2025 even had Mickey decided to stay at Notre Dame.

The Irish also have a relatively ridiculous incoming secondary in the class of 2025, highlighted by a pair of top-100 overall corners, Mark Zackery IV and Dallas Golden. In short, the secondary coach, Mike Mickens, has Notre Dame’s pipeline of talented corners well-stocked. In the short term, however, Notre Dame will need to accelerate the development of Moore and Hobbs.