Notre Dame football: Sam Hartman is officially Irish

After a long-awaited couple of weeks, Sam Hartman has officially committed to the University of Notre Dame football program. In what has been rumored for weeks, Hartman will be finishing his collegiate career with the Irish in hopes of sky-rocketing his NFL draft stock.

Given Notre Dame’s elite offensive line and running game, Sam Hartman will look to push the Irish back to playoff contention. Given his incredible numbers over the past few seasons, Hartman will be the best quarterback Notre Dame has had since Ian Book and arguably longer. The team has already landed veteran pass catcher Kaleb Smith from Virginia Tech and will look to add more experienced receivers for Hartman to throw to.

In his 5 seasons at Wake Forest, Hartman has thrown for 12,967 yards, 110 touchdowns, and 41 interceptions. He has certainly had his fair share of mishaps and turnovers, but the ceiling he offers this offense is second to none. Hartman could be a Heisman trophy candidate next year if he can run a pro-style offense successfully. Coming from Wake Forest’s slow mesh offense, scouts would like to see more from Hartman before spending valuable draft capital on him.

If Sam can master this Notre Dame football offense and have his best season, winning the Heisman isn’t out of the question

That, of course, is assuming he wins the starting job next year for Tommy Rees and the offense. Tyler Buchner has had his fair share of struggles throwing the ball, but his talent is off the charts. If Buchner does end up being the backup next year, learning from one of the best gunslingers in college would benefit him greatly.

It’ll be interesting to see if Hartman’s commitment can lure any other big-time transfer prospects to the Notre Dame football team. With Hartman and a few more defensive transfers to help on that side of the ball, the future will be exceptionally bright in South Bend.