When all is said and done, the Notre Dame football team has to be happy with the way things turned out in the transfer portal. The Irish got plenty of talent through the portal this year, including the odds-on favorite for the starting quarterback in 2024.
There were some very big gets for the Fighting Irish. Leonard was just one. There were also some big additions at wide receiver and a special pass rusher who joined his former teammate from Duke in South Bend.
However, there were also some big losses for Marcus Freeman and company. There will be a push for some to forget that some talented players decided to depart. For whatever reason, there was one position room that took a bigger hit than any other.
Even if Notre Dame football could pick up the pieces and limit the damage, the Golden Domers would almost certainly not have been made if they could have kept them in the fold. One of the team’s leading receivers is right there at the top of that list.
Rico Flores was one of those wide receivers whose depature was a bit of a blow mostly because it came right when the transfer portal was opening. Because of that, there was a bit of a panic that things were going to go poorly in the offseason.
Flores actually led the Notre Dame football team's wide receivers in catches with 27 and was just two away from Mitchell Evans' team lead of 29. He was also third on the team in receiving yardage with 392. Though he did only find the endzone once in 2023.
Perhaps most disconcerting about his departure is he did all that in his freshman season. His future looked bright. Now he'll be continuing his career with the Cal Bears.
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NaNa Osafo-Mensah’s departure might have been the most surprising of all the transfer portal departures simply because it was expected he’d follow up a solid 2023 season with a breakout 2024 campaign.
His growth over the course of the season was evident and with the Fighting Irish wanting to reload on the defensive side of the ball, his leaving for TCU was a bit of a shock. It’s less of a shock, however, when you consider that he’s from Forth Worth, Texas.
It’s possible that NaNa simply was a little homesick, no matter how well he was playing in South Bend. The Notre Dame football’s home town isn’t for everyone. Theres a way of life there that will always make some players feel uncomfortable.
Whatever the reason that the defensive lineman decided to leave, his departure is a hit right at the front of one of the greatest defenses in the 2023 season.
Osafo-Mensah finished as a part-time player with 20 tackles and 3 sacks. He’s a pass rushing specialist that could be missed for the Notre Dame football team.
The Irish did go out and get another pass rusher in RJ Oben, but NaNa will be a loss due to his veteran presence and ability to make plays on the defensive line.
In all, the Notre Dame football team lost four wide receivers who all had a decent amount of impact on the Irish season in 2023. Chris Tyree was behind only Flores in catches and was in the lead in two other receiver categories.
Tyree was another of those who started a bit of a panic among Notre Dame football followers when he left for many of the same reasons as Flores. With the addition of Kris Mitchell and Beaux Collins, his exit is blunted a bit, but you never want to lose a receiver that led the team with 484 yards if you don’t have to.
Tyree, who also had three touchdown catches, was one of the Irish’s best deep threats as well, considering he averaged 18.6 yards per catch. Interestingly enough, he’s also joining an ACC squad In the Virginia Cavaliers.
Where Tyree and Flores’ stories diverge is that when the Fighting Irish lost Tyree, they weren’t losing a young player with the rest of his career ahead of him. But the senior finally seemed to have something click playing with Sam Hartman.
That he only had one more year with Notre Dame football left does blunt the loss a bit but until Mitchell and Collins and the talented freshman prove they can replace his performance without a problem, he counts as a big loss.