The day is almost here. It's the day that Notre Dame Football fans fear every year. At least since the day was a thing. Tuesday is the day when the transfer portal will open once again and stay open until the end of the month.
Since the spring transfer portal became a thing, it’s been a worry for any team loaded with talent like the Fighting Irish. Someone is going to decide that they are too far down the depth chart. Someone is going to decide that they have a better chance of playing elsewhere. And someone is going to realize they just miss being away from home.
With the Notre Dame Football spring game coming up on Saturday, several Irish players contemplating entering the portal may hold off on Tuesday. They likely won’t be going in right away, but someone will almost certainly decide to leave.
At the moment, three or four guys seem the most likely to depart over the next two weeks. At the top of the list is a defensive back who is plenty talented. It’s safe to say he might be the biggest loss of anyone.
Jaden Mickey not long for Notre Dame Football?
Mickey’s name at the top of the list might surprise some but the writing has been on the wall since the Sun Bowl. There were rumblings that the Fighting Irish coaches had to give him the start to keep him around.
Now, there is talk that Mickey is losing ground to Christian Gray in spring practice. While Benjamin Morrison is out, he’s expected to be back and healthy by the fall and that could leave Mickey the odd man out.
It seems clear that Notre Dame Football is expecting a corner to leave, even if it’s not Jaden Mickey. Over the last few days, the Irish have made PWO offers to two Ivy League grad transfers. Tyson McCloud from Dartmouth and Anthony Chideme-Alfaro are probably not looking towards South Bend unless they believe an opportunity is opening up.
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Could Notre Dame Football be losing 'gunslinger' in Kenny Minchey?
The talk since the beginning of the offseason was that the Notre Dame football team seems to just have too many talented quarterbacks on the roster. In the age of the transfer portal, it’s unheard of to stockpile QB talent the way the Irish have so far.
Riley Leonard is the odds-on favorite to be the starter next season, even with his injury problems. That means CJ Carr, Steve Angeli, and Kenny Minchey are all fighting for the backup job. It would be an absolute shock if the Irish entered May with all four on the roster.
As it stands right now, most people believe that the depth chart will feature Angeli as the backup or 1B until Leonard is full go. It’s incredibly unlikely that Carr is going to go anywhere this season. He came in knowing that Leonard, Angeli and Minchey were all here.
That leave Minchey as the most likely guy to be taking his show on the road. Its possible that his performance this spring makes it even more likely. There’s been a ton of talk about how well what will be the redshirt-freshman has played this spring.
More than a few of his teammates and coaches have referred to him as a gunslinger who can run and throw on the run. It’s clear the Notre Dame Football coaches would love to keep Kenny Minchey in the mix, but it may turn out that he decides he can take his act on the road to a team that gives him a chance to start sooner rather than later.
Tyson Ford could be all the way gone from Notre Dame Football
One of the interesting tidbits from Saturday’s scrimmage was that defensive tackle Tyson Ford has stepped away from the Notre Dame Football program.
“He’s taking some personal time just to figure out what he wants to do moving forward,” said Freeman.
While Freeman also said that the door is definitely open for Ford to return to the Irish, it certainly wouldn’t shock anyone if he decided to enter the portal instead. Of course, it’s also possible that he’s stepped away from the team because football just isn’t his thing anymore.
Ford is a former 4-star prospect so it certainly wouldn’t shock anyone if the sophomore/junior might eventually decide he wants to try and see if he can get more playing time elsewhere. With or without Ford, the Notre Dame Football defensive line is strong and deep.
Rivals ranked Tyson Ford as the 6th best strongside defensive end and No. 51 overall in the class. He committed to the Irish over offers from top contenders Georgia, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Ford has played in two games in his two seasons with the Irish. He assisted on a tackle in the win over Tennessee State last season. He also saw the field but didn’t record a tackle in the Wake Forest game in November.
Perhaps the biggest indicator that he’s just ready to be done with Notre Dame Football is that he’s moved back and forth between defensive end and defensive tackle but hasn’t been able to move up the depth chart no matter which position he’s playing.