Senior Bowl director breaks down Sam Hartman's place among quarterbacks

Few quarterbacks in the nation have been much better this fall than Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman. Jim Nagy, Director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, has seconded that opinion when it comes to the Fighting Irish’s QB1.

Nagy spoke highly of Hartman in an appearance on ‘Andy Staples On3’ on Monday. He sees him as one of the better quarterbacks in the country, sixth-year senior or not, when you compare his play with the loaded group of quarterbacks that the sport has right now.

“He’s in that mix. We’ve talked about it. It’s a huge class, right? So many of these guys came back for that extra COVID year, extra NIL year or whatever. Whatever got them back, a lot of guys returned,” said Nagy. “So far, Sam has done everything that he can do.”

“We had a scout at the game a couple of weeks ago against NC State. That was kind of his big first test coming off the Tennessee State and Navy games,” Nagy added. “He has played well, he’s played well.”

Hartman is 64-90 for a career-best 71.1% completion rate over the 4-0 start for ninth-ranked Notre Dame. That has led to 1,061 yards, or a career-high 11.1 yards per catch, for 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also found the endzone twice more on the ground.

Still, with the Wolfpack being Hartman’s only real opponent thus far, he has yet to be truly tested in the eyes of some. However, as Nagy points out, Hartman could really kick his season or Heisman campaign up another notch against Ohio State with the Buckeyes coming to South Bend this weekend.

“(It’s) another big ‘prove it’ week for Sam,” Nagy said.

Nagy highlights Ohio State’s front seven ahead of Notre Dame matchup

Week 4 may have a loaded slate but none is bigger than Saturday’s prime-time showdown between Notre Dame and Ohio State. The Buckeyes will be traveling to South Bend for the first time since 1996 when Lou Holtz and John Cooper were in charge of the two programs. Talent is going to be littered all over the field, with Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy looking around the line of scrimmage.

Nagy will specifically be looking at the Ohio State front seven. There are multiple defensive linemen and linebackers who will be eligible for the Senior Bowl following the 2023 season. When it’s all said and done, Nagy could see multiple Buckeyes in Mobile to showcase their talents for NFL teams.

“On the Ohio State defensive line, they’ve got (Ty) Hamilton,” Nagy said during Monday’s appearance on Andy Staples On3. “We’re really looking at a bunch of their linebackers. Steele Chambers had a really good game this past week. Tommy Eichenberg. So, we will be focused in on that box area for sure. Even Lathan Ransom, the safety coming up.

“Those are some of the guys on the Ohio State offense we’re really focused on. All four of those guys could end up with invites.”