Notre Dame Film Room: Sam Hartman And The Deep Ball

Breaking down the deep ball skills that quarterback Sam Hartman brings to the Notre Dame offense

There is no question that Sam Hartman brings a lot of deep ball experience and talent to the Notre Dame offense. This has been lacking for the Irish for years, and it could be argued that his deep ball ability is the number one trait that Notre Dame wanted and needed from Hartman when the staff went out and landed him.

THE NUMBERS

Hartman attempted 93 deep throws in 2022, which ranked 3rd nationally according to Pro Football Focus, and it was tops among Power 5 quarterbacks. A “deep throw” is any pass that travels at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. Only Austin Reed (Western Kentucky) and Austin Aune (North Texas) attempted more passes. The next three Power 5 quarterbacks were Washington’s Michael Penix (89), USC’s Caleb Williams (86) and North Carolina’s Drake Maye (85). Consider that Hartman played only 12 games while Penix played 13, and both Williams and Maye played 14 games.

Sam Hartman, Wake Forest (12 games) – 93 attempts
Michael Penix, Washington (13 games) – 89 attempts
Caleb Williams, USC (14 games) – 86 attempts
Drake Maye, North Carolina (14 games) – 85 attempts
Jayden de Laura, Arizona (12 games) – 82 attempts

Hartman was also 3rd in deep ball completions with 41, and he was 2nd among Power 5 quarterbacks.

Drake Maye, UNC (14 games) – 43
Sam Hartman, Wake (12 games) – 41
Max Duggan, TCU (15 games) – 37
Caleb Williams, USC (14 games) – 36
Michael Penix, Washington (13 games) – 34

Hartman was 5th in passing yards on deep throws among Power 5 quarterbacks (1,304), and only Duggan (18) had more touchdown passes than Hartman (16) among Power 5 quarterbacks. Duggan played three more games than Hartman.

On the Champions Lounge premium board I was able to break down what makes Hartman so impactful as a deep ball thrower. It's not just a volume thing, Hartman has a great skillset to be an effective deep ball thrower. In the links below you'll be able to read the three-part film room breakdown, which includes All-22 cut ups from Hartman's time at Wake Forest. You must be a premium member in order to read the rest of the breakdown and see the film cut ups. You can sign up HERE.

You can see a free example of the kind of breakdowns that are in each of the linked articles below:

FREE EXAMPLE - HARTMAN AND THE DEEP BALL

Click on the links below to be taken to each breakdown.

Part I

In part one of the breakdown I go over seven different plays that show Hartman's downfield ability. This breakdown focuses on Hartman's ability to beat teams on the outside using his ability to make quick reads, throw with excellent timing, be accurate and to beat teams over the top.

Part II

In part two of the breakdown I focus on his ability to throw over the middle. You can't be a great deep ball thrower and just attack outside, and Hartman showed the ability to attack over the middle with different types of route concepts.

Part III

In part three of the breakdown I focus on making plays. Things don't always go to plan, and quarterbacks need to be able to make plays. Hartman showed a penchant for those types of plays, and he also showed the willingness and ability to put the ball into tight spots, giving his receivers opportunities to make big plays.

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