Cam Hart Is Poised For A Breakout Season For Notre Dame

Notre Dame veteran cornerback Cam Hart is set to prove he's one of the nation's best in 2023

It wasn't that long ago that cornerback was a major question mark for Notre Dame, but heading into the 2023 season the Irish are poised to have one of the nation's best corner tandems. While sophomore Benjamin Morrison gets much of the attention, Notre Dame's best cornerback for much of the 2022 campaign was Cam Hart. 

After deciding to come back for a fifth season, Hart will get plenty of opportunities to prove he is in fact one of the better cornerbacks in college football.

CAM HART PROFILE

Hometown/High School: Baltimore, Md./Good Counsel

Height/Weight: 6-2 1/2, 202
Class/Eligibility: 5th/Senior

2022 Stats: 25 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 4 pass break ups
2021 Stats: 42 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 INT, 9 pass break ups

Career Stats: 70 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 INT, 15 pass break ups

2022 RECAP

We had high expectations for Hart a season ago, and things got off to a rough start. A fall camp hamstring injury slowed him down, and it cost him a bit in the opener. Hart was a bit grabby in the game against Ohio State, and he misplayed a route that resulted in Emeka Egbuka going for a long touchdown. 

It took Hart a few weeks to get back to full speed, and in that time he had a couple of blown assignments in the win over North Carolina, which overshadowed what was otherwise a quality game for Hart.

Hart played very well against BYU but was inconsistent in coverage and in run/screen support against Stanford. That summed up the first half of the season for Hart, who showed flashes of being the standout cover man he's capable of being, but also not showing the consistency needed to be a truly dominant player.

Over the next five games we started to see Hart be a far more consistently effective cover man. At times he was brilliant, but the moments of inconsistency went away for the most part. Hart's perimeter run support was excellent, and if you want an example watch the first couple of series against Clemson.

After giving up 187 receiving yards on 16 completions (2 touchdowns) in the first six games, Hart allowed just 6 completions on 12 attempts for only 53 yards in the final five games. Hart had games where he allowed 4, 2 and -2 yards during that stretch.

Hart's season ended after suffering a shoulder injury in the 44-0 win over Boston College.

2023 EXPECTATIONS

Heading into the 2023 season there are two things we need to see from Hart. One is that he stay healthy, which is vitally important. Hart has suffered a pair of shoulder injuries in his career, including the one that ended his 2022 campaign.

The second is that Hart become a more consistent player mentally. That is when Hart gets in trouble, when he's not locked in, and it manifests itself in many ways. A locked in Hart will be more assignment correct and eliminate some of the "out of position" plays that cost the defense a pair of touchdowns last season.

Hart is an extremely long, fast and athletic cornerback that has a lot of confidence in those skills. The Maryland native certainly has the mindset of a big time cornerback, and getting beat doesn't bother him, which is important. 

Where Hart doesn't always show confidence is in his technique, and when that happens he starts to grab wide receivers way too much. This cost him against Ohio State and several other instances early in the 2022 season. Hart needs to trust his technique more in 2023, which will allow him immense talent to shine through at a far greater degree.

That's the key for Hart in 2023 right there, be a more consistently sound player. If he does that he and Morrison could battle for the title of the top cornerback duo in the country.

2023 PROJECTION

The best case scenario for Hart is that he does in fact become a consistent player and he emerges as a standout field cornerback. Hart's range is exceptional, he's a strong support player on the perimeter in the run/screen game, and he can cover vertically thanks to his length and speed. All the tools are there, and if he puts it together he'll be able to handle every cornerback he faces this season.

The worst case scenario is that Hart suffers another serious injury. Beyond that, the other projection is that Hart basically repeats what he has been the last two years. That is a player that at times is outstanding and can shut down half the field, but at other times doesn't play with the focus needed to be a consistently dominant player.

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