Notre Dame Corner Cam Hart Went From Underrated Recruit To Top Draft Prospect

Cam Hart came to Notre Dame as an underrated recruit, and now he's considered a top draft pick

Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart / Angela Driskell, Irish Breakdown

The 2024 NFL Draft is finally set to kick off on Thursday, April 25th at 8 PM eastern time. There is a long list of former Notre Dame standouts who are anxious to hear their name called this week, including star cornerback Cam Hart.

After beginning his career as an underrated wide receiver recruit, Hart had a major ascension over the last couple of years. Looking back at his recruiting platform, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who could have predicted this kind of rise. Hart is another example that stars don’t always matter.

AS A RECRUIT

Hart is the definition of a recruit that a team should bet on. Coming out of Good Counsel in Olney, Maryland, Hart was a near consensus three-star wide receiver recruit who put together a strong final season in 2018. During that campaign, Hart hauled in 37 receptions for 643 yards and seven touchdowns.

On the 247Sports Composite ranking, the Maryland native was ranked as the No. 635 overall player and No. 79 wide receiver in the 2019 recruiting class. The only platform that had Hart ranked as a four-star recruit was ESPN, who had him pegged as the No. 32 athlete in the class.

Despite his lower ranking, Hart did have a pretty nice offer list. Some of the top contenders for him included the Fighting Irish, Michigan State, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Boston College, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia, Duke, Rutgers, Syracuse and Indiana among others.

AS A COLLEGE PLAYER

It was a fascinating journey for Hart, who did begin his career as a wide receiver. After some brief action as a freshman in 2019, Hart made the transition to cornerback the next offseason. With COVID-19 forcing programs to cancel so much team activity, Hart’s defensive development was compromised slightly, only seeing brief action in 2020.

Over the final three seasons for the Irish, Hart would start 32 games for Notre Dame and become a pillar for a very talented defensive unit. He showed signs of huge upside during 2021 and 2022, but 2023 was a completely different story. Hart was quietly one of the more effective cornerbacks in all of college football his final year, helping to form one of the top cornerback duos in all of college football along with Benjamin Morrison.

Hart did technically have one year of eligibility remaining if he chose to use it, but there was no need for Hart to use it. He decided to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft, where he has an argument as one of the more physically gifted cornerbacks in the entire class.

AS A DRAFT PROSPECT

There has never been much of a question about Hart’s raw talent as a football player. He is long, athletic and competitive. The biggest hurdle he had to jump over in regard to his NFL upside were his medicals. Hart has had some recurring issues with shoulder injuries and would have to answer those throughout the process.

The feedback in that regard has been positive. It’s believed that most teams are not overly concerned with Hart’s shoulder, seeing it as something that shouldn’t hold him back a ton.

Hart has been nothing short of fantastic throughout the rest of the draft process. It started with his performance at the 2024 Reese’s Senior, where he was one of the better players down in Mobile, Alabama during the week. Then Hart went up to Indianapolis, Indiana to compete at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. The momentum continued there.

You won’t find many 6-3 cornerbacks in general, but you definitely won't find many that are as athletic as Hart. On top of his 4.50 second forty yard dash, the explosive numbers were tremendous for Hart. He had a 39.5 inch vertical and a 10’10” broad jump, showcasing his explosiveness as a player.

Whenever you have a long, athletic cornerback who has a ton of experience against big time competition, there are going to be a lot of teams interested. Add in the fact that Hart has gotten progressively better each and every year, and you have a player who has a ton of upside. At this point, it would be pretty surprising if Hart gets out of the top 100 picks, feeling destined to be selected in the second or third round on Friday. 

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