Notre Dame Recruiting: What Jaden Mickey's Transfer Means for the Irish

Notre Dame loses a former four star recruit and starter early on in the 2024 season. What does this loss signal for the Irish?

Notre Dame cornerback Jaden Mickey participates in a drill during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame Football Recruiting

After two seasons and a bit, Jaden Mickey's Notre Dame career is apparently over.

Already four games into the season, NCAA restrictions on redshirt eligibility forced Mickey to make a decision about his future before this weekend's Top 20 game against the Louisville Cardinals.

Marcus Freeman announced the planned departure of the cornerback early Monday morning. Despite the general inability to predict mid-season opt outs, Mickey's decision to prematurely end his season and enter the transfer portal in December is only marginally surprising.

After committing to Notre Dame as a four-star recruit, Mickey played in 11 games his true freshman season, even starting once against USC.

As a sophomore, Mickey appeared in all 13 games but only claimed two starts. This season, All-American caliber cornerback Benjamin Morrison was always going to start above Mickey, but sophomore phenom Christian Gray's possession of the second starting spot appears to have been the final piece of the Mickey puzzle.

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
Mark 9:23 @ballerselite @NmickNilka
🦋💜✝️ pic.twitter.com/A7eXAB0Z9o

— JadenMickey (@jadenmickey_) September 23, 2024

Despite coming off the bench, Mickey is a very talented player who will draw many high-end suitors come the offseason, so this move makes sense for him on a personal level.

For Notre Dame, this move is less appealing. Although Notre Dame has two players they believe to be better than Mickey, each his age or younger, there isn't abundant depth in the cornerback position.

Freeman pointed to untested freshman Leonard Moore when asked about replacing Mickey, but an injury to either one of Notre Dame's starting CBs at this point would be disastrous.

More than that, Mickey jumping ship is emblematic of this new era of college football.

Talented players confined to the bench at top programs like Notre Dame will not sit patiently for four years anymore, and Irish fans will have to grow accustomed to that.

Ultimately, if the Irish can stay healthy, Mickey's departure shouldn't prevent Notre Dame from achieving any of its goals. But for a team getting hit with some bad injury luck - like on the offensive line - it desperately needs the secondary to stay in one piece now.

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