When [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] decided to transfer to [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag], it seemed like [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] might be making a move of his own.
That hasn’t come to fruition and the two are currently battling it out this spring to see who will take the first snap of the season against Navy. With an inside look at this past Wednesday’s spring practice, The Athletic’s Pete Sampson chronicled what he saw and his analysis (subscription required).
Sampson says that Buchner stood out and for a pretty simple reason: “playbook experience matters.” There’s another reason to be excited about the Californian’s progress, his accuracy. “He’s not aiming passes, he’s ripping them. He’s throwing receivers open.” Those are things we haven’t seen in games from Buchner but
Those factors have the junior looking like the better quarterback, but it’s a bit foolish to think that he is the front runner. Although Sampson notes that “chemistry with wideouts is a real thing. It’s not clear Hartman has it. Yet.”
Notre Dame made Wednesday's practice fully open, start to finish.
Players who stood out in some capacity:
Tyler Buchner
Junior Tuihalamaka
Rico Flores
Xavier Watts
Joe Alt
Rylie Mills
Audric Estime— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) April 12, 2023
Although Hartman is lacking in this department, it’s hard to believe that the transfer doesn’t find it and isn’t QB1 when the fall arrives. Depth at the position is important, quality depth is even better and it looks like Notre Dame is trending in that direction.
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