Postseason Roundup: Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman accepts Senior Bowl invite

Notre Dame’s 2023 season is finished and so are the careers of several Notre Dame football players.

The Irish have seven players departing with expired eligibility and others chasing professional careers with college availability still on the table.

Underclassmen who need to apply for special eligibility for the NFL Draft must do so by Jan. 15. They are also eligible to play in the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game, per new NFL rules. Players participating in those games have already committed to leave college.

Inside ND Sports will use this Postseason Roundup to track which NFL-bound players are playing in postseason showcase games for professional scouts and coaches. It will also include which juniors have declared for early entry into the 2024 NFL Draft.

Quarterback Sam Hartman, who spent the 2023 season with Notre Dame after five seasons at Wake Forest, accepted Thursday his invitation to participate in the Senior Bowl.

Hartman, whose college eligibility expired this season, will join three other former Notre Dame players — cornerback Cam Hart and linebackers JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau — in Mobile, Ala., where the game will be played on Feb. 3.

Hartman opted to sit out of the Sun Bowl, though he did attend the game to support his teammates. In 12 games with the Irish, Hartman completed 63.5% of his passes (191-of-301) for 2,689 yards and 24 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

Defensive end Javontae-Jean Baptiste has not yet announced whether he plans to play in Notre Dame’s Sun Bowl matchup on Dec. 29. But the East-West Shrine Bowl announced Friday that Jean-Baptiste intends to play in its all-star game in Frisco, Texas, on Feb. 1.

Jean-Baptiste, who transferred to Notre Dame after five seasons at Ohio State, leads Notre Dame in tackles for loss (9.5), sacks (4) and quarterback hurries (10) through 12 games. He’s tied with unanimous All-America safety Xavier Watts for fourth on the team in tackles with 47.

Jean-Baptiste is the only Notre Dame player currently committed to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl. His college eligibility expires after this season.

Notre Dame running back Audric Estimé has played his final game in an Irish uniform. The junior announced Thursday he will forfeit his final year of college eligibility to enter the 2024 NFL Draft pool. He is the third Notre Dame junior to do so following left tackle Joe Alt and right tackle Blake Fisher.

Estimé set a Notre Dame single-season record in 2023 with 18 rushing touchdowns. He totaled 1,341 rushing yards on 210 carries. He rushed for 2,321 yards in his Notre Dame career.

Click here for a full story on Estimé.

Notre Dame graduate senior linebacker JD Bertrand has one more game left to secure the title of leading tackler for the Irish for three consecutive seasons.

Bertrand won't return to Notre Dame to try to win that title for a fourth consecutive season. On Wednesday, Bertrand accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl. He previously accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl but has switched his commitment.

Because Bertrand redshirted in 2019 and played in 2020, he could have opted to use one final season of college eligibility next year due to the NCAA's COVID eligibility relief.

Despite missing one game this season with a concussion, Bertrand still finished the regular season as Notre Dame's leading tackler with 75 tackles. He also tallied 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, four pass breakups, one forced fumble and six quarterback hurries.

Bertrand also led the Irish in tackles in 2022 (82) and 2021 (101). His career total is up to 265 with 23 tackles for loss.

Notre Dame will be losing two of its starting linebackers from the 2023 season in Bertrand and graduate senior Marist Liufau, who accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl. Fellow graduate senior linebacker Jack Kiser, ND's starting rover, has opted to return for the 2024 season.

Notre Dame junior offensive tackle Joe Alt announced on Wednesday via his X/Twitter account that he will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. The 6-foot-8, 322-pound Alt will also skip No. 16 Notre Dame’s Sun Bowl matchup with No. 19 Oregon State on Dec. 29.

Alt, a team captain for the Irish this season, only allowed four sacks in his Notre Dame career according to Pro Football Focus.

The Irish signed Alt as a three-star in the 2021 recruiting class out of Fridley (Minn.) Totino. He originally committed to Notre Dame over Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State and Minnesota.

Click here for a full story on Alt.

Notre Dame junior offensive tackle Blake Fisher announced on Friday through his X/Twitter account that he's declared for the NFL Draft and will sit out of the upcoming Sun Bowl against Oregon State.

Fisher signed to Notre Dame as a five-star in the 2021 recruiting class out of Avon (Ind.) High. After earning the starting left tackle as a freshman, Fisher suffered an injury in Notre Dame's season opener at Florida State that kept him out for the remainder of the 2021 regular season.

In his next two seasons, Fisher handled starting right tackle duties and helped the Irish receive an honor as one of the best 12 offensive lines in the country by earning a 2023 Joe Moore Award semifinalist selection.

According to Pro Football Focus, the 6-foot-6, 312-pound Fisher earned a 72.5 pass blocking grade and 70.5 run blocking grade in 2023. He played 710 snaps, the second most on the offense behind Joe Alt (713).

Click here for a full story on Fisher.

Although he hasn't publicly declared for the NFL Draft, Liufau's plans were revealed on Friday when it was announced he'd accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl, which will conclude in a game on Feb. 3, 2024, in Mobile, Ala.

Liufau started in all 12 games this season and was a member of the veteran-led linebacker unit alongside Bertrand and Kiser. The 6-foot-2, 239-pound defender was selected as a 2023 Butkus Award semifinalist and finished his fifth regular season at Notre Dame with 44 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks and one forced fumble.

The Kalihi, Hawaii, native was recruited to Notre Dame in the 2019 recruiting class by then-special teams coordinator Brian Polian. Liufau, a former three-star recruit per Rivals, has made 28 starts in 39 games for the Irish. He's tallied 118 career tackles, 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, three recovered fumbles, one forced fumble, one interception and three pass breakups for Notre Dame.

On Thursday evening, it was announced Hart, who started all 12 games for the Irish this season, had accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl. Although he hasn't publicly declared for the NFL Draft, his college career is over if he follows through with attending the Senior Bowl.

The 6-2, 207-pound cornerback finished with 21 tackles including 15 solo and three for loss this season for defensive coordinator Al Golden and cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens. He also was credited with four pass breakups and three forced fumbles, one of which led to a defensive touchdown by safety Xavier Watts against USC. Hart's 84.2 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus ranked No. 2 on the defense behind linebacker Kiser with an 89.1 grade.

Hart, a team captain, signed with Notre Dame as a three-star recruit in the 2019 recruiting class out of Olney (Md.) Good Counsel. Hart has appeared in 47 games including 32 starts across five years. He’s totaled 91 tackles including 59 solo and 10 for loss while bringing in two career interceptions.

More than a week after he accepted his Senior Bowl Invitation, Hart officially declared for the NFL Draft in an Instagram post on Wednesday. You can read the full story on his decision here.

Seven Notre Dame football players have exhausted all of their NCAA eligibility following the 2023 season: Hartman, Jean-Baptiste, wide receiver Matt Salerno, safety DJ Brown, nickelback Thomas Harper, kicker Spencer Shrader and long snapper Michael Vinson.

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