Notre Dame has one representative on On3’s annual All-Transfer Portal Team: Former South Carolina kicker Mitch Jeter. After going 23-of-25 throughout his time in the Southeastern Conference, Jeter will finish his career with the Fighting Irish.
Here’s what On3 said about Jeter, as well as Blue & Gold’s thoughts on his inclusion — and any potential snubs from Notre Dame.
What On3’s Jesse Simonton said about Mitch Jeter
“The former South Carolina kicker was 12 of 14 on field goals last season with 33 of 34 made PATs. He also served as the Gamecocks’ place-kicker, with 65.1% of his kickoffs going for touchbacks — fifth-best in the SEC.”
— On3 national college football columnist Jesse Simonton
Blue & Gold’s thoughts
It’s hard to argue with Jeter’s placement on the annual All-Transfer Portal Team, despite an up-and-down spring. He missed a couple field goals in the April 13 jersey scrimmage (a 30-yard try that doinked off the left upright) and the April 20 Blue-Gold Game (a 50-yarder that came up well short), but “kicker needs time adjusting to new environment” is hardly surprising news.
Jeter was Notre Dame’s top target at kicker in the transfer portal, and for good reason. As Simonton said, he was wildly accurate with the Gamecocks. He also plays with a competitive fire that undoubtedly appealed to Irish head coach Marcus Freeman.
As for the rest of the roster, there is one other spot where Blue & Gold would have considered putting a Notre Dame player.
It’s not quarterback, even though Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard had a strong case for best signal-caller in the portal from a talent perspective. Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, who made the list instead, is the clear pick from a projected college production standpoint. Gabriel thrives as a “point guard”-style quarterback if he plays in a run-pass option-heavy offense with wideouts who can create magic after the catch, which just so happens to be what Oregon runs.
In this writer’s opinion, it would be a surprise if Gabriel does not wind up in New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist with the numbers he’s going to put up this season.
It’s not defensive end, either. Notre Dame’s RJ Oben should be a strong starter after transferring from Duke, but the edge rusher market featured potential All-Americans like Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton and Ole Miss’ Princely Umanmielen.
At wide receiver, though, Notre Dame’s Kris Mitchell had a case to make the All-Transfer Portal Team over Oregon’s Evan Stewart, LSU’s CJ Daniels and Oklahoma’s Deion Burks.
Mitchell has neither Stewart’s recruiting pedigree nor Burks’ standout spring, but he put up the second-most receiving yards of anyone in the transfer portal (Louisville’s Caullin Lacy and Florida Atlantic’s LaJohntay Webster) with 1,118 in 2023. That ranked just ahead of Daniels, who had 1,067.
Daniels and Mitchell both did it at the Group of Five level, but several wideouts who made that jump last season (Oregon’s Tez Johnson, North Carolina’s Tez Walker and Ole Miss’ Tre Harris, among others) showed out on their power-conference teams.
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