Newsstand: Notre Dame DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste added to Senior Bowl roster
As Senior Bowl practice week gets started, college football’s premier All-Star game and NFL Draft showcase added one more Notre Dame player to its roster. Irish defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, who began his career and played four seasons at Ohio State, is a late addition to the American team.
Jean-Baptiste had initially accepted an invite to the Shrine Bowl, but he was added to the Senior Bowl roster Tuesday morning. He joins four of his former teammates — linebackers Marist Liufau and JD Bertrand, cornerback Cam Hart and quarterback Sam Hartman — in Mobile, Ala., all of whom will play on the National team.
Brought in to fill the strong-side defensive end position, Jean-Baptiste did everything the Irish could have asked of him and then some in his one season in South Bend. He posted a career-high 5 sacks, 4.5 of which came in the last four games of the year. He also opted to play in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29, despite being a legitimate NFL prospect.
Jean-Baptiste is projected to get drafted, which was not the case when the season began. He was named one of 10 underrated NFL prospects flourishing as transfers by The Athletic in October, and his stock has only gone up from there.
He’ll have a chance to increase his draft position even more at the Senior Bowl.
Notre Dame Tweets of the day
Hart showed out in Senior Bowl one-on-ones Tuesday.
Bertrand did, too.
Freshman Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo does it again.
Quote of the day
“It was insane. The education alone — it’s something you can’t find anywhere else. The church was beautiful; I’ve never seen anything like that. We went through all the traditions at the church, and that was really special as well. I got to watch a lot of film with [quarterbacks] coach Gino [Guidugli], which was cool. We also played basketball with the quarterback room, including Deuce [Knight].”
— Notre Dame class of 2026 quarterback target Brady Smigiel on his recent trip to South Bend
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- Where do Notre Dame additions fall in On3’s transfer rankings?
- What we learned about Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard in every Duke start: No. 9 — Miami 2022
- What win over UConn did for the Notre Dame women’s basketball NCAA Tournament outlook
- What to know about Notre Dame’s 2024 class following final On3 Industry Ranking release
- Coach perspective: How Jordan Clark developed skills to play nickel at Notre Dame
- Notre Dame PG Hannah Hidalgo wins another weekly national award
- Elite 2026 QB Brady Smigiel raves about first Notre Dame visit: “It’s special”
