'20 NJ CB Clarence Lewis (Notre Dame Signee)

[stlnd01]

Good for him, good for us. I agree his offer list doesn't blow you away, but the staff seemed to prioritize him in this recent wave of DB recruits and I'm sure they have their reasons. Either way, we need some guys back there.

 

[NDGOLDEN]

I wasn't downgrading him. I honestly didn’t watch the film so I have no say. I was just wondering. I’ve just read some of you talking about players when they have a big offer so it’s worth it when we offer.

 

[T-Boone]

Great stuff!

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Great. Happy to have a secondary member in the fold.

 

[NDinMI]

Good length & solid agility. Has pretty impressive ball skills & seems to have a good feel for where the ball is going. I’ll take it!

 

[Luckylucci]

Good length & solid agility. Has pretty impressive ball skills & seems to have a good feel for where the ball is going. I’ll take it!

Seems to make some very “heady” plays in his highlight tape. I saw those and thought this is probably a guy Lea would love.

 

[NDMIA]

Gotta start somewhere. Ideally ND takes up to 6 DB’s (I think they don’t get more than 5) so they had to start getting some guys in the class. Hopefully some of the big guns can get on board but at this point it seems like ND is a long shot to even get 1 4 star commit at DB which would be horrible. Long long way to go though. Lathan Ransom seems like a long shot, I have no idea how they can’t get an OV from Enzo Jennings but Pitt can, Jordan Morant eliminated ND, and Clark Phillips doesn’t seem to be coming back so it’s hard to imagine him committing to ND. Hopefully they can pull something out of their backsides cause ND needs talent and numbers at DB and they have neither. Clarence Lewis is a solid start.

 

[Luckylucci]

We fielded a top 5 defense, last year, with an entire secondary where none were 4 star players at this point in their respective HS careers. It ain’t just one dude. It was all of them. Just sayin.

 

[IrishBoognish]

I'm no scout.

But this kid looks like he has swivel hips.

I like it.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

We fielded a top 5 defense, last year, with an entire secondary where none were 4 star players at this point in their respective HS careers. It ain’t just one dude. It was all of them. Just sayin.

I was thinking this. We had 2 lockdown corners, many teams didn't have 1, and neither were very highly rated compared to other top 10 teams. And the safeties definitely outplayed their rankings. Hell, the 2nd best DB on the team was a 2 star on NSD.

 

[NDMIA]

We fielded a top 5 defense, last year, with an entire secondary where none were 4 star players at this point in their respective HS careers. It ain’t just one dude. It was all of them. Just sayin.

College Football Playoffs (247 Team Talent Ranking)

2018
Alabama (2)
Clemson (6)
Notre Dame (10)
Oklahoma (11)

2017
Alabama (1)
Georgia (4)
Clemson (9)
Oklahoma (16)

2016
Alabama (1)
Ohio State (5)
Clemson (9)
Washington (24)

2015
Alabama (1)
Clemson (13)
Oklahoma (16)
Michigan State (23)

I completely agree about not paying too much attention to star ratings cause they’re so hit/miss. I do know ND played last season with 8 DB’s getting the majority of the reps and 3 of them were 4 stars in Vaughn, Griffith, and Pride. Their 3 stars developed impressively due to the coaching, scheming and scouting of the ND staff. I think Clarence Lewis seems like a guy that could be good. Getting a 6’0”+ guy that can run and is athletic at DB is awesome. The bottom line is I’d love to see 6 4* recruits come into ND next season but that’s not happening and that isn’t always the best thing. I just want to see ND beating some big time programs for some wanted guys like Enzo Jennings who has a massive offer list, Makari Paige is a wanted man, Jordan Morant, and Lathan Ransom are some guys who are really desirable prospects because of their athletic gifts, offer lists and film. Malcolm Greene is a smaller dude but he’s been offered by Clemson which is huge along with 25+ other programs around the country. That seems enticing compared to a guy who had maybe a dozen that ND beat out West Virginia and Virginia Tech for. Mordecai McDaniels is a 3* who I’d take in a heartbeat because of Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Florida, Georgia and many others seeing him as an impact safety at the college level. Long story short, I hope they get to 5 dudes and I hope they’re good!!

 

[arrowryan]

Notre Dame obviously doesn't go down the DB rankings on 247 and offer based on that nor do they come to IE and value our opinion (weird, right?). The staff lost out with the first wave of CBs. Lewis was one of the very next ones to get offered. So its easy to see that the staff likes him and he's nowhere near the "bottom of the barrel" prospect that some of you act like he is.

Lewis is not even close to a plug and play guy; we all know that and he doesn't need to be. Let him RS and have him start competing for a spot in the 2 deep in 2021.

I said this in another thread, but right now I'm as confident than I've ever been with player evals done by this staff.

 

[NDdomer2]

We fielded a top 5 defense, last year, with an entire secondary where none were 4 star players at this point in their respective HS careers. It ain’t just one dude. It was all of them. Just sayin.

I was thinking this. We had 2 lockdown corners, many teams didn't have 1, and neither were very highly rated compared to other top 10 teams. And the safeties definitely outplayed their rankings. Hell, the 2nd best DB on the team was a 2 star on NSD.

And when one of them went down. We got shredded.

So while we have shown we can develop the "underrated" into high quality starters it would be nice to have more high quality depth that's ready to go and maybe doesn't need as much development in the instance where they might be needed.

And this isn't a knock on this kid. He could be that kind of player and the recruitniks just don't have him rated properly.

 

[stpeteirish]

Just watched his highlights. Competition level looks terrible? But I thought NJ had good football?

Not sure what to think of a long strider at DB, can't really see him playing CB at a high level but could see him as a safety.

Mater Dei's been around since the 60's and I can't remember a single player from there being a coveted recruit. Many NJ Catholic schools play good football, but they usually aren't one of them.

Maybe we found a diamond in the rough; time will tell. BC and VT are pretty good at finding 3 star east coast guys who can play.

 

[NDIrish88]

I like his position flex. Has WR skills, and that translates to ball skills on the defensive side. Jamie U and others said before he could also play Safety, which I agree with. It is a solid pick up.

 

[BobbyMac]

Mater Dei's been around since the 60's and I can't remember a single player from there being a coveted recruit. Many NJ Catholic schools play good football, but they usually aren't one of them.

Maybe we found a diamond in the rough; time will tell. BC and VT are pretty good at finding 3 star east coast guys who can play.

Former NBC broadcaster Brian Williams once ran for 500 yards vs. Red Bank Catholic.

Or so he says...

 

[irishff1014]

Welcome to ND. He has a very good feel for the game and reacts to the ball really quick.

 

[NDVirginia19]

Yeah, looked like some JV level quarterback play to me

Just watched his highlights. Competition level looks terrible? But I thought NJ had good football?

Not sure what to think of a long strider at DB, can't really see him playing CB at a high level but could see him as a safety.

 

[Irish#1]

I wasn't downgrading him. I honestly didn’t watch the film so I have no say. I was just wondering. I’ve just read some of you talking about players when they have a big offer so it’s worth it when we offer.

I liken it to the NFL draft. Not every guy that can play gets noticed by all the teams. Everyone was scratching their heads when the Colts drafted Darius Leonard out of SCS, but the guy ends up All Pro his rookie season.

Could be a similar situation with Lewis in that the staff sees something no one else does. I applaud the staff for not getting locked into numbers and rankings.

 

[Irish#1]

Former NBC broadcaster Brian Williams once ran for 500 yards vs. Red Bank Catholic.

Or so he says...

That's because Sister Mary Catherine and Sister Mary Frances were anchoring their D line.

 

[NDGOLDEN]

I liken it to the NFL draft. Not every guy that can play gets noticed by all the teams. Everyone was scratching their heads when the Colts drafted Darius Leonard out of SCS, but the guy ends up All Pro his rookie season.

Could be a similar situation with Lewis in that the staff sees something no one else does. I applaud the staff for not getting locked into numbers and rankings.

I agree

 

[BobbyMac]

I liken it to the NFL draft. Not every guy that can play gets noticed by all the teams. Everyone was scratching their heads when the Colts drafted Darius Leonard out of SCS, but the guy ends up All Pro his rookie season.

Could be a similar situation with Lewis in that the staff sees something no one else does. I applaud the staff for not getting locked into numbers and rankings.

I trust Lea. I trust the new ND evaluation machine. Since Lea/Elko/Rees & company overturned the dept, things are 100% better.

So when people complain I will remind them that while 247/Rivals/ND Message Boards slept, Wake Forest walked into Fort Wayne and landed Jessie Bates in broad daylight.

 

[Luckylucci]

And when one of them went down. We got shredded.

So while we have shown we can develop the "underrated" into high quality starters it would be nice to have more high quality depth that's ready to go and maybe doesn't need as much development in the instance where they might be needed.

And this isn't a knock on this kid. He could be that kind of player and the recruitniks just don't have him rated properly.

So when the 3 star went down the 4 star got shredded, and that proves the point?

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I trust Lea. I trust the new ND evaluation machine. Since Lea/Elko/Rees & company overturned the dept, things are 100% better.

So when people complain I will remind them that while 247/Rivals/ND Message Boards slept, Wake Forest walked into Fort Wayne and landed Jessie Bates in broad daylight.

Exactly. I trust this staff a great deal after the teams they've assembled in the last couple years. They are always refining their recruiting strategy and sometimes, they just don't land the big time, 30+ offer prospects. That's fine, as long as they continue to evaluate and land players that can be developed.

The only inexcusable thing are roster holes. We must find enough players to keep the roster balanced, across positions and over years.

 

[zelezo vlk]

I trust Lea. I trust the new ND evaluation machine. Since Lea/Elko/Rees & company overturned the dept, things are 100% better.

So when people complain I will remind them that while 247/Rivals/ND Message Boards slept, Wake Forest walked into Fort Wayne and landed Jessie Bates in broad daylight.

Yeah I seem to recall you putting up a fairly long post back in 2017 when Elko was hired about how DBs were the position least necessary to have high rankings to get production.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

Kid made some really nice reactive football plays in his film. Looks like he has a good football IQ. Welcome to ND!

 

[Luckylucci]

Exactly. I trust this staff a great deal after the teams they've assembled in the last couple years. They are always refining their recruiting strategy and sometimes, they just don't land the big time, 30+ offer prospects. That's fine, as long as they continue to evaluate and land players that can be developed.

The only inexcusable thing are roster holes. We must find enough players to keep the roster balanced, across positions and over years.

And this is what got us in trouble last year. We missed an entire cycle of CB’s. So there was no sophomore class to compete with the likes of Vaughn or Griffith. So, the staff chose to turn to a less than 100% Vaughn when Love went down. In hindsight, looks the wrong move. Also, one of the TD’s given up was on Alohi who was also noticeably hurt. Staff also chose to not sub him out. Again, hindsight is 20/20 and all

 

[BobbyMac]

Yeah I seem to recall you putting up a fairly long post back in 2017 when Elko was hired about how DBs were the position least necessary to have high rankings to get production.

Awww...

I don't think I've ever been called a long-winded, blowhard in a nicer tone.

Reps to u kind sir.

 

[NDdomer2]

So when the 3 star went down the 4 star got shredded, and that proves the point?

Who had a bum shoulder and had no one healthy and able to fill his backup role? We can spin this either way.

To sit here and say that the higher rated kids don't have higher hit rates (in terms of HS to college success) would be ignoring facts.

Needing 5 DB's in a class, the fanbase should expect some of them to not be "cream of the crop" so to speak. But on the contrary, you would think you would have a lot to sell to some of those guys as well. So I can understand why DB recruiting is slightly puzzling at the moment to some. (I for one think we have the rights coaches to identify and coach whoever we end up with)

But, again, I have no knocks on this kid or the staff taking him. There's still a whole year and summer of camps for him to rise in ranking to satisfy the star chasers and he could be a perfect fit for what the staff wants. I'm just speaking to the fact that the more highly rated kids on ur team the more likely you find some that can play at the level the staff and fanbase desires and just because we found 4 underrated kids for our defense last year doesn't mean it's the best model of success long term or for building championship depth.

One additional thought is the Jesse Bates find is nice (especially since Im from northeast IN) but his DC and positional coach aint at ND anymore.

 

[NDMIA]

Guys, ND was never going to get 5-6 4* DB’s in the same cycle. Nobody does that. Maybe Clemson, Bama or UGA but that’s crazy rare. Bottom line is root for ND to get the requisite numbers cause as far as their evaluations go, I’d trust them to bring in talented dudes no matter their rankings. I’m obviously rooting for some higher ranked dudes to be in the class and I’d love to see ND’s recruiting ranking rocket up the charts and their Team Talent on 247 jump up, but the more important thing is to grab the right balance as people have said in this discussion. Sure they could keep recruiting Lathan Ransom all year long even if he commits somewhere else, but if they flipped him or got him and had a 2 man DB class with him and Lewis that would be a bigger problem than getting 5-6 project guys. It forces the staff to hit on those guys and that’s always a risky proposition. Clarence Lewis is a 6’0”+ 4.6 40 yard dash guy which is fine. If ND can continue to land those 6’0”+ (that’s a real Diaco move looking for the size profile lol) and get some speedy guys then I’m confident Terry Joseph and Todd Lyght can make some NFL caliber DB’s out of them.