Great list.
Recruiting never stops. While I think 2016 filled some holes, I think it was underwhelming at the top of the board. There's a lot of nice players that will be starters at ND, but a few "can't miss" and "plug and play" players would've obviously been helpful. With that being said, let's see everyone's class wishes for 2017:
QB: Avery Davis. I'm not completely sold on Davis personally, but he seems to be the only quarterback that ND is really pushing for. I think that's a dangerous stradegy but I trust this staff.
I'm not sold either. I know 5-11/6-0 QB's can be players but I just don't want to be the fan who has to find out.
Hendon Hooker is going to get the next offer. I don't know that much about him but he's got the right body.
Jack Sears' name is being connected to the Irish more and more. I love that dude. A full 6-3, live arm and real 4.6 speed. Him and Gebbia will be the golden boys in LA next year. The interesting thing about Sears is, his former teammate who he took over for at San Clemente is Sam Darnold and Darnold is the heir apparent at SC. UCLA has Rosen and just picked up Sears big rival, Devin Modster. The other local kid, Costello likewise just took Stanford. I could see him leave in a heartbeat. Utah offered early and they have set up a pipeline to his school in recent years. Something is up back in South Bend. Loy has brought him up numerous times in the past week or so. We'll see.
Dylan McCaffrey also has to be mentioned. Can ND or anyone for that matter break the Stanford/Duke stranglehold on the McCaffrey family? Stanford hasn't offered yet and they just got Costello who was born to be a Stanford QB. Again, we'll see.
RB: Stephen Carr and AJ Dillon. AJ is a big power back with good agility and athleticism. The kid lives ND and ND is in his blood; always good to have guys like that. Carr is a stud and it's always nice to steal a kid from the enemy.
Love everything about AJ Dillon and I'm taking it for granted that is getting done. Stephen Carr is great but I haven't seen anything that shows interest and he's Alloway's teammate so you think you would have heard something.
The staff has been open about their pursuit of
Najee Harris. He's Bama right now and I haven't heard anything good but they obviously are letting it be known in the media that they want him.
You can't have a list about RB's without including
Biaggio Ali-Walsh He likes ND, he's at Bishop Gorman and he's running for 2000+ on the top program in the country which though
not a pipeline, still are at the top of the pecking order for top recruits.. ND almost has to take him.
Last one
Ty Chandler from Nashville.
WR: Osiris St. Brown, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black. Shoot for the stars here. Wide receiver won't be a big need after DRob commits so go for broke. OSB has the family connection and Peoples-Jones is close with Gilmore. Go for it.
I'd work
Trevon Grimes hard. He's at Aquinas, you've got a histroy with the school and he's up there with DP-J.
Joseph Lewis appears to have a high opinion of the Irish per the services. He's a player.
Another kid out here is
Terrell Bynum at Servite. He actually had better per game numbers than both ESB and OSB when they were together 2 years ago. His OC is Oscar McBride so there's that connection too.
Last one out here is
Taariq Johnson. He was at Hawkins with Lewis but left before the start of the season. He has an early ND offer and he's a clone of Boykin. He may be one of those guys wanting to get out of the shadow of the 5 star local guys if they matriculate to SC / UCLA.
Back in Chicagoland you have
Isaiah Robertson who has been to ND a few times and
Ricky Smalling who is a Catholic League kid from Brother Rice. I've read some good things about him.
I'll throw in this last name.
Grant Calcaterra. He's a big Samardzija sized WR. Led his team in receiving even though Dylan Crawford was the "star" wide receiver. He's originally from Cincinnati and his Mom is a Hoosier. Loy has featured him a lot lately and he reported in an interview that ND has reached out to him and he plans on visiting when school gets out. I saw the kid play and he's got a gear very similar to Samardzija in high school. His new high school coach is the former WR coach at Nebraska. He won't have the luxury of having KJ Costello throwing him dimes next year and the other team will keep a closer eye on him now that Crawford is in Ann Arbor but he has the attention of the staff.
TE: Brock Wright and Cole Kmet. Absolutely amazing job by the staff locking up its first two atop their TE big board.
Boom, Boom, done.
OL: Josh Lugg, Dillan Gibbons, Trey Smith, Walker Little, Austin Jackson. Again, shoot for the stars. Solid foundation with Lugg and Gibbons so go for it all here. Trey Smith is my favorite lineman in this class on offense.
There's A LOT of talent in next years class. Brock Wright's teammate,
Austin Deculus looks like a monster. He didn't react too positively to the ND offer but Brock is his teammate so that's a great foot in the door. From what I've read he's a heavy LSU lean.
Isaiah Wilson is even more impressive physically than Deculus. He's like 6-7, 330. He's at Poly Prep and played with Jay Hayes (Is that still a good thing?) He could also catch a ride on Jesse Bongiovi's Gulfstream for a game this fall.
Look for an offer for to go out soon to
Andrew Thomas. His teammate Mick Assaf just got a PWO for '16 and another teammate for '17 WR Trey Blount got an offer a couple of days ago.
Jedrick Wills and
Wyatt Davis both have offers and most seem to think the Irish are high on their lists
Others to look out for,
CJ Thorpe, Ben Petrula and Matt Bockhorst. I'll believe Bockhorst and ND are done when he's standing on someone else's sideline next fall.
DT: Haskell Garrett, Jerron Cage, Dalyn-Wade Perry. Steal Cage from the enemy with the family connection. ND leads for Garrett and battle Stanford for Perry. DT is a big need in this class IMO.
Yes it is.
Breyon Gaddy is another name to look for. He and his brother, Brandon Gaddy (Who's a 6-4, 260lb dual threat QB, reported that ND offered him as a TE) Virginia is loaded with DT's next year.
Darnell Ewell is there too and he has an offer.
Cam Spense at IMG has to be on the board.
DE: Joshua Kaindoh, Robert Beal, Eric Crosby. Robert Beal is a great start at this position. Kaindoh is a kid that is a "plug and play" type player. Keeping him from OSU would be great. Crosby likes ND, I'm not sure he's been offered yet.
Throw
Corey Malone-Hatcher, and
Zach Carter on my list.
LB: David Adams, Baron Browning, Maleik Gray, Josh Clarke. I think at least four LBs are a must here. Need to fill the holes with talent. Lots of talent and speed on this list.
Big need next year. If I get one prospect in the country I'll take
Dylan Moses. Now back to reality... Adams seems to be the only ILB with interest that the Irish are currently after but if they change their minds about
Blake Gallagher, he might change his mind about Northwestern.
At OLB, there's
Antjuan Simmons who has been getting all the media connections with ND but like John Ross, it's ND/MSU/Mich and you have to figure you loose 80-90% of those.
My CB lock is
Pete Werner of Indy Cathedral. The offer is brewing and when it comes, he's gonna commit.
Another interesting prospect with favorable views of ND is
Santino Marchiol who just transferred from Colorado to IMG Academy. He's got Stanford and Northwestern offers and OSU, LSU and a lot more. ND's late to the party but he appears to have grades and
he's gotta be Catholic right?
I read to expect an offer for Pat Swilling's son,
Bruce Jordan-Swilling. He's in New Orleans so don't hold your breath.
Sherrod Greene and Calvert Hall's
Tyshon Fogg are guys with the right kind of offfers in ND's footprint that are intriguing. Plus if the Irish get on Fogg, Calvert Hall alum and ND super fan Mel Kyper Jr. can help recruit!
CB: Ambry Thomas, DeAngelo Gibbs, Jamyest Williams, Thomas Graham. Graham and Carr are a package (currently). Gibbs is the best of the bunch.
Carr and Graham announced they were decommitting then they were listed as soft verbals. Who knows. I don't know a lot about CB's back east so I'll mention a few west guys.
Darnay Holmes is a Top 2 player in the country behind Dylan Moses and technically, he's the best all around player with ease. He's this year's Adoree Jackson which means he can run, catch, defend and...
going to SC most likely.
Deommodore Lenoir is a top 10 nationally, goes to a Catholic school and is currently high on teams not named SC and UCLA. I have not seen him play except the same edited highlights everyone else sees but he's Top 10 4 star. Looks like someone to target.
Servite's
Keith Taylor is currently committed to Washington but hasn't caught fire yet for some reason. He might be a full 6-2 and can play. At that size and skill set, he's a possible FS too. He's also coached by former ND player Oscar McBride.
A CB with and ND connection and an offer is
Chevin Calloway of Bishop Dunne (TX) where Nick Watkins came out of.
Lastly
Alex Perry of Bishop Gorman has been committed to ASU for a while. Can ASU keep him? Does Haskell Garrett need a roommate? Does he want to play in Fertitta Stadium this fall? Should be an easier target than going to Alabama or New Orleans.
S: Jeffery Okudah, RJ Potts. Okudah is an absolute stud safety. Love this kids game against great competition. Potts is a local kid with a ton of talent.
Yes, Okudah please.
Isaiah Pryor if he changes his mind.
Paris Ford picked Pitt so far, he's Darrin Walls brother and ND will be in Pittsburgh a lot with Adams and Jurkovec being high on the board. I doubt that's over.
Brandon McKinney in CA who has ND contact but no offer yet might not be that way for long . He's a rated between #10-15 nationally. Plays against the best in the Trinity League Tall and rangy. Very good athlete.
Jalen Kelly-Powell is offered and is part of a good Detroit group of players the Irish are battling UM and MSU for.
I have to believe
RJ Potts is gonna enter college a true tweener and I'll bet it all he ends up an OLB. His dad was a large man and he was a lot shorter. The other thing is his family is from Louisiana and he has openly said LSU is his dream school. We'll see.
Last shout out for a Indiana kid...
Ben Stewart. Irish fan, Indy Cathedral SS, best tackler you will see on film. State Champion contender in wrestling. If he was 6-0 / 6-1 he'd already have an offer. But he's not quite 5-11 it sounds. Maybe he's got a growth spurt in him?
Dream list obviously but there are a lot of connections and momentum on this board. Go get 'em staff.
Great write up IM 3
.
