2019 - State of the Recruiting Class thread

[longliveautrydenson]

So we now have two of our top targets at S. Were we too early for these posts?

Lol I knew this post was coming. Very happy to eat crow about Hamilton, I thought for sure he was heading to Georgia after his second visit there. Still bummed about failing to close on Watson, I think his upside at safety is substantially higher than Ajavon’s (although Ajavon may have a higher floor).

I’m also still concerned about our recruiting board at several positions of need, but this is not a week for complaining. The staff should be commended for its recent run of commitments. Terry Joseph and Quinn have been great additions (at least in terms of recruiting). If Lea puts together a Top 20 defense and Tranquill/Coney have big seasons, I could see him reeling in some 5* defensive talent down the line. Kudos to Elston as well if he orchestrated this 5 commits in 5 days plan. It’s an inventive way to give us some recruiting momentum heading into the offseason.

 

[ab2cmiller]

So assuming Quinn Carroll commits to the Irish in the next few weeks, are we likely to take only one additional OL?

 

[NDMIA]

Minimum 4 but could be 5-6 OL if some big targets jump onboard

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Minimum 4 but could be 5-6 OL if some big targets jump onboard

I can't imagine a class with 6 OL. Best case scenario is we snag 5, I would think.

 

[Luckylucci]

We are not going six OL. This is going to be a smaller class. The number seems like 4 with a 5th being a luxury with a top tier talent.

 

[zelezo vlk]

We are not going six OL. This is going to be a smaller class. The number seems like 4 with a 5th being a luxury with a top tier talent.

I feel like we say this every year and it turns out not to be true.

 

[BobbyMac]

I can't imagine a class with 6 OL. Best case scenario is we snag 5, I would think.

What if Aaron Banks transfers to UCLA? What if Luke Jones transfers to Arkansas at the break? All kinda things can happen when you have a pipeline full of top tier prospects and someone doesn't see themselves fitting into the mix down the road.

I can imagine it and expect some movement. Highly rated guys like Hunter Bivin who can stay at a program and accept not being a starter are rare.

 

[NDMIA]

We are not going six OL. This is going to be a smaller class. The number seems like 4 with a 5th being a luxury with a top tier talent.

That's why I said minimum is 4 because that would put the OLine at 15 scholarships for 2019 and you could oversign by 1-2 depending on what transpires with some top targets. I'm not saying ND brings in a low developmental 3* as the 6th dude, but perhaps we sign Quinn Carroll & Zeke Correll in the next month and then we have 8+ months of recruiting top tier guys for Jeff Quinn where maybe Harry Miller surprises and loves his OV, maybe Julius Buelow gets to campus and wants in. Maybe Quinn decides he wants to move someone to Center above Ruhland and he grad transfers. Alabama is carrying 18 OLineman this season and Ohio State is carrying 15 this year as well, so its not like its crazy if ND doesn't say no to getting to 16-17 guys with a whole offseason of potential attrition ahead of them after the 2019 signing day.

 

[longliveautrydenson]

I feel like we say this every year and it turns out not to be true.

We definitely say that every year, but this year it might actually have some validity. ND just signed by far the biggest class of the Kelly era. Assuming most of the 27 stick around for a full season, we likely won’t have as much room to fudge with the numbers next year.

 

[Luckylucci]

We definitely say that every year, but this year it might actually have some validity. ND just signed by far the biggest class of the Kelly era. Assuming most of the 27 stick around for a full season, we likely won’t have as much room to fudge with the numbers next year.

Correct and for the sake of numbers. That is the first class since 2010 that was 25 or above. So some of my comment was relative to a full class or max class being 25 or above. We've only had one of those in a while. I wouldn't expect this class to be at 25. Probably in the low 20's. 21, 22, 23, etc.

 

[Luckylucci]

That's why I said minimum is 4 because that would put the OLine at 15 scholarships for 2019 and you could oversign by 1-2 depending on what transpires with some top targets. I'm not saying ND brings in a low developmental 3* as the 6th dude, but perhaps we sign Quinn Carroll & Zeke Correll in the next month and then we have 8+ months of recruiting top tier guys for Jeff Quinn where maybe Harry Miller surprises and loves his OV, maybe Julius Buelow gets to campus and wants in. Maybe Quinn decides he wants to move someone to Center above Ruhland and he grad transfers. Alabama is carrying 18 OLineman this season and Ohio State is carrying 15 this year as well, so its not like its crazy if ND doesn't say no to getting to 16-17 guys with a whole offseason of potential attrition ahead of them after the 2019 signing day.

Correct, so that would be 4 with a possible 5th. If we were to land those first two and get to 4, we'd probably play for a 5th. I doubt we'd go for a 6th. Those are the numbers being thrown out by all parties involved.

Roster management is more than just adding numbers. It's about having those numbers spread out, to a certain degree. Hence, we are already pretty active with 20' OL.

 

[NDMIA]

Correct, so that would be 4 with a possible 5th. If we were to land those first two and get to 4, we'd probably play for a 5th. I doubt we'd go for a 6th. Those are the numbers being thrown out by all parties involved.

Roster management is more than just adding numbers. It's about having those numbers spread out, to a certain degree. Hence, we are already pretty active with 20' OL.

Yes I totally agree, but lets float a scenario where you're at 4 commits (Carroll & Correll jump on board) and Julius Buelow jumps on the offer on a Sept. 1 Michigan-ND battle. Then Harry Miller takes his commitment to signing day and falls for the Golden Domers, are you saying no to potentially the best all around OLineman in the entire country when you have 14-15 scholarship OLine committed for 2019, No, plain & simple. Do I think we even run into an issue of having 5 committed and Harry Miller want in, No, plain & simple, lol. So excellent points, but there are 8+ months till signing day so a lot will happen. Hopefully we get to 4 good ones first.

 

[longliveautrydenson]

Well I must admit that - despite my earlier alarm - the state of recruiting is looking pretty solid. With nearly half of the class accounted for, it will be very interesting to see how the staff allocates scholarships for the rest of the class. My best guess:

QB - 1
RB - 1
WR - 1
RB/WR - 1
TE - 1
OL - 1
DT/SDE - 1
WDE - 2
LB - 3
DB - 1

 

[D-BOE34]

I can't believe we aren't in the top 10 for recruiting rank yet. I feel like or class is so much better than it's rank. Not that it matters the rank but I am really excited about a lot of these guys coming in, maybe I expected it to be higher?

 

[jspags10pg]

I can't believe we aren't in the top 10 for recruiting rank yet. I feel like or class is so much better than it's rank. Not that it matters the rank but I am really excited about a lot of these guys coming in, maybe I expected it to be higher?

I expect guys like Kristofic, Hamilton, and Wallace to be rated significantly higher by the time they sign. We're in a very good spot right now.

 

[NDMIA]

QB - 1
RB - 2
WR - 2-3
TE - 1
OL - 1-2
DL - 3
LB - 2-3
DB - 1
ST - 1
Anywhere from 14-17 more commits. I think by signing day you’re looking at an almost 25 man class. Brian Kelly & Co have finally figured out how to get ahead of the attrition by over signing and they will probably continue to do so. The last few seasons ND has had between 12-15 departures. ND would need 26 commits to get 100 scholly guys before the attrition starts. So look for back to back pretty big classes

 

[longliveautrydenson]

QB - 1
RB - 2
WR - 2-3
TE - 1
OL - 1-2
DL - 3
LB - 2-3
DB - 1
ST - 1
Anywhere from 14-17 more commits. I think by signing day you’re looking at an almost 25 man class. Brian Kelly & Co have finally figured out how to get ahead of the attrition by over signing and they will probably continue to do so. The last few seasons ND has had between 12-15 departures. ND would need 26 commits to get 100 scholly guys before the attrition starts. So look for back to back pretty big classes

I would love to land 2-3 WRs this cycle, but I’m not sure I could even name three WRs on our board right now.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

QB - 1
RB - 2
WR - 2-3
TE - 1
OL - 1-2
DL - 3
LB - 2-3
DB - 1
ST - 1
Anywhere from 14-17 more commits. I think by signing day you’re looking at an almost 25 man class. Brian Kelly & Co have finally figured out how to get ahead of the attrition by over signing and they will probably continue to do so. The last few seasons ND has had between 12-15 departures. ND would need 26 commits to get 100 scholly guys before the attrition starts. So look for back to back pretty big classes

I'm more conservative in my estimates. I'd guess this class locks in around 22. We don't have to have 3 LBs in this cycle given our haul last year (although it'd be great to get 3). DL probably 2-3 spots remain. WR probably 2 spots, 1 RB.

And any of these spots could be bolstered by late interest from a top shelf prospect.

Maybe I'm wrong but we can't sign 25 every year, even with attrition/transfers. I don't know who is up for a 5th next year so that'll determine a lot as well.

 

[NDMIA]

Kevin Austin didn’t get his first ND CB until March 2nd. Braden Lenny was committed to Oregon until December. Lawrence Keys III didn’t get his CB’s until January of 2018. Del Alexander has offered 25 WR’s and 23 of them are 4/5*’s. He did the same thing last year where he didn’t expand the board for a while. He offers the top guys in the country and works hard on them and then expands the board later if need be. Different from Mike Elston on the DLine who offered every WDE in the country. Del Alexander has managed to get Garrett Wilson, Isaiah Williams, Joe Ngata, David Bell, Jake Smith, Kam Brown, Dylan Wright, TJ Sheffield, Donovan Greene, John Metchie, and Cornelius Johnson all on campus this cycle which is incredibly impressive in its own right. Plus, I think ND leads for Cornelius Johnson until Stanford or Bama potentially steal him away. John Metchie has great things to say about ND leading into his visit, and no inside info but I think ND leads for TJ Sheffield. I’d say the WR board is tough right now cause it’s hard to see where we lead but I’d prefer to take a bunch of shots at top tier talent then after a month or two you just fold up shop and start offering a bunch of developmental 3*’s that you beat out Northwestern or Vanderbilt for.

 

[NDMIA]

Driskell mentioned on Quinn Carroll Commit Podcast that ND’s goal is to land 1 out of Saleem Wormley or Zeke Correll and the dream class would be both. I’d say that’s an interesting proposition, but what do you all think of Saleem Wormley? I was super turned off by the 6.3 40yd dash. That’s outrageously slow. Other than that though, I don’t know much about him. Anyone have thoughts?

 

[arrowryan]

Driskell mentioned on Quinn Carroll Commit Podcast that ND’s goal is to land 1 out of Saleem Wormley or Zeke Correll and the dream class would be both. I’d say that’s an interesting proposition, but what do you all think of Saleem Wormley? I was super turned off by the 6.3 40yd dash. That’s outrageously slow. Other than that though, I don’t know much about him. Anyone have thoughts?

The 40 yard dash is such an overrated test for every position in football, and it’s useless for linemen. Yes, his 40 time is slow, but when would a team need him to run 40 yards in a straight line? The 3 cone drill is much more telling for a player’s agility. With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wormley’s 3 cone time was bad as well.

 

[BobbyMac]

Driskell mentioned on Quinn Carroll Commit Podcast that ND’s goal is to land 1 out of Saleem Wormley or Zeke Correll and the dream class would be both. I’d say that’s an interesting proposition, but what do you all think of Saleem Wormley? I was super turned off by the 6.3 40yd dash. That’s outrageously slow. Other than that though, I don’t know much about him. Anyone have thoughts?

Wormley's obviously very good. He's reportedly dominating the big camps and has an NFL OG body, almost freakish width for a guy under 6-4... but the demographic fit is Correll. If it goes to a 5th, my money is actually on Christian Mahogany or the Big Salad from Hawaii.

 

[IrishLion]

Driskell mentioned on Quinn Carroll Commit Podcast that ND’s goal is to land 1 out of Saleem Wormley or Zeke Correll and the dream class would be both. I’d say that’s an interesting proposition, but what do you all think of Saleem Wormley? I was super turned off by the 6.3 40yd dash. That’s outrageously slow. Other than that though, I don’t know much about him. Anyone have thoughts?

The 40 yard dash is such an overrated test for every position in football, and it’s useless for linemen. Yes, his 40 time is slow, but when would a team need him to run 40 yards in a straight line? The 3 cone drill is much more telling for a player’s agility. With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wormley’s 3 cone time was bad as well.

I don't care what his "speed" testing says as long as his kick-step is quick enough to stop/stalk a speed rusher.

You don't need to run in the 4's or even 5's to have a good kickstep and lateral mobility inside the tackle box.

Blocking down field on screens might be an issue, but not if it's set up well.

 

[NDMIA]

Yes, I understand a 40 time is not that important for an OLine prospect. Orlando Brown out of Oklahoma ran a 5.85 at the combine and was a 3rd round pick to Baltimore. I was just curious if Saleem Wormley was deemed athletic enough to be big time. If he is, then I think ND should definitely try and get him, but that's why I was asking people's thoughts on him.

 

[ab2cmiller]

I don't care what his "speed" testing says as long as his kick-step is quick enough to stop/stalk a speed rusher.

You don't need to run in the 4's or even 5's to have a good kickstep and lateral mobility inside the tackle box.

Blocking down field on screens might be an issue, but not if it's set up well.

Downfield blocking on Notre Dame's screens is a useless pursuit.

 

[BobbyMac]

Figured on a class of 24, here's what I'd project for ND:

QB - 1 ......... Mertz / Calzada / or other unoffered QB's like G Cruz or C Bazelak

RB - 2 .......... K Williams / yet to be offered RB like John Bivens or TJ McDaniels

WR - 3 ......... Hopefully 2 of C Johnson, J Metchie, TJ Shefield but I think it's 3 yet offered WR's

TE - 1 .......... None of the current offers. Unoffered TE like Kirkbride, Bilodeau, Olges

OL - 4 .......... Olmstead - Kristofic - Carroll + Correll

DT - 1 .......... Lacey

DT/SDE - 2 ... Spears / Cross

SDE - 1 ......... 1 of: E Rueben / D Ojabo / C Rorie / or a yet unoffered big SDE like Olges

WDE - 2 ........ NaNa / Tommy Eich

LB - 3 ........... Ekownu / Henrich / Lytle

CB - 2 ........... Wallace + yet unoffered CB

S - 2 ............. Ajavon - Hamilton

 

[snoopdog]

The 40 yard dash is such an overrated test for every position in football, and it’s useless for linemen. Yes, his 40 time is slow, but when would a team need him to run 40 yards in a straight line? The 3 cone drill is much more telling for a player’s agility. With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wormley’s 3 cone time was bad as well.

Completely 100% disagree.

40 times will point out how athletic a player is.

Orlando Brown FELL to the third round because of his 40 time.

5.6 is my cutoff for a O-line.

Wormley as a guard has to pull to kickout the DE, which he will never do against a P5 DE.

 

[Luckylucci]

Completely 100% disagree.

40 times will point out how athletic a player is.

Orlando Brown FELL to the third round because of his 40 time.

5.6 is my cutoff for a O-line.

Wormley as a guard has to pull to kickout the DE, which he will never do against a P5 DE.

Well, not just that. He had a terrible combine overall. Put up 14 reps on the bench, that's just gross for an OL.

 

[irishnd31]

Well, not just that. He had a terrible combine overall. Put up 14 reps on the bench, that's just gross for an OL.

 

[beryirish]

Well, not just that. He had a terrible combine overall. Put up 14 reps on the bench, that's just gross for an OL.

Then i think he even did 19 reps at OU's pro day. He struggled to get to that.