'23 IN LB Drayk Bowen (Notre Dame Signee)

[Irish du Nord]

great get for ND but how does he fit into freemans defense.

Weakside linebacker. Fast, physical, and a good blitzer. That position will be pretty solid for the next few years, barring injury

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Welcome to Notre Dame Drayk!

 

[NorthDakota]

Crazy to find out he was a Bama fan growing up...And they never offered! Thank goodness!

Ehh i presume he just wasn't a huge college football guy then. Every kid when I was in high school was a Oregon, UT, or a Boise "fan." Or maybe just wanted to be something other than a Notre Dame fan since he is from Indiana. Sometimes rooting for the local school can be boring and it is fun to get under people's skin.

Happy he chose Notre Dame. Anytime you land big recruits, its something to be happy about. Not worried about any "lack of passion."

 

[IRISHMAN]

three years from now our starting LBs could be prince kollie, jaylen sneed and drayk bowen. that could be a killer LB group.

 

[NDFAN420]

I only watched the first 3 min of the interview and I don't think that the interviewer did a particularly good job at all: "Welcome to ND, so let's talk about 'Bama."

That being said, I agree that he could play all over the field at LB, depending on the formation/scheme and a LB that RBs have to account for when blocking or catching it short. They will get blown up.

 

[T-Boone]

Sounds like even if Bama offers he will stick to be close to home. Let’s go!

 

[NDdomer2]

three years from now our starting LBs could be prince kollie, jaylen sneed and drayk bowen. that could be a killer LB group.

I think burnham is best of the bunch

 

[Luckylucci]

I think burnham is best of the bunch

I had this post up but didn't hit send when I got a call. Jamie U at ISD has Burnham rated the highest of the group. I think it's a toss up and wouldn't argue with having any of Kollie, Sneed, Burnham, or Bowen at the top. Ish gets crazy if we land Styles, lol.

He's appears to be a legit 6'4 and tremendous all around athlete. I guess the question might become, is he actually a LB or is he Freeman's Vyper.

If Freeman keeps this Dollar package the same where he does not want to substitute, Burnham might be the most natural Edge to Will player, in this class. In that scenario, maybe Gobaira is purely a hand down end.

Who knows but we won't lack options. The competition is going to be fierce.

 

[T-Boone]

He's appears to be a legit 6'4 and tremendous all around athlete. I guess the question might become, is he actually a LB or is he Freeman's Vyper.

If Freeman keeps this Dollar package the same where he does not want to substitute, Burnham might be the most natural Edge to Will player, in this class. In that scenario, maybe Gobaira is purely a hand down end.

Who knows but we won't lack options. The competition is going to be fierce.

When I see Sonny's highlights and those kick blocks I think he looks like a DE.
He almost has too many options.

 

[Dale]

I think Georgia and Bama are at a different level in regards to defensive recruiting, such a different level that I can't even imagine our 2023 class getting that close to what they bring in every year.

Reminder: Notre Dame's leading tackler (by far) is JD Bertrand. JD was basically told to take a hike by Kirby Smart after being committed to Georgia for a year because they recruited 3 Top 150 linebackers over him, including 5 star Nakobe Dean who is one of the best LBs in the country. No offense to JD as I think he's a solid player when healthy, just shows the massive gap between "good" and "great".

Circling back to this now that Bowen’s thread has died down. Certainly ND will never recruit at a Bama/Georgia level but Georgia having 2 guys (one transferrred from Clemson) is really just icing. If ND could sign 1 CB like that every 3-4 years it’d be massive because they are usually Day 1 type guys, anywhere. Ringo would have started Day 1 for Georgia had he not been hurt, like Stingley did and Surtain played a ton for Bama. Those are like Top 10 type guys. ND should focus they can at least land 20 - 40 type guys like Grimes at UNC. Manifesting into existence that Harris, Muhammad and Rhett are getting us in the ballpark. I believe Rhett is much better than his #75 composite ranking at the moment. Rhett might be #1 of importance to me outside of QB in 2023 with Bowen under the belt who you could not let ND lose. WR would be valid other argument.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/mattfreemanisd/status/1456428364898742286?s=21[/TWEET]

Same weekend as Sonny again…

 

[BobbyMac]

Film for film, rank Sonny, Drayk and Tackett Curtis.

 

[BeauBenken]

Film for film, rank Sonny, Drayk and Tackett Curtis.

Tough because I could see them all playing different spots.

 

[arndtjc]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/mattfreemanisd/status/1456428364898742286?s=21[/TWEET]

Same weekend as Sonny again…

Getting this kid on the recruiting trail could be big time. ‘23’s version of Fisher now that he’s committed? Seems like a tight-knit group of commits so far

 

[GATTACA!]

I only watched the first 3 min of the interview and I don't think that the interviewer did a particularly good job at all: "Welcome to ND, so let's talk about 'Bama."

That being said, I agree that he could play all over the field at LB, depending on the formation/scheme and a LB that RBs have to account for when blocking or catching it short. They will get blown up.

All the reporters that cover recruiting are so cringey IMO.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

He’s a game wrecker. Exciting times. ‘23 is too far away. Lol

 

[BeauBenken]

I only watched the first 3 min of the interview and I don't think that the interviewer did a particularly good job at all: "Welcome to ND, so let's talk about 'Bama."

That being said, I agree that he could play all over the field at LB, depending on the formation/scheme and a LB that RBs have to account for when blocking or catching it short. They will get blown up.

I disagree. I think the point of the interview was to show that this wasn't some ND lock just cause the kid is from NW Indiana. And how often do we need to simply hear the same fluff that all recruits say about their school of choice? This was actual information that helps someone understand the battle for the kid that took place.

I also don't think we get as nice of video/audio quality for recruit interviews typically.

 

[dankgesang]

All the reporters that cover recruiting are so cringey IMO.

 

[IRISHMAN]

does anyone else think that bowen and his film compares very favorably to brian cushing coming out of high school.

 

[irishnd31]

does anyone else think that bowen and his film compares very favorably to brian cushing coming out of high school.

Does Bowen have little man milkers?

 

[RDU Irish]

So is he expected to play baseball too?

 

[NDFAN420]

I disagree. I think the point of the interview was to show that this wasn't some ND lock just cause the kid is from NW Indiana. And how often do we need to simply hear the same fluff that all recruits say about their school of choice? This was actual information that helps someone understand the battle for the kid that took place.

I also don't think we get as nice of video/audio quality for recruit interviews typically.

Fair point and I think that you're right about the intention. I just don't think the outcome reflected that.

Hey, but we got Drayk Bowen so what's it matter now?!

 

[Luckylucci]

So is he expected to play baseball too?

Yea, the baseball program got very involved here. That probably played a positive role in his recruitment.

 

[RDU Irish]

Yea, the baseball program got very involved here. That probably played a positive role in his recruitment.

I am a big fan of the two sport athletes. Good to see.

 

[BeauBenken]

Yea, the baseball program got very involved here. That probably played a positive role in his recruitment.

If our baseball program had not been playing at a promising level and had not recruited Drayk as well, I legitimately think we wouldn't be able to win this one.

 

[Luckylucci]

If our baseball program had not been playing at a promising level and had not recruited Drayk as well, I legitimately think we wouldn't be able to win this one.

Very much so.

I know Freeman gets a lot of credit for this one and rightfully so. But, I think the baseball team being legitimate and treating him like a real recruit was a huge boost.

 

[Irish2155]

What position does he play in baseball? I’m guessing not middle infield.

 

[ab2cmiller]

What position does he play in baseball? I’m guessing not middle infield.

From a recent Rivals article
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/10-things-to-know-elite-lb-drayk-bowen-picks-notre-dame-football

Bowen will play baseball for Notre Dame, and he’s a versatile player on the diamond. He could play shortstop, third base or in the outfield

 

[Irish2155]

From a recent Rivals article
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/10-things-to-know-elite-lb-drayk-bowen-picks-notre-dame-football

Oh wow. I didn’t expect a big bruising linebacker to be slick with the glove in the 6 hole. If he can play short on the D1 level, then must be one hell of an athlete.

Thanks for sharing btw

 

[ab2cmiller]

I think historically he’s played SS in high school and travel ball. But he’s only going to get bigger as he hits the weight room.