Alrighty then...
On Hood: he basically committed in February, was going to make a formal announcement after visiting UNC, and then after visiting UNC with his family the whole paradigm shifted and it looked like he was going to only consider local schools. Then he visited Notre Dame again and committed. And now he is decommitted and staying home... presumably at UNC. ISD basically says what we've all heard... take Hood's comments at face value... it's not about Notre Dame, it's about "family." Take all external influences out of the equation, and he'd be going to ND. Also, Vee's comments about "something happening" are bogus and/or being misinterpretted...
The other commits were surprised but it seems they understand where Elijah is coming from. Look for Kizer to be the behind the scenes leader of the Golden Army moving forward. Other RB targets?
Starks is a guy with a lot of hurdles to clear, but if he could get past them ND would be in a really strong position to land his commitment. Likely not going to happen though.
Expect ND to reach out to all of the guys we've been talking about... Scarborough might be the best bet if he gets his academics in order.
On Bonner, there are some anecdotes about him dominating camp for 3 straight days. Against Bars, Tillery, and Byrne he was completely unstoppable. ISD expects him to be your classic "sleeper."
Away from recruiting and onto the team...
GAIII will be your starter at RB. Expect Carlisle to be #2 as he has impressed at RB as well as in the slot. Cam McDaniel is your most complete back... I personally expect him to be used around the goal line unless Mahone really steps up... and ISD thinks he could be a factor. Bryant and Folston are legit, but both will probably be used in very limited roles at first as they're still picking up the offense. Expect carries to increase more and more as the year goes on if they're showing flashes.
ND loves what they have at WR this year versus years past. A lot of depth... expect lots of different personnel groupings. Same with tight end.
Safety position is apparently a big worry. Shumate isn't there mentally. Collinsworth... who was really coming along before his injury last year... looks like he could be the Day 1 starter. It's your classic quandary over whether to play the better athlete or the smarter player.
On the DL, Schwenke looks really good. Rochelle should get some snaps and has a lot of potential but it is always hard for true frosh. Expect Rochelle maybe to play the amount of snaps Day played last year.
Cole Luke is great. Probably the most talented prospect we've brought in in some time. Devin Butler has also been impressive and Kinlaw has never played CB before, but is showing a lot of long term promise. All in all, we have 3 really good prospects in the system that we should be able to groom into solid-to-great players. In general, the entire freshman class looks to have an abundance of great attitude, effort, and talent.