Ranking the 2021 Signees
- By Bumpdaddy
- Under the Dome
- 16 Replies
I’m a little late doing this. Sorry for the delay. As usual, I’d love to see as many of you as possible go on record with your own rankings (you don’t have to include comments as I did). You can see my and other board-member rankings for 2019 HERE (I’m really liking my Kyren ranking so far) and 2020 HERE (remember, it’s still early).
Obviously, this year’s rankings are a bit iffier. Not many camps, no official visits, and no all-star games. Several players had their senior seasons canceled entirely while others were only able to play a handful of games, so the recruiting sites did a lot more guessing than usual. That being said, I honestly believe we ended up with a very strong class with some amazing talent at the top and the top being much deeper than normal. I also think we have more hidden gems than usual.
I've ranked the players according to how much of an impact I think they will have while playing at ND. Players that I think have the potential to be multi-year starters and/or possibly a 1st or 2nd round NFL draft pick are ranked near the top of the list. Players that I think will likely be backups for most of their ND careers will be ranked near the bottom. The rest will be filled in between accordingly.
And, since the class is pretty huge, I've split the rankings in half so that I don't exceed the character limit per post.
2021 signee rankings 1-14
1. Tyler Buchner, QB - Let's get the negatives out of the way first. He has question marks: He's only had 1 full year as a starting HS QB after getting injured his SO year and his SR year was canceled. His short to intermediate passing game has never been his strong suit and he raised even more question marks after he switched to a new private QB coach and then had some rocky throwing sessions at the Elite 11 finals. If that hadn't have happened I think he would have remained everyone's number 1 ranked ND recruit. I’m sticking with him at #1 because everything that was true about him before the Elite 11 is still true - he has a strong arm, throws a great deep ball, has elite improvisational skills, and runs very well. So while he might be the biggest bust risk within the top 7 recruits, his upside is still the highest too and I’m banking on that upside winning out. I’m banking that he will get his short-passing issues fixed, that he will be the starter by 2022, and that he has a good chance to be the best all-around QB we've had in the BK era.
2. Rocco Spindler, OL - Deciding between Big Blake and Rocco at #2 was difficult but I went with Rocco because he is closer to being physically ready right now and I think there are less questions about what his best position will be - I'm guessing either G or C but most likely G. He's an incredible athlete who is destined to be a 3-year starter, eventual all-American, and an early-round draft pick.
3. Blake Fisher, OL - "The Mayor" is one strong, massive beast who tosses dudes like rag dolls. He has good, consistent knee bend and good hands. He gets off balance at times, however, and will need Balis's help to continue to refine his body; something almost every young O-linemen needs. Within a year or two, I expect him to be dominating as a starter somewhere but will it be LT, RT, or G? That’s still up in the air.
4. Gabriel Rubio, DT –Mason Smith is Rivals’ #1 overall player in 2021, the #1 DT, and the #2 composite DT. I challenge anyone to find a significant difference between his film and Gabe’s film. Yes, that sounds overboard but go ahead and compare the tapes. Gabe is special. He is a relentless brute who I believe will be the best DT recruit of BK’s tenure.
5. Prince Kollie, LB – It’s crazy that I have Kollie ranked 5th but that’s how good the top 4 are. There was angst early on that he was just our plan C guy (I’m looking at you IIO… wherever you are), but plan C, D, or whatever, it doesn’t matter. The Butkus Award winner is a hard-hitting all-around athlete who is going to be a stud for us for at least a few years before he gets drafted.
6. Lorenzo Styles Jr., WR – electric in a way that we haven’t seen at the WR position in BK’s tenure. Torii Hunter, Jr. before the injuries is the closest comparison but Styles is a faster, quicker version. He would be a game-breaking slot receiver on most teams but, so far, ND hasn’t figured out how to feature that position and Styles definitely needs to be featured. Maybe Styles will inspire a philosophy change or maybe he mostly lines up on the outside much like Fuller did. Either way, they will need to find a way to throw to him often.
7. Deion Colzie, WR – This is the type of WR BK and co. know exactly how to use. And he isn’t just some dude that has similar measurables to Boykin and Claypool. His game is also similar in that he has very good speed, runs fluid, has great hands, and has a physicality that makes him very hard to defend. He’s only going to get bigger, stronger, and faster under Balis and will be scary good by his jr. year.
8. Philip Riley, DB – Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. A boring word but exciting to see from a CB recruit on film. This guy sticks to people and his ball skills are high level. I would love to rank him higher but that would mean I’d have to rank someone else lower and I can’t do that so don’t let this ranking fool you.
9. Joe Alt, OL – this is the first reach on this list but not totally out of left field since he’s also at the top of most observers’ “better than his star-rating” list. He’s at the top of that list for me as well, but I think I actually have him ranked higher overall than most. He has the frame and length of a left tackle. He moves and blocks extremely well. He just needs to grow into that frame without losing much mobility and, word is, he is currently doing just that. Within the next 2 years or so, he’s got a pretty good shot at being the starting left tackle, and if that happens, even this relatively high ranking will seem too low.
10. Audric Estime, RB – I had to rank one of the two 4-star RBs higher and Estime was the easy pick for me. He’s big, strong, fast, and explosive, but the clear clinchers for me are his feet, vision, and balance. Diggs is good in all 3 areas as well but Estime is on another level. And he looks a bit faster than Diggs too. Happy to have both in the fold but I think Estime will be number 1 in a 1-2 punch and will be a national name at some point.
11. Justin Walters, DB – this is my next reach and a much bigger one than Alt. Look, he was destined to see a ratings bump after the camp circuit and a senior season but neither happened due to Covid, so he committed early as a 3-star and I think a lot of people sort of forgot about him. He was told by the coaches that he’s similar to Alohi and that definitely shows up on film but he is a slightly taller version who hits really, really hard. If you checked out his signing day video you will see that he is an all-business, lunch pail type of player that has future captain written all over him.
12. JoJo Johnson, DB – whaddya know… another rankings reach and a bigger reach than the last one. JoJo is a dynamic athlete. And he’s capital F FAST. He needs a lot of refinement as a CB, but if that doesn’t work out I’d be shocked if they don’t find a use for him somewhere including on offense. He has too much talent to stay on the sidelines.
13. Khari Gee, S (or LB?) – under-ranked by most of the services but highly ranked by most Irish fans and for good reason. He has the length at safety every coach would drool over, but is that where he’ll end up playing? I know he’s listed as a safety right now and solid posters like Telx like him to stay there… Heck, I like him there, but he’s been showing good physical growth every year and he plays more like a LB to me so I think he’ll end up being either a rover or a will. No matter where he ends up, he’s going to be good and will outperform his star-rating.
14. Devin Aupiu, DE – I really like his frame, his athleticism, and his potential. Balis and Elston just need to develop him and I think they will.
Obviously, this year’s rankings are a bit iffier. Not many camps, no official visits, and no all-star games. Several players had their senior seasons canceled entirely while others were only able to play a handful of games, so the recruiting sites did a lot more guessing than usual. That being said, I honestly believe we ended up with a very strong class with some amazing talent at the top and the top being much deeper than normal. I also think we have more hidden gems than usual.
I've ranked the players according to how much of an impact I think they will have while playing at ND. Players that I think have the potential to be multi-year starters and/or possibly a 1st or 2nd round NFL draft pick are ranked near the top of the list. Players that I think will likely be backups for most of their ND careers will be ranked near the bottom. The rest will be filled in between accordingly.
And, since the class is pretty huge, I've split the rankings in half so that I don't exceed the character limit per post.
2021 signee rankings 1-14
1. Tyler Buchner, QB - Let's get the negatives out of the way first. He has question marks: He's only had 1 full year as a starting HS QB after getting injured his SO year and his SR year was canceled. His short to intermediate passing game has never been his strong suit and he raised even more question marks after he switched to a new private QB coach and then had some rocky throwing sessions at the Elite 11 finals. If that hadn't have happened I think he would have remained everyone's number 1 ranked ND recruit. I’m sticking with him at #1 because everything that was true about him before the Elite 11 is still true - he has a strong arm, throws a great deep ball, has elite improvisational skills, and runs very well. So while he might be the biggest bust risk within the top 7 recruits, his upside is still the highest too and I’m banking on that upside winning out. I’m banking that he will get his short-passing issues fixed, that he will be the starter by 2022, and that he has a good chance to be the best all-around QB we've had in the BK era.
2. Rocco Spindler, OL - Deciding between Big Blake and Rocco at #2 was difficult but I went with Rocco because he is closer to being physically ready right now and I think there are less questions about what his best position will be - I'm guessing either G or C but most likely G. He's an incredible athlete who is destined to be a 3-year starter, eventual all-American, and an early-round draft pick.
3. Blake Fisher, OL - "The Mayor" is one strong, massive beast who tosses dudes like rag dolls. He has good, consistent knee bend and good hands. He gets off balance at times, however, and will need Balis's help to continue to refine his body; something almost every young O-linemen needs. Within a year or two, I expect him to be dominating as a starter somewhere but will it be LT, RT, or G? That’s still up in the air.
4. Gabriel Rubio, DT –Mason Smith is Rivals’ #1 overall player in 2021, the #1 DT, and the #2 composite DT. I challenge anyone to find a significant difference between his film and Gabe’s film. Yes, that sounds overboard but go ahead and compare the tapes. Gabe is special. He is a relentless brute who I believe will be the best DT recruit of BK’s tenure.
5. Prince Kollie, LB – It’s crazy that I have Kollie ranked 5th but that’s how good the top 4 are. There was angst early on that he was just our plan C guy (I’m looking at you IIO… wherever you are), but plan C, D, or whatever, it doesn’t matter. The Butkus Award winner is a hard-hitting all-around athlete who is going to be a stud for us for at least a few years before he gets drafted.
6. Lorenzo Styles Jr., WR – electric in a way that we haven’t seen at the WR position in BK’s tenure. Torii Hunter, Jr. before the injuries is the closest comparison but Styles is a faster, quicker version. He would be a game-breaking slot receiver on most teams but, so far, ND hasn’t figured out how to feature that position and Styles definitely needs to be featured. Maybe Styles will inspire a philosophy change or maybe he mostly lines up on the outside much like Fuller did. Either way, they will need to find a way to throw to him often.
7. Deion Colzie, WR – This is the type of WR BK and co. know exactly how to use. And he isn’t just some dude that has similar measurables to Boykin and Claypool. His game is also similar in that he has very good speed, runs fluid, has great hands, and has a physicality that makes him very hard to defend. He’s only going to get bigger, stronger, and faster under Balis and will be scary good by his jr. year.
8. Philip Riley, DB – Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. A boring word but exciting to see from a CB recruit on film. This guy sticks to people and his ball skills are high level. I would love to rank him higher but that would mean I’d have to rank someone else lower and I can’t do that so don’t let this ranking fool you.
9. Joe Alt, OL – this is the first reach on this list but not totally out of left field since he’s also at the top of most observers’ “better than his star-rating” list. He’s at the top of that list for me as well, but I think I actually have him ranked higher overall than most. He has the frame and length of a left tackle. He moves and blocks extremely well. He just needs to grow into that frame without losing much mobility and, word is, he is currently doing just that. Within the next 2 years or so, he’s got a pretty good shot at being the starting left tackle, and if that happens, even this relatively high ranking will seem too low.
10. Audric Estime, RB – I had to rank one of the two 4-star RBs higher and Estime was the easy pick for me. He’s big, strong, fast, and explosive, but the clear clinchers for me are his feet, vision, and balance. Diggs is good in all 3 areas as well but Estime is on another level. And he looks a bit faster than Diggs too. Happy to have both in the fold but I think Estime will be number 1 in a 1-2 punch and will be a national name at some point.
11. Justin Walters, DB – this is my next reach and a much bigger one than Alt. Look, he was destined to see a ratings bump after the camp circuit and a senior season but neither happened due to Covid, so he committed early as a 3-star and I think a lot of people sort of forgot about him. He was told by the coaches that he’s similar to Alohi and that definitely shows up on film but he is a slightly taller version who hits really, really hard. If you checked out his signing day video you will see that he is an all-business, lunch pail type of player that has future captain written all over him.
12. JoJo Johnson, DB – whaddya know… another rankings reach and a bigger reach than the last one. JoJo is a dynamic athlete. And he’s capital F FAST. He needs a lot of refinement as a CB, but if that doesn’t work out I’d be shocked if they don’t find a use for him somewhere including on offense. He has too much talent to stay on the sidelines.
13. Khari Gee, S (or LB?) – under-ranked by most of the services but highly ranked by most Irish fans and for good reason. He has the length at safety every coach would drool over, but is that where he’ll end up playing? I know he’s listed as a safety right now and solid posters like Telx like him to stay there… Heck, I like him there, but he’s been showing good physical growth every year and he plays more like a LB to me so I think he’ll end up being either a rover or a will. No matter where he ends up, he’s going to be good and will outperform his star-rating.
14. Devin Aupiu, DE – I really like his frame, his athleticism, and his potential. Balis and Elston just need to develop him and I think they will.
