It's obvious to anyone who follows recruiting that ND is off to a hot start in recruiting, and while we've seen great starts before that haven't always wound up amounting to elite classes on signing day, one still has to be encouraged with the type of talent the new staff is targeting and the the early verbal commitments that they've been able to secure early in the cycle. Coming off of a 4-8 season, most (myself included) thought that this might be a "wait-and-see" type of year for ND as it relates to the top tier recruits wanting to join the Notre Dame class. It's a credit to Mike Elko, Clark Lea, Todd Lyght, Aaron Carney, Dave Peloquin, Chip Long, Del Alexander, Autry Denson, Brian Polian and yes, even Brian Kelly, as well as the leadership and tireless work ethic of recruiting coordinator Mike Elston, that they've been been ultra aggressive and active in the 2018 cycle and their efforts are playing major early dividends.
As of Friday afternoon, Notre Dame has a total of 10 commitments for the 2018 class. What's more impressive is that they span across each position, with the exceptionon of tight end, kicker and punter. Notre Dame is undoubtedly taking a more blanched approach to recruiting this cycle and is finally, aggressively recruiting their primary needs. With a total number of between 18-21 recruits expected to sign in 2018, as it stands, ND's class could be 50% "complete" (verbal commitments are not binding) at this early stage.
Another important element of this class that fans have to be encouraged by is the quality of the recruits ND is landing. ND's class is currently ranked second in the composite rankings, behind only Penn State at this point and the composite average ranking of the 10 players ND has committed is 91.92, an excellent start and a group that features two top 100 players in Quarterback Phil Jurkovec and Safety Derrik Allen.
While it's a good sign that ND has a pair of top 100 recruits committed, it's going to be interesting to see wherected ND is at 4 months from now, come Irish Invasion as well as the spring game. Furthermore, the staff is doing an awesome job of getting top prospects on campus right night now. This weekend is perfect example of that, with a pair of top 100 recruits in CB Houston Griffith and WR Kamryn Babb both visiting, a week after ND had an extremely successful junior day, which saw them land commitments from 4 of the 5 un-committed players that visited and the 5th, WR Braden Lenzy has had CB's rolling in left, right and center, for Notre Dame.
With only 8-11 spots left in the class, expect ND to only target the players at the top of their board right now, until at least June, when they can then re-evaluate where they stand with the great players and can revise their strategy regarding the next group of offers they'd like to extend. This is banner year for Midwest recruiting, especially on defense and it's going to be interesting to see how ND handles guys like Devin O'Rourke, John Wagonner, Cam McGrone, and Jack Sanborn, all 90+ comp players from Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, who ND would have an excellent shot at landing if they pushed. Right now, however, here is my list of the 20 guys that ND must make a top priority because of 1. Their talent and 2. Their interest in Notre Dame.
1. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (top 100)
2. WR: Kamryn Babb (top 100)
3. WR: Braden Lenzy
4. WR: Jahan Dotson (top 100)
5. OT: Ryan Hayes
6. OG: John Dirksen
7. TE: Jeremy Ruckert (top 100)
8. TE: Mustapha Muhammad (top 100)
9. NG: PJ Mustipher (top 100)
10. DE: Malik Vann
11. DE: Tyreke Smith
12. DE: Thomas Booker
13. LB: Dallas Gant
14. LB: Dax Hollifield
15. LB: Payton Wilson
16. Rover: Alan Tisdale
17. CB: Houston Griffith (top 100)
18. CB: Bookie Radley-Hiles (top 100)
19. S: Tyreke Johnson (top 100)
20. ATH: Talanoa Hufanga
You'll notice that I didn't include guys like Jalen Hall, Teradja Mitchell, BJ Foster, Jamaree Salyer, Josh Moore,
Palaie Gaoteote, etc, etc... Those are guys that I don't think ND has a legit shot at, regardless of what people are saying.
My next tier of guys after the first 20 includes the likes of...
RB: Keontay Ingram
WR: Kevin Austin Jr.
WR: Tommy Bush
WR: Camron Johnson
TE: Pat Freiermuth
TE: Will Mallory
OL: Fredrick Scruggs
OL: Finn Derstine
DT: Tommy Togiai
DE: John Wagonner
DE: Devin O'Rourke
DE: Tyler Baylor
LB: Alston Orji
LB: Cameron McGrone
LB: Jack Sanborn
LB: Terrance Taylor
S: Trey Dean
S: Shayne Simon
S: Kwantel Raines
S: CJ Smith
CB: Isaac Taylor-Stuart
As the first tier of guys come off the board, ND must do a better job than in years past of aggressively pursuing the next recruit in line. At that point, their third tier must also be established in case the 2nd tier player is not available.
As of Friday afternoon, Notre Dame has a total of 10 commitments for the 2018 class. What's more impressive is that they span across each position, with the exceptionon of tight end, kicker and punter. Notre Dame is undoubtedly taking a more blanched approach to recruiting this cycle and is finally, aggressively recruiting their primary needs. With a total number of between 18-21 recruits expected to sign in 2018, as it stands, ND's class could be 50% "complete" (verbal commitments are not binding) at this early stage.
Another important element of this class that fans have to be encouraged by is the quality of the recruits ND is landing. ND's class is currently ranked second in the composite rankings, behind only Penn State at this point and the composite average ranking of the 10 players ND has committed is 91.92, an excellent start and a group that features two top 100 players in Quarterback Phil Jurkovec and Safety Derrik Allen.
While it's a good sign that ND has a pair of top 100 recruits committed, it's going to be interesting to see wherected ND is at 4 months from now, come Irish Invasion as well as the spring game. Furthermore, the staff is doing an awesome job of getting top prospects on campus right night now. This weekend is perfect example of that, with a pair of top 100 recruits in CB Houston Griffith and WR Kamryn Babb both visiting, a week after ND had an extremely successful junior day, which saw them land commitments from 4 of the 5 un-committed players that visited and the 5th, WR Braden Lenzy has had CB's rolling in left, right and center, for Notre Dame.
With only 8-11 spots left in the class, expect ND to only target the players at the top of their board right now, until at least June, when they can then re-evaluate where they stand with the great players and can revise their strategy regarding the next group of offers they'd like to extend. This is banner year for Midwest recruiting, especially on defense and it's going to be interesting to see how ND handles guys like Devin O'Rourke, John Wagonner, Cam McGrone, and Jack Sanborn, all 90+ comp players from Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, who ND would have an excellent shot at landing if they pushed. Right now, however, here is my list of the 20 guys that ND must make a top priority because of 1. Their talent and 2. Their interest in Notre Dame.
1. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (top 100)
2. WR: Kamryn Babb (top 100)
3. WR: Braden Lenzy
4. WR: Jahan Dotson (top 100)
5. OT: Ryan Hayes
6. OG: John Dirksen
7. TE: Jeremy Ruckert (top 100)
8. TE: Mustapha Muhammad (top 100)
9. NG: PJ Mustipher (top 100)
10. DE: Malik Vann
11. DE: Tyreke Smith
12. DE: Thomas Booker
13. LB: Dallas Gant
14. LB: Dax Hollifield
15. LB: Payton Wilson
16. Rover: Alan Tisdale
17. CB: Houston Griffith (top 100)
18. CB: Bookie Radley-Hiles (top 100)
19. S: Tyreke Johnson (top 100)
20. ATH: Talanoa Hufanga
You'll notice that I didn't include guys like Jalen Hall, Teradja Mitchell, BJ Foster, Jamaree Salyer, Josh Moore,
Palaie Gaoteote, etc, etc... Those are guys that I don't think ND has a legit shot at, regardless of what people are saying.
My next tier of guys after the first 20 includes the likes of...
RB: Keontay Ingram
WR: Kevin Austin Jr.
WR: Tommy Bush
WR: Camron Johnson
TE: Pat Freiermuth
TE: Will Mallory
OL: Fredrick Scruggs
OL: Finn Derstine
DT: Tommy Togiai
DE: John Wagonner
DE: Devin O'Rourke
DE: Tyler Baylor
LB: Alston Orji
LB: Cameron McGrone
LB: Jack Sanborn
LB: Terrance Taylor
S: Trey Dean
S: Shayne Simon
S: Kwantel Raines
S: CJ Smith
CB: Isaac Taylor-Stuart
As the first tier of guys come off the board, ND must do a better job than in years past of aggressively pursuing the next recruit in line. At that point, their third tier must also be established in case the 2nd tier player is not available.
