Recruiting: Previewing Early Signing Day For Notre Dame
The early signing period starts on Wednesday, December 18, and it is expected to be a big day for Notre Dame.
As of today, the Notre Dame class ranks 13th nationally at ESPN, 13th at 247Sports (Composite) and 17th at Rivals. Part of that ranking is due to numbers. Notre Dame is intentionally bringing in a smaller class, and the rankings are based off a points system that is as incumbent on volume as it is quality.
If you take the average grade for each recruit and compare it to other schools, Notre Dame’s ranking at 247Sports (composite) is ninth in the country and it ranks 10th at Rivals.
There are a number of storylines heading into Wednesday’s early signing period.
WILL EVERYONE SIGN?
Of Notre Dame’s current commits, all but St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet wide receiver Jordan Johnson has announced plans to sign with the Irish on Wednesday. There was some understandable concern after the departure of OC Chip Long - who was instrumental in putting the talented offensive class together - but the Irish staff worked hard to make sure the class would hold together.
Johnson doesn’t do much on social media and he’s never been a prospect that did much engagement with the media, so the silence on that news could be just that. As of this afternoon, all of my sources are confident he will sign, but until he says that himself, or until he signs I will have just a smidgen of concern.
WILL NOTRE DAME ADD TO ITS CLASS?
With few exceptions, Notre Dame has been done with its 2020 class for months. I expect that to change on Wednesday, as the Irish seem poised to land Bakersfield (Calif.) Liberty athlete Ramon Henderson.
More of a track athlete than a football player, Henderson has the length (6-3) and speed Notre Dame covets on defense, which is why the staff has pushed so hard for him as a secondary target despite his current lack of development. Henderson showed improvement as a player during his senior season, which had to make the Irish staff even more firm in their belief in his potential at the next level.
According to 247Sports College Football Writer Tom Loy, Henderson is being recruited to play cornerback for the Irish. My personal projection is that Henderson’s length and speed would be better suited at safety, but with Notre Dame’s current lack of proven depth and Henderson’s physical traits, it absolutely makes sense to at least see what he can do on the perimeter.
Right now the plan is to just add Henderson, but there is another target Notre Dame is making a behind the scenes push for. At this point it remains unknown if their push will ultimately work, but we should have a better idea on Wednesday.
OFFENSE IS THE STRENGTH
I will have a full film breakdown of the class on Wednesday, and I’ll rank the class on both sides of the ball. That will be followed by an analysis of the 2019-20 classes combined. One thing you can expect to see are very high marks for the Irish offensive commits in the 2020 class.
This offensive class is absolutely loaded. Notre Dame has a top player at quarterback, arguably its best haul of skill players in the last decade, and a pair of offensive linemen with incredibly high ceilings. If everyone in the class does in fact sign on Wednesday it will give the Irish offense a major boost in speed, talent and playmaking ability.
LANCE TAYLOR MAKES AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Notre Dame has not signed a composite five-star running back in the ten years Brian Kelly has been in South Bend. Former position coach Autry Denson struggled to recruit the position by either missing on top targets or committing evaluation mistakes that cost the Irish a chance at a top back. In fact, Notre Dame failed to land a single running back that ranked in the Top 150 during the Denson tenure and landed just one four-star back.
When he left it was imperative that Notre Dame replace him with someone who could not only coach at a high level, but someone that could also recruit at an elite level. First-year running backs coach Lance Taylor made an immediate huge splash, landing Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale running back Chris Tyree.
Tyree is ranked as the No. 20 player in the entire country according to ESPN, and 247Sports rated the Thomas Dale speedster as a composite five-star recruit. That’s quite the first impression for the Notre Dame running backs coach.
FRONT FOUR CONTINUES TO RELOAD
Not since Lou Holtz was running the show has Notre Dame recruited the defensive line as consistently as well as position coach Mike Elston has done in recent classes. That will continue in the 2020 class, as Elston combines high impact talent (Rylie Mills, Jordan Botelho) with a pair of raw but high-upside players (Aidan Keanaaina, Alexander Ehrensberger).
Elston went toe-to-toe with Ohio State to land Mills and Keanaaina, two players the Buckeyes made a hard push for. That should tell you a lot more about those two big men then any rankings you might see for them. Being able to beat out the Buckeyes for Mills and Keanaaina, and to beat all the West Coast powers for Botelho, showed that Elston has in fact turned into one of the top defensive line recruiters in the country.
Notre Dame will lose Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara and Jamir Jones next season, but Elston’s recruiting has the Irish in position where they will simply reload in 2020.
SPEED KILLS
Kelly has spent a lot of time the last two years lamenting his team’s lack of speed at certain skill spots. The staff has worked hard to improve the roster from that regard, and we are starting to see that on the field (Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys, Kyle Hamilton, TaRiq Bracy).
The 2020 class is going to give the offense another huge boost in speed. Johnson and wide receiver commit Xavier Watts will add a speed boost outside, but not since maybe Julius Jones back in 1999 has Notre Dame landed a running back with the speed Tyree brings to the offense and special teams.
Should Notre Dame land Henderson as expected he would provide the secondary with a major boost in explosiveness as well. Henderson has been timed at a 10.59 in the 100-meter dash and 21.67 in the 200-meter dash for Liberty.
DON’T FORGET ABOUT PRYOR
When I evaluate the 2020 class my focus will be on the high school prospects, but the prep players won’t be the only new players on the Irish roster next fall. Notre Dame picked up a commitment from Ohio State graduate transfer Isaiah Pryor back in November, and that will likely be the biggest secondary pick up of the recruiting cycle in regards to impacting the 2020 football team.
Pryor was the No. 63 player in the country on the 247Sports competitive ranking as part of the 2017 class. Notre Dame tried hard to land him out of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy but he chose the Buckeyes. After starting eight games during the 2018 season, Pryor ultimately left the program early in the 2019 season to preserve a season of eligibility and later announced his decision to transfer to Notre Dame.
Pryor will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
SPECIAL TEAMS IMPACT IS ON THE WAY
No, I’m not talking about the possible return game impact of commits Tyree or Watts. Kelly announced on Saturday that three-year starting long snapper John Shannon would not return for his fifth-season. His replacement is expected to sign on Wednesday.
Kohl’s Professional Camps - the experts on top specialists - rank Washington (D.C.) St. John’s Collegiate’s Alex Peitsch as the top long snapper in the country.
Here is what they wrote about the standout snapper:
“Peitsch is truly one of the most impressive snappers I have ever had the privilege to coach. Peitsch finished the Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp on a high note by earning a spot in the Under Armour All America Game. Peitsch has been nothing short of dominant at every Kohl’s event he has attended. He is someone who pushes himself to be the best he can be in every aspect of sports and in life. Peitsch is truly a generational talent and will be able to make an immediate impact for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.”
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