D'Angelo Mckenzie

Since the start of summer, we've talked about how impressive Notre Dame's freshman offensive linemen have been, especially Robert Hainsey and Aaron Banks who got headstarts by enrolling early. The same can be said for tight end Brock Wright, who was on campus for spring practice, and fellow tight end Cole Kmet, who has impressed since arriving this summer. The Irish's other offensive players from the Class of 2017 have stood out during training camp as well. One source told us both Jafar Armstrong and Michael Young have looked good. "He was balling," the source said of Young before adding Armstrong has "looked real good." Quarterback Avery Davis doesn't seem to be seriously pushing Ian Book for the backup job at this point, but he too has showed flashes, according to our source. As we've said before, running back C.J. Holmes was another of the early enrollees to impress back in the spring. Unfortunately, his spring was cut short by a shoulder injury. At this point, there seems to be a good chance Holmes is held out to preserve a year of eligibility, but that seems to be more about the depth at the position with Josh Adams, Tony Jones Jr., Dexter Williams and Deon McIntosh than Holmes' health or ability. After getting to know Holmes a bit during the recruiting process, we expect he'd handle being held out the right way, with a great deal of maturity despite his desire to play right away. We doubt a final decision has been made and do believe he'd be healthy enough to contribute during the season. Practice videos released by UND.com have shown him getting in the action more, but if the Irish have other guys ahead of him, they may not feel the need to rush him back. Don't expect Holmes to lose any motivation though. Whether he sits out this year or not, we expect Holmes to be super fired up for another spring practice and the start of 2018, especially with the Irish set to open up against Michigan, where his lifelong friend and former teammate, Tarik Black, is suiting up for the Wolverines. TREE QUESTIONS: Stanford appears to be fully behind Keller Chryst, and all indications are that he is fully healthy and ready to go for Australia. The major test for the Cardinal will be following the bye week down in the Coliseum where Chryst's return will be tested by a strong USC defense looking to knock down the passer. Expect to see glimpses of Ryan Burns and KJ Costello throughout the year. Basic summary for the offense: They have to protect the passer, need to expand receiver corps and need to keep Bryce upright. Concerns on offense: The offensive line, led by David Bright, appears to be solid returning a lot of experience from last year. However, they will need to prove themselves protecting the passer having given up the most sacks in the Pac-12 the previous year. There remains some question on who will be at which tackle position, but the line of scrimmage is rooted in a strong interior with talented sophomore Nate Herbig and a solid center in Jesse Burkett. The receiving corps will be an interesting group to follow with two talented and familiar faces in Trent Irwin and JJ Arcega-Whiteside, but questions remain on whether this receiver crop can diversify to new targets. One face to look for is true freshman Connor Weddington, who has had a phenomenal fall camp. Donald Stewart is a baller. Expect a heavy dose of tight ends this year with one of the best groups Stanford has seen in recent memory with a big body and strong blocker in Kaden Smith and two great receiving tight ends with Dalton Schultz and redshirt freshman Scooter Harrington, proving himself in the spring and fall. One struggle remains in the reliability of Bryce Love. Love has proven to be a phenomenal back when healthy, but has struggled with injuries, as seen in the Notre Dame game last year. Other options include Cam Scarlett who has been used as a short-yardage back, but is still rather unproven in late game situations and has shown to be prone to fumbling. Trevor Speights is another option to look for in the coming year with a great showing in the spring. Defense: A glaring absence exists with the departure of Solomon Thomas to the NFL. It will be veteran Harrison Phillips' job to hold down the interior of the line of scrimmage. Concerns loom at the defensive end positions. The team will count on veterans Mike Tyler and Peter Kalambayi on the edge. Look for a good season from Casey Toolhill at outside linebacker to hold down the edge. But the team is in search of another big body able to put their hand on the ground and go head-to-head with larger interior linemen. The secondary looks to be one of the high points of the team with a healthy Quenton Meeks, a head-hunting Brandon Simmons playing down in the box and an intellectual Justin Reid to lead and adjust the position group as necessary. The linebacker corps also appears solid and led by Bobby Okereke. The position has depth with the ability to cycle in an explosive Mustafa Branch and Sean Barton. One thing to look for is the transition from outside linebacker to the middle from a very skilled Joey Alfieri. Expect him to frequently knock down the passer in drawn-up, third-down blitz situations. The team is confident in itself with a strong offseason. Leaders have emerged from position groups and they will be looked on in times of difficulty and their response will help determine the tone of the team. Prediction: 8-4 McKENZIE LOOKS LIKE A FIT: We hear a lot about "Notre Dame kids." Those kids come from all different walks of life. Sometimes, it's the way they were raised, but other times it's because of the obstacles they've had to overcome during their lives. 2018 California safety D'Angelo Mckenzie would fall into the latter category. "He's not one of those tough-life kids who is going to be tough right back to you," one of McKenzie's coaches told us earlier this week. "You'd have no idea what his struggles are. He doesn't wear it like it's a hindrance. "He views everything as a great opportunity. He's always got a great smile on his face. He's super-positive. He's willing. He's always willing, what do you need him to do? He's very respectful. He's just a happy kid." This coach compared McKenzie to Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor on the field and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in the locker room. The 6-foot, 182-pounder from San Jose is one of the Irish's best bets in the secondary at this point because it seems like such a good match for both sides. McKenzie also has offers from schools like UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah among others, but it's no surprise he's taking his offer from the Irish so seriously. In fact, we're told Notre Dame was assured he would do exactly that before officially extending the offer. He visited South Bend in June and left with Notre Dame as his leader. He hasn't scheduled any official visits just yet or a decision date, but does expect to return to South Bend for an official. CHASING D-ENDS: We spoke to a source on Notre Dame's side of things regarding the Irish's continued pursuit of another defensive end in the Class of 2018 to go with Justin Ademilola. "We're really just going after Jayson Oweh and Thomas Booker," the source said. This particular source feels the Irish actually have a better shot at Oweh than Booker, which we took as encouraging since the source didn't seem to be indicating Booker was gone by any means. "I just think we have a better shot with Jayson," he said. "I think we have a chance." The New Jersey defensive end's recruitment has taken many swings, but seems to continue settling on Ohio State and Penn State at the top followed by Notre Dame. But our source seems encouraged by the fact that Oweh won't make a decision before the start of the season, giving Notre Dame a chance to continue making up ground. "I think we have a huge shot with him," we were told. It's obvious Oweh's parents would be fine with him selecting Notre Dame and the Irish and their surrogates continue to stay on him, reminding him about Notre Dame as a football program and academic institution. "He knows what ND Football is all about and that we're big on tradition," we were told. Meanwhile, the Irish are locked in battle with Stanford for Booker, who doesn't appear to be in a rush to bring his own process to an end before he's ready either. COULD AMON-RA FOLLOW HIS QB?: Well, in all honesty, the answer to that question is no. Amon-ra St. Brown isn't going to follow anybody to a college, not his brother Equanimeous at Notre Dame, not his brother Osiris at Stanford and not his current quarterback at Mater Dei High School, J.T. Daniels, to USC. Notre Dame pursued Daniels, who is in the Class of 2019, aggressively early on, but when Mike Sanford left for the head coaching job at Western Kentucky, the relationship fizzled. Daniels announced his commitment to USC late last month, a couple weeks after the Irish landed their own signal-caller in the Class of 2019, Cade McNamara. While many naturally focus on the connections the youngest St. Brown has to the Irish and the Cardinal through his brothers, the potential to team up with Daniels as a Trojan is certainly appealing."It would be nice to play with him," St. Brown said this week. "We have a lot of chemistry right now, but his decision won't have the final say in what I do." It won't have the final say, but it could have some say and it's clear St. Brown has immense respect for Daniels as a player. "He understands the game," St. Brown said. "I've never seen a quarterback who understands the game better than him. His accuracy is amazing, his touch. All around, I think he's one of the better quarterbacks that I've seen so far." BRIGGS KEEPS HIS EYE ON ND CLASS: Jowon Briggs isn't feeling a tremendous sense of urgency with his own recruiting process at this point, but that doesn't mean the 2019 Ohio defensive tackle isn't paying attention to what others are doing. Briggs has specifically taken note of Notre Dame's current 2018 recruiting class and is impressed. The 6-foot-2, 278-pounder has been high on the Irish since they offered him way back in February and made the trip out to South Bend for the Sophomore Day a few weeks later. Briggs is the kind of kid whose interests extend well beyond the football field, which is part of the appeal of Notre Dame to him. Still, he's taking his time with the process. He's stayed in contact with the staff at Notre Dame, but not on a weekly basis or anything like that. He's hoping to get back to South Bend for a game this fall, but hasn't locked in a date yet and doesn't really have one in mind just yet either. This will be an interesting recruitment to watch on both sides. If the Irish decide to go hard after the Cincinnati native, we believe they would be strong contenders until the end, even if Briggs doesn't always outwardly display an excitement. TOP 2019 DB STILL EXCITED: Wesley Walker, on the other hand, remains vocal with his excitement about Notre Dame. The talented 2019 Tennessee defensive back was always intrigued by the Irish, but that was taken to another level during an unofficial visit to South Bend back in June. Walker, who has offers from schools like LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt among others, pointed to a conversation he had with Irish defensive backs coach Todd Lyght for his increase in interest. Lyght explained how Notre Dame could not only put Walker in a position to chase his highest goals on the field, the way Lyght was able to, but also set him up for life after his athletic career is finished. Walker said the discussion gave him a "new perspective" on the recruiting process. The Ensworth High School standout is already looking at getting back to South Bend for the game against Georgia the second week of the season. Whenever he gets back, he's going to bring his mother with him, which will be key since she'll play a major role in his ultimate decision. If the Irish are able to impress his mother the way they were able to impress Walker, they should be able to secure a spot on his short list. THE LATEST ON NANA: We heard from 2019 Texas linebacker/defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah a couple weeks back and checked in with another source close to the situation this week to see if anything had changed. In short, it has not. Osafo-Mensah is still planning to get up to South Bend at some point. There had been some talk about him potentially making the trip during his team's bye week, but the Irish will be on the road that weekend, so it isn't clear when the visit will occur. Texas A&M and Oklahoma are continuing to take advantage of their proximity by strengthening their relationships with Osafo-Mensah, who exploded onto the national scene this offseason. But, as we said before and how Osafo-Mensah said himself, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko made a strong enough first impression that the standout defender is convinced he will end up establishing a very good relationship with the staff in South Bend as well. Notre Dame will also have the spiritual factor on its side as well, which we continue to hear could end up being crucial to him and his family. And, as we said before, Stanford definitely dropped a notch or two following an unofficial visit to Palo Alto this summer. It's difficult to explain exactly why and we're not sure Osafo-Mensah would be able to do so himself, but that leaves a huge opening for the Irish to position themselves as the high academic alternative to some of the regional schools.SCRATCH HIM OFF: 2018 Texas wide receiver Tommy Bush had been considering an official visit to Notre Dame this fall, but a source close to him told us this week that isn't in the plans at this point. So, we've removed Bush from our 2018 Target List.