Three 2022 Prospects Notre Dame Should Offer
Notre Dame and other college football programs will soon have to turn more attention to the 2022 recruiting class as the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed the recruiting process down quite a bit.
The Irish staff has done a solid job of getting early offers out and developing the core of the board in 2022, considering the class just finished their sophomore year academically.
It will be fascinating to see when the 2022 class starts to make a run in terms of commitments. Players I've spoken to aren't in a rush to commit because they lost a crucial three month period from March to June to visit schools and camp at schools.
There is a sense of frustration from 2022 kids because schools obviously can't initiate communication with them, but no evaluation period or camps means no offers. Patience will be key here and I think kids will wait a little longer than usual because they won't have the offers they would have in a typical year.
That said, here are three guys I'd consider offering if I was the Notre Dame staff.
RB JD Price (Pictured) - Denison (Texas)
The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder reminds me a little bit of Dexter Williams, but Price is faster. The piece of his game I like this most is the ability to be patient and then explode. Williams had the uncanny ability to split defenders in the open field for a running back that wasn’t the fastest in the world, but Price takes that to another level.
The other part of his game I like is his ability to get around defenders. He’s not the biggest guy in the world, so avoiding contact is smart. It might seem like a small detail, but Price is very good at doing little body movements to avoid contact while also flashing the exciting Jukes and change of speed.
Price also reports a 4.0 GPA, which is right down Notre Dame’s aisle. Now, Price is also a little smaller than the backs Lance Taylor has offered in the 2022 class, but I think he’s worth digging around on.
I’m told despite holding a Texas offer, the Longhorns aren’t in love with him. However, Texas is in the mix for one of the nation’s top backs in Jaydon Blue.
Offers: Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU, Texas, Tulsa, USC, UTSA and Virginia Tech
WR Leon Haughton Jr. - Benedictine (Va.)
Size is what immediately sticks out when it comes to Haughton as he’s 6-foot-4, 198 pounds, but while he’s an intimidating force, the Benedictine star can also move. As we’ve seen with Miles Boykin or a kid like Deion Colzie, big guys don’t always move smoothly. Haughton does just that. He’s got long speed, but also has the ability to get out of traffic.
You can never have too many big guys that can move and I’d put Haughton in that category. Size will also be important in the coming years as Notre Dame’s schedule become tougher.
Haughton has blown up in the last three months as he now holds nine offers, but he hasn’t quite hit the blue bloods of college football. Penn State was his first offer on April 4th and that’s his biggest offer to date as Boston College, Buffalo, Maryland, Nebraska, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have followed.
Sophomore Highlights
LB Jalon Walker - Saliisburg (N.C.)
Linebackers need to run in space in today’s world of college football and Walker can do that. Walker can also come up and smack you in the face. Now, he has a lot to work on and I’d put him in the raw category, but he’s a kid Clark Lea could turn into an All-American because of his athletic ability.
Strength and seeing the field a little better is something Walker has to work on when he gets to college. He’s athletically superior to his peers, so he can get away with being late on a read because he can make up ground. He also should probably get off blocks a little cleaner and quicker, but at the high school level he can get away with it.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder could project at Rover, but also Buck because he will get bigger.
I also believe his offer list reflects his potential because I’m not sure he’s as good as some of the 2022 backers at this stage, but his ceiling is so high.
Offers: Arizona State, Auburn, Campbell, Clemson, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Michigan State, NC State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Old Dominion, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Sophomore Highlights