Film Don't Lie | Adon Shuler
Notre Dame built a great defense under Clark Lea and that shouldn’t change any time soon under Marcus Freeman. How could that happen when he and the defensive staff keep gaining commitments from blue-chip prospects?
The latest is safety Adon Shuler. He’s a physical, long athlete who worked out for the staff in person. Safeties coach Chris O’Leary had to be impressed as it only made the Irish push harder to land Shuler and he’s now in the boat with their 2023 class.
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 190
Projected Position: Safety
ISD Grade: 91 (4-star)
National Average Grade: 90.3 (4-star)
What he does best:
He’s a tremendous defender when coming downhill to play the run. He takes aggressive angles, but plays under control.
He does a really great job recognizing and then attacking. It takes more than just ability to shoot this gap to make this tackle for loss. It takes confidence to know that he can get there.
He has good ball skills and has the potential to play the deep half as a split safety. His length is a great asset in coverage.
What he needs to improve:
He ran a 11.89 100 meters earlier this year and by no means is that a blazing time. I like his twitch, but his long speed is in question. He needs to improve there. He was only 14 this past season so it’s not difficult to see that getting much better.
For Notre Dame’s safeties, a lot of the time they are going to want to play a single high safety and want the position to play man to man a decent amount. I need to see more of him there to be convinced he can thrive doing that, but I didn’t get to see him work out in person like the Notre Dame staff did.
What’s his ceiling?
He’s currently 15 years old so there is both literal and figurative room for growth. He’s nowhere close to approaching the athlete he’s likely going to be and he’s already long and moves very well.
I see the potential to be a rangy player deep and I know he can be an excellent perimeter tackler. I’m a big fan of this pickup for the Irish because of his upside.
Who he could be:
Former Oregon safety Jevon Holland