Why Adding Brown and Boykin Would Be Big

There have been a lot of twists and turns with defensive back recruiting for the Irish in the 2018 class. You can go all the way back to Kalon Gervin committing. Then de-committing. There was a point where Kyler Gordon and Julius Irvin both looked like they could end up in the class. Unfortunately they are now going to be at Washington rather than Notre dame.

Even after missing on those recruits, this still has the chance to be a great defensive back class for the Irish. The group of safeties Derrik Allen and Paul Moala with corners Joe Wilkins Jr. and Tariq Bracy to go with hybrid Houston Griffith is a strong one. It will go to a different level if they can finish this class with DJ Brown and Noah Boykin.

There's a real possibility that both could end up signing with Notre Dame next Wednesday. And if they do, it changes the dynamic where things fit with secondary going forward.

After what could have been a crushing blow to their future depth in the secondary by signing zero corners in the last cycle, bringing in this many players that can pla corner lessens the blow in a major way. It’s really the flexibility that will come with landing these specific players that can have a massive impact going forward.

Everyone is quick to project some of these players at different positions and adding Brown and Boykin would let them find the best fit rather than moving players for need. For instance, if the staff likes Griffith more at corner, Brown is someone that I could see as a potential free safety because of his intelligence, physicality, and instincts. Boykin, who has the ideal measurables to match up with outside receivers, also makes it an option for Griffith and Brown to be safeties if that’s where the staff sees them making the most impact.

There’s no guarantee they land one let alone both, although things seem to be trending well. This is simply a reminder of why signing both players would be big for the group as a whole. It would be one of the more talented and deep groups they have signed at defensive back in a long time, but it’s the position flexibility that would come with it that would have the biggest impact on the long term future in the secondary.