Frank Commentary
A little over a year ago, Irish head coach, Brian Kelly, and his staff capped off an impressive finish to the 2017 recruiting class considering the dismal 4-8 season they had just endured. Not many were expecting a strong close, including me. I was wrong.
A few of those late commitments actually saw the field as true freshmen this season, so Kelly and his staff were not simply filling slots. With only one day left to go, and seven still on the board, how many will Kelly and his staff close with on Wednesday?
It’s anyone’s guess as to how many of the seven will actually end up signing tomorrow with Notre Dame, but most expect the Irish to land at least four out of the seven. It’s important for Kelly and his staff to fill out their needs tomorrow, especially at running back, offensive line and cornerback.
The one thing that has impressed me over the years is Kelly and his staff have done a great job of evaluating talent. They’ve landed a good number of three-star prospects who turned out to be a lot better than a three-star player.
The “experts” had Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa as a three-star prospect, and he essentially was a part-time starter at defensive tackle this year as a true freshman.
Freshmen receivers, Michael Young and Jafar Armstrong, were both three-star players, but the buzz surrounding them is one of solid contributors at worst, and some believe they could be really great players for the Irish.
Nose guard, Kurt Hinish, another three-star player, played considerable minutes at nose guard as a true freshman.
Offensive tackle, Robert Hainesy, was ranked a four-star player by the experts, but it’s very rare for a true freshman to play as an offensive lineman, and excel like he did when playing. Shouldn’t he be a five-star? I guess we will see.
There is a lot of buzz about a lot of players in the 2017 class, and a lot of excitement surrounding many of the late 2017 signees in Tagovailoa-Amose, Jeremian Owusu-Koramoah, Kofi Wardlow, Armstrong and Jordan Genmark Heath.
I mention this so people understand two things. Notre Dame still has needs in this 2018 class, and many left on the board, while they may not be elite four and five-star players, they likely are a lot better than some realize based on past evaluating performance.
First and foremost, I’d say running back C’Bo Flemister is one of the most important recruits left on the board. Irish fans witnessed what a brutal game football can be if you’re a running back watching all three of Notre Dame’s backs get banged up, some for most of the year, and having to watch a fourth-string running back get considerable carries this year. Flemister would automatically be that fourth-string running back as they have nobody else on the roster. While he’s ranked a three-star by the experts, I see a much better player than that when I watch film. I think he’s very underrated as a running back.
The good news is ND has two elite offensive linemen left on the board, both ranked four stars, and Nicholas Petit-Frere is very close to a five-star prospect. Landing one will be important, two would be outstanding!
Wide receiver, Lawrence Keys III, brings some versatility to the class if he signs. He’s an ideal slot receiver, but also a kick and punt return guy. Notre Dame hasn’t had a great slot man for quite some time, and Keys is the type of talent to take a screen and turn it into a 50-yard touchdown. He is a four-star player, and he has excellent speed and would be the missing piece to the wide receiver class.
Derrick Eason is an intriguing prospect. He’s ranked as a lower three-star prospect, but North Carolina State knows a lot about finding underrated players and developing them, and so does Notre Dame recently. He looks all of 6-foot-4, 250 pounds. Is he a strong side end or a defensive tackle? He reminds me of a better version of Jon Bonner. He’s taller, has a bigger frame, and much longer arms than Bonner and my guess is he’ll be an inside player when all is said and done. I was told some feel he has potential to be a Sunday player because of his excellent physical traits. He’s just scratching the surface and will be a much better player with some work on technique and in the weight room.
Finally, the Irish are in on two talented corner prospects.
D.J. Brown certainly has seen his stock rise lately. He had an invitation to join what is currently ranked the No. 1 class in the country at Ohio State, but he chose not to visit. He also picked up offers from Clemson. Northwestern, Nebraska, South Carolina and Duke this last month alone. Brown is just a very instinctual player, and most important, I think he’s a legit field corner. The Irish have a lot of boundary corners right now, and Brown has the potential to be a field corner for ND. He could also play safety if need be. What I like most about him is his outstanding instincts and anticipation. Two important traits for any quality corner and why so many schools came hard after him lately.
Finally, Noah Boykin is another talented prospect. He’s been a four-star prospect for awhile landing some quality offers from teams like Florida, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Tennessee and USC. The amazing thing about his commitment is it’s been a Notre Dame/Florida battle for quite some time. The Gators don’t have a single commitment from a corner in this class, and if he doesn’t sign with them, they may not have any corners in this class. The fact that Notre Dame is still in this race says a lot about the job the ND staff have done recruiting him. I don’t know where he will end up, and Florida has to be tough to turn down knowing their depth chart situation, but the Irish still remain in the hunt and could land him in the end.
Overall, the ND staff did a great job of putting themselves is so many races for quality talent at the end. Now they just need to close strong, like they did last year. Landing five out of seven would be outstanding. Six out of seven would be even better.
Regardless, don’t sleep on these players because there’s a lot of talent left on the board, and hopefully ND can sign a bunch of them to completely fill their needs in this class. It’s been awhile since I could say “all needs met” and they could come very close to that by tomorrow.