Three Names I'd Love To See Notre Dame Land
We touched a bit on it on ISD Overtime, but there are a few names I’d love to see Notre Dame land as recruiting momentum is back with the Irish.
Notre Dame has landed six recent commitments, including 2019 Edina (Minn.) four-star offensive lineman Quinn Carroll, who committed to the Irish on Tuesday night.
I think everyone knows the importance of Kyren Williams, Zeke Correll, Ositadinma Ekwonu and Nick Henrich, but here are a few other names I believe would be massive additions to Notre Dame’s 2019 class.
WR – Kendall Abdur-Rahman – Edwardsville (Ill.)
The four-star prospect is underrated by most services, and it’s probably due to the fact he’s from Illinois. The 6-foot, 175-pounder displays all the skills you want to see in a receiver as long as he can catch, which shouldn’t be a problem after talking to a few people that have seen Abdur-Rahman in person.
The Illinois native does play mainly quarterback for his high school team, so there would be an adjustment, but this is a kid that could be a nightmare for defenses in year two or three at receiver.
Abdur-Rahman doesn’t have the sexy offer list of some under the radar prospects, but it’s still quality. Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Western Michigan have offered.
Notre Dame hosted him on April 21st for the Blue-Gold Game.
WR – Cameron Wynn – Notre Dame (Tenn.)
The three-star receiver isn’t talked about much, but this is a kid that racked up over 2,000 all-purpose yards and scored 29 touchdowns in 2017. Abdur-Rahman and Wynn would give the Irish back-to-back classes with a ton of speed, and that’s something the Irish need more of on the roster.
I’m not normally big on smaller receivers, but the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder has my attention because he has the full package of speed and agility. CJ Sanders had speed, but he couldn’t cut like Wynn. Wynn shows the ability to get loose in traffic and then score, while Sanders had trouble with the getting loose part at times.
Wynn will likely be on campus sooner than later, and it will be a huge visit. Obviously, Wynn goes to a high school very similar to what he will experience at Notre Dame, so that’s likely a positive for the Irish.
Florida, Michigan State, Ole Miss and South Carolina will likely be the biggest competition, so it will be interesting to see if Wynn wants to go to a school like his high school or if he’s looking to experience something a little different.
If the Irish can pull this one out, Wynn joining Michael Young, Braden Lenzy and Lawrence Keys III would be exciting from a pure speed standpoint.
DE – Aeneas DiCosmo – Bergen Catholic (N.J.)
Notre Dame needs pass rushers and the 6-foot-3, 217-pounder can rush the passer. The three-star prospect does need to add a little bit of weight, but as we’ve seen with Julian Okwara, you don’t need to be massive to come off the edge and make an impact.
The other part of DiCosmo’s game I love is the ability to potentially move to different spots if he can’t gain weight or gets passed on the depth chart. DiCosmo has the ability to play linebacker and Stanford is likely recruiting strictly as a linebacker.
DiCosmo’s explosion and effort are outstanding, but potentially pairing him with a guy NaNa Osafo-Mensah could be exactly what Notre Dame has been searching years for when you look at the defensive line talent brought in over the past few cycles.
I'd even compare DiCosmo to 2019 Notre Dame offensive line commit Andrew Kristofic as both might be rated a little lower now, but in three or four years, they could pass some of their peers as they have very high ceilings.
Off the field, DiCosmo is what Notre Dame looks for and probably even then some. DiCosmo is extremely mature and intellectual, which comes from having a father that played football in college and the NFL, but also stressed the education is the most important factor in his college decision.
Notre Dame will continue to battle Michigan and Stanford for his services with trips to all three schools locked in over the next month and a half. I would probably even say Notre Dame is running third in that group right now, but it’s not a situation where Notre Dame can’t overcome it as he just isn’t familiar with everything the Irish offer.