Instant Reaction | Noah Boykin Transferring

It’s typically not a great sign if a walk-on is taking more reps than a scholarship player and that was the case with Noah Boykin this spring. That was probably as good of an indication as any that things weren’t working out well for him on the field.

Despite what would seem like a great opportunity to compete for a spot in the two-deep, Boykin was barely participating in one on ones during practice. Avery Davis and Temi Agoro were not just above him on the depth chart when it came to 11 on 11. The amount of overall reps they took in a practice were exponentially greater than that of Boykin.

In one practice I saw Boykin take one rep in one on ones.

There may have been other stuff going on with Boykin that had the coaches hold him back from being involved in the competition at cornerback, but it was pretty clear he was not in the mix right now. Maybe that would have changed later on (he still has four years of eligibility left). It’s probably the case that if he wasn’t doing more with the Shaun Crawford and Donte Vaughn out, he was going to be buried on the depth chart once they were healthy.

KJ Wallace and Isaiah Rutherford are joining the cornerback room this summer and in total Notre Dame will have eight scholarship corners. This isn’t a hit for this season, but it does make the need at cornerback more pressing this recruiting cycle.

The Irish lose three after 2019 (Vaughn, Crawford, and Troy Pride) and the ideal scenario is to sign three for 2020. They may even want to look at four if the fourth is an elite prospect. They signed four in 2018 with Boykin included in that group. With DJ Brown moving to safety, it’s Houston Griffith and TaRiq Bracy left there.

When Boykin signed with the Irish, I believed he was a player with a high ceiling if he put it all together. I also knew he had put develop physically and might have a tougher time adjusting to Notre Dame given the school he came from.

Unfortunately we won’t get to see if he can reach his ceiling, at least not in South Bend, and it looks like it was a difficult adjustment for him. He’s going to be an interesting player to watch at his next stop if he finds the right program fit.