As you know, recruiting never stops. As soon as the 2017 cycle ended last week we’re turning our sights on the next class being built by Notre Dame. Things are off to a swell start as of this writing (4th in the Composite) but don’t go puffing out your chest just yet. It’s still very early and the big-hitters like Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and Florida are not in the Top 10 yet.

Out of Eligibility Following the 2017 Season:

TE Tyler Luatua

TE Durham Smythe

OL Mike McGlinchey

OL Hunter Bivin

DE Andrew Trumbetti

DT Daniel Cage

LB Nyles Morgan

LB Greer Martini

At the very most we’re looking at 6 starters running out of eligibility but at the very least Nyles Morgan and McGlinchey may be the only true starters from this list moving on following 2017.

2018-19 Academic Classes

6 Verbal Commits
21 Sophomores
23 Juniors
21 Seniors
11 Grad Students
82 Scholarships

The Irish are only carrying 3 grad students for the upcoming 2017 season so the year after next could be a far different situation. Being at 82 scholarships is quite high at the moment which is why early forecasts have the 2018 class being on the smaller side. However, just because there are 11 grad student possibilities doesn’t mean all of them will come back. Which brings me to…

List of Eligible 2018 Grad Students

Tier 1
OG Quenton Nelson
C Sam Mustipher
OT Alex Bars
S Drue Tranquill
DE Jonathan Bonner
CB Nick Watkins
P Tyler Newsome

Tier 2
TE Nic Weishar
DE Jay Hayes

Tier 3
DT Pete Mokwuah
OG Jimmy Byrne

I would imagine everyone in the first two tiers will be “invited” back for 2018. I doubt Mokwuah and Byrne will come back so we’re likely down to 9 players of the 5th-year variety. Even though the Irish have a great track record of keeping well-regarded NFL prospect for a grad year it’s likely that Nelson leaves after this fall.

Both Weishar and Hayes could conceivably play a lot or it’s possible either one or both become more 3rd stringers. For the sake of argument let’s say at least one of them transfers elsewhere for 2018. That would leave 7 players on the roster as grad students and 13 available scholarships as things today.

Notre Dame tends to finish up the cycle with somewhere between 5 to 8 extra scholarships from this 11+ month early projection. Based off that there should be somewhere between 19 and 20 scholarships to hand out for 2018.

*****

The Roster

QUARTERBACK
Roster (3): Wimbush r-SO, Book r-FR, Davis FR
Commits (1): Jurkovec

RUNNING BACK
Roster (4): Adams JR, Williams JR, Jones r-FR, Holmes FR
Commits (1): Stepp

WIDE RECEIVER
Roster (9): St. Brown JR, Sanders JR, Boykin r-SO, Stepherson SO, McKinley SO, Claypool SO, McIntosh r-FR, Young FR, Armstrong FR, Finke r-SO
Commits (0)

TIGHT END
Roster (6): Smythe r-SR, Jones r-SO, Weishar r-JR, Luatua SR, Wright FR, Kmet FR
Commits (0)

OFFENSIVE TACKLES
Roster (7): McGlinchey r-SR, Bars JR, Bivin r-SR, Kraemer r-FR, Eichenberg r-FR, Lugg FR, Banks FR
Commits (0)

INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Roster (8): Nelson r-JR, Mustipher r-JR, Hoge r-SO, Byrne r-JR, Ruhland r-SO, Boudreaux r-FR, Hainsey FR, Gibbons, FR
Commits (0)

STRONG-SIDE DEFENSIVE END
Roster (4): Bonner r-JR, J. Hayes r-JR, Kareem SO, Ogundeji r-FR
Commits (0)

WEAK-SIDE DEFENSIVE END
Roster (5): Trumbetti SR, D. Hayes SO, Okwara SO, MacCollister FR, Wardlow FR
Commits (0)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Roster (9): Cage, SR, Tillery JR, Taylor r-SO, Dew-Treadway r-SO, Mokwuah r-JR, Tiassum r-SO, Ewell FR, Tagovailoa-Amosa FR, Hinish FR
Commits (1): Ja. Ademilola

BUCK LINEBACKER
Roster (4): Coney, JR, Martini, SR, Jam. Jones SO, White FR
Commits (1): Oghoufo

MIKE LINEBACKER
Roster (4): Morgan SR, Barajas r-SO, Jon. Jones r-FR, Adams FR
Commits (1): Ju. Ademilola

ROVER
Roster (3): Bilal r-SO, Perry r-FR, Owusu-Koramoah FR
Commits (1): Bauer

CORNERBACK
Roster (7): Watkins r-JR, Coleman JR, Crawford r-SO, White r-SO, Pride SO, Love SO, Vaughn SO
Commits (0)

SAFETY
Roster (7): Tranquill r-JR, Fertitta JR, Studstill SO, Elliott SO, Morgan r-FR, Robertson FR, Genmark Heath FR
Commits (0)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Roster (4): Newsome r-JR, Yoon JR, Shannon r-FR, Doerer FR
Commits (0)

*****

2018 Cycle Roster Needs

With the current commits the Irish should be done at quarterback, running back, and linebacker. It’s a good thing to have Phil Jurkovec on board already in a loaded year for quarterbacks. Jurkovec has a .982 Composite score and there are 4 other quarterbacks still ranked ahead of him right now.

Using 20 overall scholarships as our guide here are the following positional needs for 2018:

WR (2)
TE (1)
OL (3)
DE (2)
DT (2)
CB (2)
S (2)

The big thing that jumps out is that tight end isn’t really a major need after the Irish hauled in the nation’s top two players at the position for 2017. However, Smythe and Luatua will be gone and we’ve already discussed Weishar might want to go start elsewhere for his final season. Also, 9 out of the nation’s top 14 tight ends for 2018 are either from the Midwest or Northeast which should make it very easy on Notre Dame to grab someone.

An additional 3 offensive linemen would mean 7 over the last two cycles which is a touch high. However, the roster could be dealing with the loss of 4 players (McGlinchey, Nelson, Bivin, Byrne) and it’s unlikely the staff would replace that with just 2 bodies.

After striking out at corner for 2017 only grabbing 2 for 2018 doesn’t seem smart. Somehow–whether it’s skipping tight end or taking one fewer defensive lineman–you have to think a third corner will be targeted from the very beginning of this class.