You know how I know Jeff Quinn is butter? Because he’s on a roll. Andrew Kristofic became the second lineman to join the Irish fold this month when he announced for Notre Dame today, fresh off an unofficial visit. With Kristofic and John Olmstead on board, and Quinn Carroll likely to join them within the next few weeks, the class is in very good shape. The 6’6″, 265-pound Pennsylvanian will reunite with 2018 signee Phil Jurkovec in South Bend; hopefully they’ll bring the same level of success to Notre Dame that they did to Pine-Richland, where they won the state title in 2017.

The Notre Dame staff diverges from the recruiting services substantially here, as they reportedly view Kristofic much more kindly. As do other staffs, apparently, judging by his offer list. Somebody sees quite a bit of potential there.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247 Sports Composite — 3 star (.8777), #476 overall, #45 OT, #8 in PA

247 Sports — 3 star (89 rating), #345 overall, #37 OT, #2 in PA

Rivals — 3 star (5.6 rating), NR overall, #55 OT, #12 in PA

ESPN — 4 star (80 rating), NR overall, #35 OT, #2 in PA

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame, Andrew Kristofic holds offers from Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin, among others.

Highlights

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but… Notre Dame just landed a commitment from an offensive line prospect who plays with a serious attitude. I think we can call it a trend at this point, right? Kristofic’s film features body slam after body slam of unfortunate opponents. He also shows impressive power and quickness as a defensive tackle, so strength is not a question. While it’s fun to watch that, what I really like about him is that he’s not pure fury – he’s surprisingly fast for his size and his pass protection is really sound. His footwork on the edge is excellent for a high school junior; he does a great job of maintaining a wide base and sliding his feet to maintain leverage on the rusher. He does get a little too aggressive in pass pro sometimes, but that can be worked out pretty easily. It’s not hard to see why so many coaching staffs were chasing this kid.

Impact

Kristofic will need a couple of years to bulk up; he’s probably at least 30-40 pounds away from where he needs to be to contribute. He has the frame to add it without slowing down, though, so that doesn’t change the outlook for him. He has all the physical tools to be an eventual starter on the edge. I like his mentality for the right side, and I like his athleticism for the left side. It’s good to have options.

Welcome to the Irish family, Andrew!