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!
Should’ve mentioned this in the article, but Kristofic is a pretty good basketball player too – like Jurkovec, he was a big part of Pine-Richland’s playoff run. Fantastic athlete.
Why is there such a divergence between his rank and his offers? It’s a great list, which I value more than stars… But usually those things go together.
Because even though Kristofic is the better pass(block)er, Olmstead is the better run(block)er
I don’t think he has really done any camps, so the services haven’t had as much of a chance to evaluate him as some other guys. I know Clemson’s interest in him was very serious, and I’m pretty sure Ohio State’s was too – Meyer has visited his school.
Thanks!
I think there’s also the concern with his size. He moves so well (probably his best trait), and you have to wonder if that will be diminished at all after he adds another 40 pounds. (We’ve had tight ends bigger than him). Plenty of other players have done it, so it’s not something that’s a major red flag, but that at least would make me hedge my bets a little bit if I was an evaluator trying to put a ranking on him.
Sure, there’s a risk he’ll lose some athleticism when he bulks up. The bulking up itself I’m not worried about – once he stops playing basketball that should be really easy. I think he’ll maintain his athleticism, but of course that’s subjective and very much an unknown right now.
You might be on to something there, by the way; only five of the 247 Composite’s top 34 tackles are listed at 280 or less. Which is kind of funny, because I’d bet that a good number of guys who become elite left tackles are lighter, athletic guys in high school, but again, the uncertainty factor is definitely there.
Related to this size thing. I saw an interview with one of the major national recruiting guys, I think Barton Simmons, and he mentioned that the ability to play soon is a big factor in their rankings. I think it actually has more influence than the projection over an entire career. This is probably valid for ranking, especially considering how fans actually use these services, but probably fails most often for OL.
I also think I have read, or seen numbers, that OL are the hardest to grade/rank coming from HS. Most likely due to them meaning the most physical development.
Yep, I’d almost be more impressed by a guy who dominates his competition despite not being anywhere near a finished product physically. Of course, the weight he puts on needs to be good weight, but I’m still very excited about him.
No commitments today though. Crootin is slowing down.