Cade McNamara became the first Notre Dame commit of the 2019 cycle when he announced for the Irish today. The 6’1″, 186-pound Nevadan camped at Notre Dame last month; he clearly made a big impression on the staff, as his performance earned an offer. Brian Polian ran point on McNamara’s recruitment, presumably in part because Tom Rees isn’t allowed to leave campus while he’s technically a GA, but McNamara and Rees have connected as well.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247 Sports — 3 star (no rating), NR

Rivals — 3 star (5.7 rating), NR

Scout — 3 star, NR

ESPN — 3 star (no rating), NR

247 Composite — 3 star (no rating), NR

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame, Cade McNamara also holds offers from Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, and Wisconsin. That’s the full list as of today.

I tend to trust the staff on evaluations, especially when they’ve seen a kid in person, but this is the most extreme case of ranking/cohort and staff interest mismatch that I can remember. McNamara put up monster numbers as a sophomore – 3,577 yards (16.4 per attempt), 46 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and 5 more scores on the ground. If he can build on that performance as a junior, he should be able to improve his profile substantially and justify the staff’s evaluation in the process.

Highlights

Whoa. I’m not saying he’s a five-star or anything, and this doesn’t show what full-game all-22 film would, but if you watch his sophomore year highlights year you get the sense that the only reason his offer list is so small is that more programs haven’t seen him yet. McNamara looks really smooth delivering the ball downfield, often flinging it 30 or 40 yards with what looks like a flick of the wrist. I also love how he stands in even when he knows he’s going to get hit – very impressive toughness, especially for a sophomore. He completed just over 58% of his passes last season, which isn’t great, but almost every play on here shows a perfect throw; I’d be curious to know if he’s a little inconsistent, or if his receivers hurt him a few times, or if maybe he played a game in a hurricane or something. Ahem.

Anyway… Something that was conspicuous by its absence was the designed run; McNamara moves the pocket well enough, but it doesn’t look like he’ll threaten Deshone Kizer’s records. I’m not entirely sure, but I think his arm slot moves around a bit too – he’s definitely side arm on a number of throws, three-quarters on some others, might be overhand on some others. That might be fine as long as it doesn’t affect his consistency, but possibly something to work on at the next level. Nonetheless, after you see the 10th throw that he drops into the breadbasket from 30 yards, you can understand why the Notre Dame staff likes this kid.

Impact

Cade McNamara is pretty much guaranteed to redshirt. Brandon Wimbush could still be in place in 2019 as his fifth year kicks off – maybe not tremendously likely, but possible. Even if he moves on, Ian Book, Avery Davis, and Phil Jurkovec will all be on campus with time under their belts already by the time McNamara arrives. The most likely scenario is that McNamara will sit for at least two seasons before getting his shot, which will give him ample time to develop his game.

Welcome to the Irish family, Cade!