Kendall Abdur-Rahman boosted Notre Dame’s 2019 offensive skill position group when he announced for the Irish today. The tea leaves suggested Notre Dame made a big move for the 6’1″, 180-pound Illinois product on his official visit for the Michigan game; today, it seems like those suggestions were dead on. Abdur-Rahman keeps things extremely close to the vest, so it was hard for anyone to get a read on the direction of his recruitment. Clearly, though, the staff caught his attention at the Blue-Gold game in April and wrapped it up during Michigan weekend.
I am Blessed and excited to announce that after long and careful consideration I’ve decided to further my academic and athletic path by officially committing to Notre Dame!! @NDFootball @dalex3333 @CoachBrianKelly #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/RPgdNZm6bR
— Kendall Abdur-Rahman (@kendall4heisman) September 10, 2018
Recruiting Service Rankings
247 Composite — 3 star (0.8778 rating), #506 overall, #46 ATH, #7 in IL
247 Sports — 4 star (90 rating), #285 overall, #24 ATH, #10 in VA
Rivals — 3 star (5.6 rating), NR overall, NR ATH, #20 in IL
ESPN — 3 star (79 rating), NR overall, #40 ATH, #5 in IL
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, Abdur-Rahman holds offers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue.
Highlights
Well, uh… I don’t have any. All of Kendall’s Hudl videos after his freshman season are private, and there are no highlights available elsewhere. Kinda weird. I knew he played it close to the vest, as noted above, but I didn’t know he played it that close. All I can share is what I’ve read, which is that he has above average speed and exceptional close area quickness. He’s dangerous with the ball in his hands, which, you know, not a bad thing.
Impact
Abdur-Rahman has a few things in his favor in terms of making a relatively quick impact. First, Brian Kelly has shown a willingness to play young receivers – the path to the field seems to be shorter for that position. Second, while there’s enough ahead of him that I’m not sure he’ll make the two-deep right away, he should get a shot to be in the rotation as a sophomore. Finally, his combination of size and skills make him a good fit for any of the three receiver spots, which of course will give him more opportunities to get on the field.
Welcome to the Irish family, Kendall!
I was under the impression that there were only a few (maybe three) spots left in the class. Is the recruiting situation going forward for this class really so limited that this guy is a take, given those few available spots? Nothing in the above other than his 247 ranking is particularly inspiring. Maybe/hopefully his lack of pumping himself up is leading him to be a bit underrated.
Hehe, a guy with a twitter handle of @kendall4heisman isn’t pumping himself up?
You make a good point.
i get what you meant though…he isn’t actively talking himself up etc, etc. I could see any high school kid making a handle like that as a joke rather than the result of a conceited, self-absorbed personality.
Certainly any kid who anticipates winning 3 heisman’s and then still expects to stay in school for a 4th can’t be that conceited or self-absorbed.
He’s good. Jamie at ISD set his potential ceiling at Curtis Samuel, who had a phenomenal multipurpose junior season at Ohio State in 2016 before jumping to the NFL (1,636 yards from scrimmage and 15 TDs). Abdur-Rahman just dropped 225 rushing yards and 4 TDs on Christian Brothers from St. Louis, which is one of the top programs in the country and cranks out D1 prospects with regularity.
Consensus before this commitment is that there were 3-4 spots left in the class, with the staff probably wanting one OT, one DE, one CB, and one WR. They weren’t going to take a warm body at any of those spots, certainly. And let’s be honest, we’ve all been around long enough to know that there’s a pretty good chance we’ll have one or two more spots available by February.
He hasn’t done any camps, he doesn’t talk to reporters much, and as noted, he even took down his highlight videos. He’s not into the recruiting process at all, so it’s not that surprising if he’s under the radar.
Everything I’ve read says he is a legitimate 4 star, just not rated there yet, and he may not get there either due to how little exposure he has.
Amazingly, it seems that almost all of our 3-star recruits should be 4-stars. Unless it’s like a Kiser or Macollister, you’ll get at least one or two of the ND recruiting media guys saying that for just about everyone we sign. Never forget the Devin Studstill hype.
That said, there is the 247 ranking, which provides some comfort here.
Also, the Curtis Samuel comp is… generous. Samuel was a top-60 recruit with offers from everyone, who lived up to that hype (i.e., top-60 and was a second-round draft pick). If this guy lives up to his recruiting ranking, he might start as a senior.
I agree it’s always easy to claim that the recruits a team picks up are underrated, but in this case it seems to definitely be the case. ESPN hasn’t even rated him so that would severely drag down his rating. If you just take out ESPN’s shameful performance then he is solidly in the 4 star range.
I don’t think anyone is out there saying Clark or Hart are 4 stars either. And if you’re going to reference Studstill, you should also reference Stepherson–a guy in the same class that was hyped as underrated and proved that to be the case despite his off the field issues.
Of our 3-stars, (we only have 5 total if you don’t count the punter) I think KAR and probably Williams are underrated while the other three are where they should be. We have a few 4-stars that are potentially overrated in Cross, Ajavon, and Olmstead.
“That said, there is the 247 ranking, which provides some comfort here.”
If you’re referencing this: “247 Sports — 4 star (90 rating), #285 overall, #24 ATH, #10 in VA,” I don’t think that’s for this kid. He’s from Illinois, not Virginia. Copy/Paste oopsie, I’m guessing.
I’m not sure where they got the Virginia part, but his 247 rating (not composite) is 90 overall, Natl: 285, ATH: 24, IL: 5
Is he from Edwardsville High School?
Yes he is – across the river from St. Louis. My understanding as to why he is only a 3 star is because he currently plays QB and DB and has never played WR. However, that is where ND sees him – a slot receiver, though, more than an outside guy. He is apparently incredibly athletic, pretty fast (though not a burner), and a pretty tough (based on his DB play). He will need to learn how to be a WR, which is the reason for the lower ranking, but those skills can be taught. (None of this is my own info – just parroting back what I have read and heard on other (free) sites.)