Notre Dame football received some fantastic news tonight, as massive 2020 defensive end Alexander Ehrensberger has decided to verbally commit to the Fighting Irish. The 6’7″/240 pounder out of Dusseldorf, Germany is the 4th commit for the Irish from the Class of 2020, and their first on the defensive side of the ball.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports — 3 star (80 rating), #951 overall, #51 SDE, #1 in Germany

Rivals — Not Yet Rated

ESPN — Not Yet Rated

247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8000), NR overall, #66 SDE, #1 in Germany

Irish Sports Daily — 3 star (86 rating)

 

Most of the recruiting services haven’t quite gotten around to giving Ehrensberger a proper evaluation yet. Rivals and ESPN haven’t even tried at this point, and even 247 left it at their default “guy who plays against terrible competition but is probably a 3-star” grade. ISD has probably done the most thorough evaluation out of any recruiting services out there, so it seemed appropriate to include their rating.

Cohort

Alexander chose the Irish over one other offer from Florida International, and interest from major programs like Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia, and others.

He likely would have added more offers to the list, but he essentially put his recruiting on hold for a bit while he focused on Notre Dame and passing admissions. He visited South Bend back in late November and it sounds like he’s been waiting for the green light to commit ever since.

Highlights

Ehrensberger’s film can be quite fun to watch. It’s extremely amusing seeing a 6’7″ defensive lineman run down a quarterback that’s probably a solid half a foot shorter than him.

Ehrensberger is essentially a very raw, but very athletic player packed into an absurdly long frame. He’s quick off the ball. There are a few times in his highlights where he’s basically in the backfield before the offensive lineman in front of him has gotten out of his stance. He has a lot that he will need to work on, but this is an extremely high-ceiling prospect.

If you’d like a more in-depth analysis of Ehrensberger’s film, click this link to read Jamie Uyeyama’s film review over at ISD.

Impact

This is a really good start to defensive recruiting for the Class of 2020. Big end is a huge area of need right now, and having a high-potential guy in the fold this early in the cycle is a good sign. Ehrensberger isn’t someone you should expect to make an impact early in his career, but if he develops well his potential is as high as anyone Notre Dame has recruited at the position for the last handful of years. Guys of his size that can move as well as he does just do not grow on trees.

 

Welcome to the Irish family, Alexander!