Not once, not twice, but three times this week Notre Dame football has flipped a prospect from another school. This time it’s offensive tackle Caleb Johnson, whose recruitment was well under way when the Irish finally offered back in March. The 6’7″, 295-pound Florida resident and Fort Wayne native had some natural interest in Notre Dame but was too far down the road already with Auburn, committing to them just two months after the Notre Dame offer. Irish line coach Jeff Quinn never let up in his pursuit, though, and was rewarded for his efforts with the flip this week.
Johnson is an important win because, with newly-minted four-star Joe Alt, he gives the class two natural tackles to go tackle/guard prospect Blake Fisher and pure guards Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan. Tight end commit Mitchell Evans is a physical specimen and could take the Andy Heck route too, but it’s good to have two guys in this class who are more of a direct profile on the edge. It’s also a boon to overall offensive line numbers, since the Irish took just two linemen – really good ones, but still, two – in the 2020 cycle.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8884 rating), #367 overall, #28 OT, #60 in FL
247Sports — 4 star (90 rating), NR overall, #29 OT, #42 in FL
Rivals —Â 3 star (5.7 rating), NR overall, #34 OT, #58 in FL
ESPN — 4 star (80 rating), NR overall, #30, #57 in FL
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (90 rating)
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame and Auburn, Johnson holds offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Missouri, Penn State, and West Virginia, among others.
Highlights
Woooo, Johnson plays with some attitude. His aggressiveness is the most visible trait on this highlight reel. As a run blocker he fires out of his stance really quickly, and he wants to bury as many people as he can under the turf before the whistle stops echoing. Warms my cockles. He shows outstanding footwork and athleticism as a pulling blocker, especially given his massive size.
I think he has some work to do as a pass blocker. His pad level is much higher than when he run blocks and he tends to catch rushers a bit instead of shooting his hands out to stop their momentum immediately. At the same time his footwork is really aggressive, which will be a liability against rushers who have more technique. He actually reminds me a lot of early-days Mike McGlinchey.
Impact
I don’t see Johnson as an instant contributor – he has size and potential, but there are some holes in his game right now that will be exposed quickly against Power 5 defensive linemen. I definitely think he could be a multi-year starter at right tackle though, and a tone setter for the line.
Welcome to the Irish family, Caleb!
I see that we got a little nudge to #8 within spitting distance of the Gators.
Well, it looks like he already has all the shamrock series uniforms…
Who was the OL last year we recruited that seemed to block only one guy and bury him? Johnson seems to move on from one player to the next sometimes blocking multiple guys on the same play.
I think it’s great that ND is taking a big class this year. It seems like the coaches are looking at the scholarship-limit expansion next year as an opportunity and are being aggressive rather than worrying about limits in 2022 or beyond, and I like it.
Also like every other message board lemming I recant the mean things I’ve said about Jeff Quinn.
I think of myself more as a message board muskrat, thank you very much.
Clemson FSU postponed to December 12th, so Clemson won’t have a bye while we play Wake Forest before the ACC title game. Obviously independent of my hope the kid with COVID is fine, I’m quite pleased Clemson won’t have a bye week while the Irish are on a 600 mile east coast road trip.