In response to complaints earlier today that we hadn’t written a commit post in days, we’re pleased to announce that we convinced blue-chip tight end Cane Berrong to pledge to the Irish. The 6’4″, 220-pound Georgian becomes the fifth member of the 2021 class and the third to jump on board in the last week. Berrong visited Notre Dame a couple of weeks ago in the middle of a whirlwind tour; since the start of the month, he visited Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Florida State, in order.

At #123 overall in the 247 Composite, Berrong is somewhat unbelievably the second-lowest ranked commit in Notre Dame’s 2021 class, ahead of #199 overall Greg Crippen. You might say that 2021 recruiting is going pretty well.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9380), #123 overall, #2 TE, #13 in GA

247Sports — 4 star (94 rating), #61 overall, #1 TE, #6 in GA

Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), NR overall, #6 TE, #17 in GA

ESPN — Not Yet Rated

Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (92 rating)

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame, Cane Berrong holds offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Iowa, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin, among others. Wow.

Highlights

Berrong’s tape reminds of Jacob Lacey’s. You might think that’s odd since Lacey is a DT, but it has nothing to do with position… Like Berrong, Lacey committed very early, so all we had to look at then was sophomore tape. When I watched Lacey’s sophomore tape, I had to keep reminding myself that he was a sophomore because he didn’t look like one. He looked more dominant than most senior DTs we had recruited in the last couple of decades.

I get that same feeling watching Cane Berrong. He already looks like a dominant offensive force at times, and he’s only 15 on this tape. That’s nuts! He looks every bit of his listed measurements. He shows plus speed (took up track this year and ran an 11.4 100M) and extraordinary agility for his size. He puts that size to very good use in the open field, as he’s a load to bring down with a head of steam. He has soft, sure hands and does a good job of attacking the ball away from his body.

He needs work on his blocking. The biggest problem I saw was that when he’s inline, he tends to catch defenders when he should initiate contact. When he’s pulling or blocking from the H-back spot he looks much more comfortable and is more aggressive at first contact, so he has the mentality. And after all, HE’S A SOPHOMORE. Insane.

Impact

Berrong likely won’t have to contribute until his sophomore year in South Bend. By then, Tommy Tremble and George Takacs might be redshirt seniors (or one or both might be gone), and Michael Mayer and Kevin Bauman will be juniors. If any of those guys don’t pan out, or if Tremble or Takacs pans out really well and goes pro early, opportunity will certainly be there. Once he gets on the field, I believe Berrong has the traits he needs to continue Notre Dame’s proud tradition of producing NFL tight ends. Yeah. I said it.

Welcome to the Irish family, Cane!

Photo Credit: Irish Sports Daily