Notre Dame football received its 24th commit in the 2021 class on Wednesday when defensive end Devin Aupiu verbally committed to the Fighting Irish. The 6’5″/220-pounder out of California had previously been committed to Chip Kelly and the UCLA Bruins since April, but a Notre Dame offer from the superior Kelly in late November would prove to be a game-changer in this recruitment. Less than two weeks after offering Aupiu on  November 29th, the Fighting Irish staff would secure its 6th successful flip of the 2021 cycle.

Recruiting Service Rankings

Rivals — 3 star (5.6 rating), NR overall, #40 WDE, #58 in CA

ESPN — 3 star (77 rating), NR overall, #66 OLB, #63 in CA

247Sports — 3 star (89 rating), NR overall, #30 OLB, #38 in CA

247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8714), #582 overall, #34 OLB, #49 in CA

Irish Sports Daily — 3 star (87 rating)

Cohort

In addition to UCLA, Devin also held other offers from USC, Utah, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, and Kansas.

Highlights


One important piece of information to note when watching Devin’s highlights is that this is his junior year film. California football has been pushed to spring, so there isn’t any recent film to dig through for him. Devin has likely gone through some physical or technical development since last fall that the ND staff is aware of, but I couldn’t tell you what those developments are.

Devin’s junior film shows a guy with an ideal frame for a defensive end. He plays with effort and has a great motor. He’s extremely raw, though. He does a really good job of getting his hands in the air and using his length the bat the ball down at the line of scrimmage. He is a very raw prospect, though — at least based on junior film. He doesn’t seem to have much of a pass-rushing move-set and I’d like to see a guy like him get a good jump on the ball more often than he does.

Impact

Mike Elston has gotten himself yet another piece of clay to mold. In an ideal world, Devin takes the Ogundeji career path where he needs a few years but eventually turns into a force on the edge. Feels like I’ve been saying that a lot about Notre Dame defensive end commits over the past couple of cycles, which I might be worried about if not for the fact that Mike Elston has done an outstanding job of developing his projects over the last few years. And the cupboards aren’t exactly bare on the defensive line, either. Devin plans to enroll early as well, so Elston will have the opportunity to start working with him early.

In any case, I think this is a smart pickup for Notre Dame at this stage in the recruiting cycle. COVID has presented challenges on the recruiting front, but also a massive opportunity in the form of lax scholarship limitations for the near future. Nine months ago, the Irish weren’t expecting to sign a 25-man class — but that’s currently the goal. If you have a chance to land a guy with the physical traits that Devin Aupiu has, I think it makes sense to take advantage of it.

Welcome to the Irish family, Devin!