2022 Football Recruiting Big Board: Defense Launch

The other day we kicked off the 2022 offense big board; today we’re going to jump into the defense. Going forward we’ll update the board by position groups every other week; the offense will be split into QB/RB/OL and WR/TE, while the defense will be split into DL/LB and DB. We may increase the frequency as the board shrinks and these posts get easier to manage.

The Defense Board

A reminder on how we do this – we’ll include the entire big board table but only review prospects who are above “Cold” status. Speaking of which, the temperature scale:

• Hot means the prospect is on commit watch.
• Warm means the prospect has Notre Dame in a small final group and/or is a possible Irish lean.
• Mild/Mild+ means the prospect is in regular contact with the staff and has visited or has firm visit plans.
• Cool means the prospect has some level of contact with the staff and/or vague visit plans; also the default temperature for most new offers.
• Cold is a known (or reasonably safely assumed) lack of contact with the staff and/or an elimination.

Also, on the 247 Composite ratings, roughly speaking above .9830 is a five star, above .9500 is a top 100 prospect, above .9200 is a top 200 prospect, and above .8900 is a four star. Those slide around a little within a cycle and from one cycle to the next, but they’re pretty solid ballpark numbers.

Remember that of course we don’t have perfect information on all prospects – we don’t know for sure whether a prospect has or hasn’t talked to the staff outside of what’s reported elsewhere. We don’t know for sure how high prospects are on the staff’s board. We try to make highly-educated guesses at all of it, but we don’t know.

Defensive End

Commits: WDE Tyson Ford, 0.9494, #123 overall/#7 position; WDE Aiden Gobaira, 0.8839, #427 overall/#24 position
Slots: 3-4

Top 50 prospect Cyrus Moss felt like a long shot but the Irish are somehow staying in the race here, due in part to Brian Kelly’s personal involvement. I still think the Bishop Gorman product will stay out west in the end, but who knows. Ronnie Stanley, Alize Mack, and Nicco Fertitta need to get on this one… Tevarua Tafiti is ranked as a linebacker but clearly profiles as a weakside end at the next level. He goes to Manti Te’o’s high school and has idoliozed Te’o for years; not surprisingly, he’s very seriously interested in Notre Dame. He wants to take visits before deciding though, which (crazily enough) could leave him without a chair when the music stops…

DJ Wesolak is one of the fastest-rising prospects in the country, with a recent Clemson offer pushing him to nearly 40 FBS offers. He jumped 150 spots in the last 247 Composite update, up to #255 overall, and likely is far from done there. Wesolak is close with Ford; if they take a trip to South Bend soon for an independent visit, watch out… Finally, Alex Bauman, the younger brother of current Irish tight end Kevin Bauman, is on the board but just barely, as a commitment from any other DE this cycle would likely be the formal end of his recruitment. 247’s Tom Loy recently flipped his “crystal ball” prediction for Bauman from Notre Dame to Rutgers, which says quite a bit.

Defensive Tackle

Commits: None
Slots: 1-2

Anthony Lucas is a top 100 player in the Composite now, largely due to 247 bumping him up to five-star status in their own rankings. He’s an ultra-elite defensive tackle who is a perfect fit culturally and academically for Notre Dame. I don’t often say this, but man, the Irish staff really needs to win this battle to close the on-field gap with Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State… Ernest Cooper is ranked as an SDE but profiles as a 3-tech DT for Notre Dame. I tend to think he’ll stay in Texas, but he’s definitely interested and listening…

Kaleb Artis was just described by his coach as “a Volkswagen driving around the field,” which we think is a compliment; guess it depends on which Volkswagen we’re talking about. It’s hard to figure exactly where he is in the pecking order, but I think he’s behind Lucas and Cooper. I’m a bit skeptical of New York City football prospects, but Artis seems to be a good fit… Donovan Hinish is, as you might have guessed, the younger brother of current Irish stalwart Kurt Hinish. His prospects seem a bit brighter than Bauman’s, though, which makes sense given Kurt’s production and the fact that Donovan looks further along now than Kurt did at the same stage.

We think the class will likely include five defensive linemen, with the mix somewhat uncertain. The smart money today is on Ford, Gobaira, and Wesolak at DE, Hinish and Lucas or Cooper at DT. Moss will likely have a spot no matter what else happens, but don’t bother putting that even in pencil yet.

Linebacker

Commits: S Nolan Ziegler, 0.9000, #302 overall/#18 position
Slots: 4

Niuafe “Junior” Tuihalamaka landed a Notre Dame offer in mid January and decommitted from USC two days later. Safe to say the Irish are in good shape here, but as with Tafiti, timing could be an issue. I can’t believe I’m saying that about the #71 overall prospect in the country, but here we are. If they asked me, I’d tell them to take all the Hawaiian kids and figure it out later… Not far behind Junior is #79 Jaylen Sneed, who hails from an area the Irish don’t generally recruit very well (South Carolina) but seems to have legitimate interest. Worth tracking his travels to see if he gets to campus anytime soon…

#115 Josh Burnham, who Jamie Uyeyama has at #29 overall, is announcing on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s his birthday, so don’t get too excited. But he’s also trending very heavily to the Irish, so go ahead and get excited anyway. Burnham is a Michigan native and has been a major priority for the Skunkbears, so double the pleasure here. Fun fact: He shares that birthday with Ziegler and 2021 RB Logan Diggs… #152 Devon Jackson is also high on the Irish and a very intriguing prospect. His father and uncle played at Illinois and his mother was a track star, setting and still holding the school 60 meter record. Jackson himself has said that he wants to run a sub-11.0 100 meter this spring. A linebacker. Sub-11.0. He’s very interested but, again, may be squeezed out…

#154 Sebastian Cheeks is one of the longest denizens of the board. Notre Dame has been in excellent shape with Cheeks, who trains with fellow Chicagoland native and 2021 Irish signee Justin Walters, for a while. New DC Marcus Freeman seems to have built on that momentum, and we really like where the Irish stand now.

We don’t normally include the rankings for each prospect, as you no doubt have noticed, but this group is a special case. Brian Kelly has signed four top 100 linebackers in the eleven full recruiting cycles he’s had at Notre Dame. The 2022 class could add two to that number. Kelly has signed nine top 150 linebackers in the same time frame. This group could add three to that number. We may very well end up running out of room for the #79 and #152 players in the country, guys who in almost any other year would headline the defensive class. Heady times indeed.

Cornerback

Commits: Jaden Mickey, 0.9088, #261 overall/#30 position
Slots: 2-3

The record-scratch name on this list is definitely Khamauri Rogers. He’s an elite corner (#65 overall/#7 position) from Mississippi with an offer list as long as a CVS receipt, and yet his interest in Notre Dame is very real. The Magnolia State has produced only seven Irish players all-time. One of them – Southaven’s Caleb Offord – is on campus now, but even so, it’s not a place where the Irish normally make inroads. Marcus Freeman and Mike Mickens are doing some Magnus Ver Magnusson level of heavy lifting here, and Notre Dame is definitely in play…

Almost as surprising is the realistic chance to flip Jyaire Brown from Ohio State. Brown is a borderline top 100 corner with, again, very real interest in the Irish thanks to Freeman and Mickens. He’s not totally unconnected from Rogers either – they’re good friends and 7-on-7 teammates, as Brown only recently moved to Ohio from Louisiana. Another 7-on-7 teammate and good friend of both of them? Recent Irish WR commit Amorion Walker. Hmm…

Jaeden Gould may be slipping down the board a bit for several schools. Why isn’t exactly clear, but he did miss the fall season with injury and it’s possible that programs want to see if the effects are lingering… Ephesians Prysock would join the All-Time All Name team the moment the ink was dry on his letter of intent. Listed at 6’3″, he could end up at corner or safety. He has real interest but it’s very hard to tell where he is in his process and on the staff’s board. Tennessee is one to watch here as they just offered, and Casey and Rick Clausen are his head coach and OC, respectively. On the other hand, he’s also Tuihalamaka’s teammate…

Nikai Martinez goes to the same high school that produced former Irish cornerback Lo Wood. Martinez is a true nickel, which is a profile that Notre Dame really hasn’t been able to figure out. He’s also high on Clemson and in fact just did an independent visit there. Getting him on campus will be key…  Cam Miller is a tremendous athlete who could land at corner or safety. He has started at quarterback for the last two seasons, rushing for about 2,300 yards in those campaigns, in addition to starting at corner. He drew praise at the Under Armour Miami camp recently for his physicality in coverage. His recruitment seems to be in the very early stages, with no clear picture of his favorites…

Finally, Jayden Bellamy is another two-way guy for Bergen Catholic, where he plays with Gould and Irish QB commit Steve Angeli. In BC’s six-game 2020 season, Bellamy carried the ball nine times – eight receptions and one interception – and had four touchdowns. That’s a pretty solid ratio. In fact he was really the only receiving threat Angeli had, and he still averaged 24 yards per catch. Kid can move. He has sincere interest but may have to wait for some things above him to sort themselves out.

Safety

Commits: None
Slots: 2

I very nearly marked Xavier Nwankpa as “Cold,” as the heavy consensus is that he’s essentially been a done deal to Ohio State for a long time. But he’s not committed yet, at least not publicly that we know of, and he’s still talking to Notre Dame. We shall see… Sherrod Covil is very interested in the Irish and you all should be very excited about that; he’s one of the kids that’s definitely going to climb the service rankings as he gets more exposure. Uyeyama also has Covil in his top 50, incidentally, at #44. Covil will narrow his list sometime soon, and the Irish are all but guaranteed to make the cut along with Alabama and Penn State…

Jaden Mangham is a legit 6’3″ kid who can run and hiiiiiiit. He doesn’t hit, he hiiiiiiits. Like Burnham, he’s a priority for Michigan at receiver (I actually like him there too based on his Hudl reel) but I’m not sure he has a position preference, and Notre Dame’s message has been resonating with him. In addition to Michigan, Alabama and Michigan State are involved here… Devin Moore is yet another kid in the 2022 cycle whose offer list far outpaces his ranking – sensing a theme? The Naples product recently released a top seven and Notre Dame made the cut – as did Alabama (again, a theme), Cincy, Florida, FSU, Miami, and Stanford. He’s reportedly one of Kelly’s favorite targets. He probably won’t decide anytime soon, but definitely look for the Irish to stay in this one if they have room.

Kevin Winston initially missed out on a junior season when Maryland shut everything down in the fall, but his school just started a five-game spring season this past weekend. He was a two-way starter on a top 50 national team as a sophomore. He’s another plus athlete with a big frame – every safety target mentioned here is at least 6’2″ aside from Covil, who is 6’0″ – and DeMatha has churned out FBS prospects with regularity, so I’m very interested to see what that translates into on the field for these five games.

Board Thoughts

Sometimes I have to remind myself that there are still only four defensive commits in this class, because the positive vibes are so overwhelmingly strong right now. Many Irish fans are over the moon with Marcus Freeman right now, and rightfully so, based on early results. He reportedly reversed the course of the Tyson Ford recruitment within the first couple of days on the job. Absent his presence guys like Khamauri Rogers and Jaylen Sneed might not even listen to Notre Dame, let alone be sincerely interested. All of that is very much praiseworthy. I loved Clark Lea, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no question that Freeman is a much stronger recruiter and really only the second “dog” DC that Kelly has had, along with Mike Elko. Bob Diaco was famously uninterested in recruiting, aside from camping out outside Ishaq Williams’s house once. Brian VanGorder was even less interested than that. Elko got after it. Lea was a fantastic coach but not an energetic recruiter.

Freeman is an elite defensive coordinator on Saturdays, but critically for the college game, he’s also a damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead guy on the trail. He’s even involved in the recruitment of OL Aamil Wagner, who goes to Freeman’s high school. Dude is Kelly Leake… I’m just as jazzed as everyone else about the momentum right now, but thing with momentum is, it moves you forward until it doesn’t. I do believe we have a real shot at rounding out the corner class with Rogers and Brown, for example, but I have a hard time getting too wired about it until they actually commit. There’s a little nagging voice in the dark recesses of my brain that wonders if Freeman, despite his best efforts, is just Lucy holding the football down for our ill-fated run-up once again.

Ford, Mickey, Gobaira (who by the way looks like an absolute monster in his spring season), and Ziegler are a good start to this season. Freeman will likely pick up another very good piece for his position group very soon. That’s great and fun and very notable, seriously. I just can’t shake the feeling that we need to keep our enthusiasm in check until some of the momentum moves us across the actual finish line on some of these kids. That said, this is the strongest positive momentum I can remember for a class since 2013, when #2 Jaylon Smith, #7 Eddie Vanderdoes (grrrr), #29 Max Redfield, #111 Isaac Rochell, and #154 Cole Luke headlined the defensive class. This group won’t be that top-heavy barring some stunners, but how much could we really complain about a class that could include five to six top 100 defenders?

It’s not as crazy as it sounds, even given my professed caution. Welcome aboard, Marcus.