Hopefully you enjoyed our overview of the 2022 Notre Dame recruiting class with recruit grades and some thoughts on the class. Over the next several days we’ll go into a deeper dive on each position group, starting today with the offensive skill positions (which, sadly, we can condense into a single post).
As a reminder, here’s our standard grading scale for this exercise:
95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff
Signees
| 247C | 18S Grade | Player | City/State | Ht/Wt | Position | Stars | ||||
| 0.9514 | 94 | Tobias Merriweather | Camas, WA | 6-4/185 | WR | * | * | * | * | * |
| 0.9271 | 95 | Eli Raridon | West Des Moines, IA | 6-6/228 | TE | * | * | * | * | |
| 0.9210 | 90 | Jadarian Price | Denison, TX | 5-11/180 | RB | * | * | * | * | |
| 0.8962 | 84 | Steve Angeli | Oradell, NJ | 6-3/215 | QB | * | * | * | * | |
| 0.8951 | 87 | Holden Staes | Atlanta, GA | 6-4/230 | TE | * | * | * | * | |
WR Tobias MerriweatherÂ
18S Average: 94.3
Brendan: 92
It’s funny that Tyler mentioned Deion Colzie, because when I watched Merriweather’s film I thought he looked like a looser version of Colzie. I like Colzie a lot, don’t get me wrong, but Merriweather is that same length/catch radius/long speed combo plus better acceleration and smoother movement in and out of breaks. He’s a much more precise route runner than kids his age and height typically are, and it’s that fluidity that lets him do it.1 He needs to add a little bulk, but there’s so much to like about his game already. He’s a virtual lock to get snaps this season due to the depth chart – it’ll be really interesting to see what he does with them.
Eric: 96
Merriweather is one of the few verbal commit posts I’ve done in recent years because I’m that excited about him and needed to step up for him. He’s the best receiver coming out of high school we’ve signed in many, many years. He measured almost 6’4” and nearly 200 pounds at the All-American Bowl and I’ll repeat I think he’s the best big wideout in the country for this class. Merriweather is a smooth runner with deceptive speed and really good strength. As a route-runner he’s very polished and flashes playmaking ball skills. I truly believe he can catch up to 50 passes in 2022, he’s that good.
Tyler: 95
This is a clear top 100 player in my eyes, borderline top 50. It’s absolutely criminal that On3 has him outside of the top 200 in their own rankings. Ideal size and an extremlely smooth route-runner. I’m high on Deion Colzie, but he is going to have a hard time trying to keep Tobias off the field.
TE Eli Raridon
18S Average: 95.3
Brendan: 95
Raridon was a mid-level three star when Notre Dame landed his commitment; he started to blow up as a football recruit based on his performance on the basketball court – seriously, Google his highlights, they’re pretty ridiculous. And while you’re at it check out his senior season football highlights, in which he makes an entire team look like dummies on the very first play. I think he could very well have a Michael Mayer-like presence in the offense. (There, I said it.)
Eric: 96
Probably the most athletic pass-catching tight end Notre Dame has signed in recent memory. He moves so well for his height and genuinely looks like someone who will break off a bunch of long touchdowns in college. Maybe a little too skinny to jump right into a bunch of playing time for the Irish. Having him rehab his knee injury and take a redshirt year while he gets bigger and isn’t dealing with Michael Mayer’s shadow will be good, I think. I like his physicality and blocking ability too. His ceiling is extremely high.
Tyler: 95
Dare I say, signing Raridon is like signing another Cole Kmet or Tyler Eifert. He’s got that king of pass-catching ability. It’s unfortunate that he tore his ACL during his senior basketball season, because he will probably be seeing the field a lot his sophomore year.
RB Jadarian Price
18S Average: 90.3
Brendan: 92
I love Price and I think the services significantly underratde him. His burst and agility are fantastic – long speed isn’t quite elite but who cares, he’s going to get himself in the open field a lot. He’s a really tough runner in traffic too; if you sleep on him at all he’ll run you over. Also shows some nice soft hands as a receiver. He went for over 10 yards per touch and 19 touchdowns last year. Not too shabby. I think he’ll be in the mix right away and could be a lead back as a junior.
Eric: 89
He doesn’t waste time getting upfield which I love. Price is really good at getting skinny through the hole with good pad level to allow him to open up his speed to the second level. Really nice muscular and lean frame. He should stay under 200 pounds with good speed. Not a ton of wiggle to his game but makes defenders miss with speed and a quick stiff arm. I’m interested to see his speed at the collegiate level. I think he has to be a homerun type of runner to be great in college.
Tyler: 90
His stock really rose following his senior season for me. He’s got good instincts, good burst, and is a stronger runner than you might expect given his size. Could end up being a really, really good college back.
QB Steve Angeli
18S Average: 84.0
Brendan: 85
Angeli isn’t an elite prospect, but he’s basically better at everything than many angry members of the Irish fan base would care to admit. He has plus arm strength and plus accuracy. He won’t be the runner that Ian Book was but he can run well enough. He’s very calm in the pocket and does a good job moving through his reads. Would it be nice to have Walker Howard in this class? Absolutely. Did the Notre Dame staff settle for Darrin Bragg instead? Not remotely. (Also apologies to Darrin Bragg.)
Eric: 83
Good size with an upper-body frame capable of adding a lot more muscle. He throws a really tight spiral with incredible consistency. Nice compact, over-the-top throwing motion. Angeli’s accuracy looks quite good on the short-to-intermediate throws. Decent enough athlete who probably won’t escape a ton of pressure in the pocket but occasionally runs for a first down when needed. There’s potential to become a really steady and smart pro-style-ish pocket passer. Obviously, people don’t get too excited about steadiness. I don’t see many traits that make me think Angeli is a multi-year starter at Notre Dame.
Tyler: 84
Solid arm, solid athlete, solid intangibles. Just an all-around solid pickup for Notre Dame. Unfortunately, solid isn’t sexy at the quarterback position. I think he’s a guy that could see himself starting as an upperclassman after waiting his turn. Wouldn’t be shocked if he surprised some people who seem to have written him off already.
TE Holden Staes
18S Average: 87.0
Brendan: 89
Staes is a plus athlete with soft hands and absolutely no fear of traffic. Oh, and he lives to destroy people as a blocker… Where Raridon profiles as the modern hybrid TE/jumbo WR, I think Staes profiles more as a traditional inline/H-back type who is a real threat as a receiver as well. He reminds me of Tommy Tremble quite a bit, and not just because both are 6-4 angry gazelles from Georgia. He’s a great compliment to Raridon and someone who I think will be able to affect a game in his own right.
Eric: 86
Here’s a guy with long legs with a stride that eats up a ton of ground. It kind of reminds me of Jeff Samardzija, actually. Good athlete with nice YAC ability. He displays pretty good hands and a solid catch radius in traffic. Not someone who looks so athletically gifted that I think he’s an unquestioned future No. 1 tight end at Notre Dame. But, he looks physically ready to play and I’d bet he’ll develop into a very good player.
Tyler: 86
Not as sexy a pick-up as Raridon, but Staes is a dang good tight end in his own right. Looked really good at the Polynesian Bowl and proved himself to be a receiving threat and overall well-rounded player.
Watching Merriweather returning punts, has me sold that this is a special player.
Kind of unique that one of the TEs that Raridon passed on his ascent up the rankings was Staes. They could be an excellent combo.
I think Price is underrated in the RB rankings. He’s very talented.
I think Angeli could be a Jack Coan type passer with much better mobility. Or Drew Pyne with much more size and more arm strength.
The weakness of this list is the number of players on it. Not their talent.
It’s going to be interesting to see your feelings on the OLine guys. I’ve seen so many reviews with all different rankings of which guy is potentially the best.
“The weakness of this list is the number of players on it. Not their talent.”
Well put, they really needed a CJ Williams and a couple more WRs here. Alas.
Angeli will be interesting to watch, seems like the classic slept on ND QB prospect who ends up having a bigger role down the line then most anticipate. It also seems weird to me that there are a lot of positives when people describe him, yet overall he doesn’t win anyone over to really vouch for him being a big time player. Doesn’t sound like anyone is totally bought into Angeli, even though there aren’t really THAT many knocks on him at the same time. Most like him, but no one seems to love him type of thing. Guess we’ll find out one day.
So, if you have a Jack Coan, that moves in the pocket better and is a threat to run a little, what is ND’s record last year ?
Probably still 11-2, QB play wasn’t the over-riding factor in the losses, and the team still had several weaknesses and bald spots papered over. But probably several of those early games (Toledo, Purdue, Virginia Tech) go from dramatic and frustrating to more like the easy later-season wins, though.
ND didn’t truly need a more mobile QB to get more wins, they needed Wrsto get open vs Cincy (Sauce Gardner fed KA his lunch) and better LBs and DBs.
Going to disagree slightly here… The unsettled OL lost the Cincy game. Full stop. Pyne was able to work around the OL somewhat, but he also went 9/22 with a few turnover-worthy throws, so it’s not like the more mobile QB just shredded them. And we still had a chance late. If the November OL had played against Cincinnati, we very likely win that game.
The bowl game was all about the secondary, or more specifically Clarence Lewis. I think Hart was targeted once, which tells you all you need to know about where the problem was. They figured out they could go after Lewis and we didn’t have our All-American eraser back there to make them pay for it.
I do agree that a more mobile QB wouldn’t have helped tremendously against Cincy because the OL was just so bad in pass protection in the first half (before Alt came in). Coan took a sack early where he had literally 1.5 seconds from the snap until the guy was on him. Nobody can make that work. And that the bowl game loss had absolutely nothing to do with Coan’s immobility.
Is Pyne the passer Coan was ? I truly don’t see how you can say a more mobile Coan might not have changed the outcome in both games. Fewer negative plays and probably a better run game most certainly could have.
There weren’t that many negative plays from the QB’s in either game they lost last year. Almost all of them came in games that Notre Dame still managed to win.
How about the interception on the first drive vs. Cincy. A more mobile QB might not have bought an extra half second and made a better pass? The run game might not have been less one dimensional ? Keeping the defense off the field 2nd half vs. Okie St. wouldn’t have helped? Of course a more mobile QB with the same passing skills could have made a difference. Geez, how many complained Buchner should have come in for a change of pace ? Yet, having a starter with mobility wouldn’t have made a difference? Egads.
Could it have made a difference? Sure. Would it have changed the result? Less reason to be sure. QB play wasn’t a major contributor to the loss, just imagining a different QB who makes every play on the field would be a big help
“Could it have made a difference? Sure”…. Bingo.
“just imagining a different QB who makes every play on the field would be a big help” Did I do that ? No.
Me saying “every play” is a dramatic stretch, just as the only way the losses are changing to wins is basically imagining a super-QB in hindsight who makes a lot more plays than Coan did. Lack of QB mobility wasn’t a key reason for the 2 losses.
Could it have been “different” if ND had a different and better version of the QB play they got? Yeah, sure, not clear what kind of statement that makes, but it’s true.
“if we had Ian Book but with Everett Golson’s arm could we have won a playoff game” uh yeah if you take a QB and magically make them better you might get better results.
Of course no argued that. Nice straw man. I said a more mobile version of Jack Coan could have made a difference in the losses. (It was in regards to Angeli maybe being that type of QB) All season people complained of Coan’s mobility. Now I’m wrong to suggest such a thing. When one or two plays can change the outcome of a game.
Of course it could have.
Yes, if a QB could be exactly as they are but better we might have gotten a more favorable result, very true. Maybe if Foskey was the same but also stronger or more technically skilled and able to shed blocks faster, he makes a few bigger plays or avoids bad ones and we win, who knows.
Unfortunately we didn’t have a more mobile Jack Coan, we had actual Jack Coan or two more mobile QBs who weren’t as good at passing the ball, which the coaches thought was enough of a detriment to keep them off the field compared to Coan.
It seems you guys are being purposely dim.
Yeah, that’s kinda how I see it and meant it. The defense also couldn’t stop Ridder and Alec Pierce when it mattered and barely looked like they were a speed bump at times.
A more mobile QB wouldn’t have helped because the Oline was so bad in pass protection ???……That makes no sense.
It’s not even the number of players, it’s the number of receivers. CJ apparently was shaky since mid-season, and Walker was telling the staff one thing while very clearly doing something else. Neither should have been treated as a committed prospect. Loy I think said at one point in the cycle that the staff didn’t want to risk nudging CJ or Walker out of the class by recruiting other guys. Well… Whoops.
An additional RB was a pure luxury.
I like Angeli and, as I sort of hint at above, I think he can surprise some people. A higher-ceiling QB wasn’t a necessity IMO but would’ve been nice. If you really want to have some fun… Walker Howard tried to commit to ND after his official visit but hit some kind of admissions snag. We don’t know what, but it wasn’t grades or foreign language. We heard that off the record before signing day and it’s been reported in some post signing day reviews since then. So Tommy did land Howard, and the admin nixed it. Well done, folks.
wow.
Who reported that ?
I have not seen that reported/it wasn’t in Loy’s end-of-year wrap-up, which usually has some juicy details. Also, FWIW, that wrap-up said (in essence) that Allar did want to go to ND and ND was just too late in the game, which is contrary to what has been said in the comments here.
I can’t remember where/when, but I remember Loy saying that Howard hit an admissions snag that prevented him from coming to ND