It’s taken longer than usual, but Notre Dame football finally received its first commitment of the 2022 class Saturday when offensive lineman Joey Tanona verbally committed to the Fighting Irish.
100% Committed. I’m staying home!☘️ #GoIrish @NDFootball @CoachBrianKelly @CoachJeffQuinn @T_Rees11 pic.twitter.com/P8w9K97Ioy
— Joey Tanona (@JoeyTanona) July 25, 2020
The 6’5″/280-pounder out of Zionsville, Indiana received his offer from Notre Dame just under three months ago on May 1st. He had previously visited in early February for the Junior Day recruiting event, and that visit would prove to be extremely impactful in his decision-making process. He reportedly grew up more a fan of Ohio State than Notre Dame, though he was fond of the Irish as well. The Buckeyes probably even led in this recruitment heading into that Junior Day visit — but ultimately, Joey “knew in his heart” that Notre Dame was the right place for him.
Recruiting Service Rankings
Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating)
ESPN — 4 star (84 rating), #86 overall, #13 OT, #1 in IN
247Sports — 4 star (91 rating), #173 overall, #16 OT, #2 in IN
247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9513), #131 overall, #13 OT, #2 in IN
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (92 rating)
Cohort
Joey chose the Irish over other offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, LSU and others. His offer list currently stands at 14 different schools. Ohio State, in particular, was the main competition for Notre Dame in this recruitment.
Highlights
As always, Jamie over at ISD has a post-commit film review on Joey — which can be viewed here — and I will never not recommend taking a look if you’re interested in reading an actual professional’s opinion of a Notre Dame commit’s film. But of course, I will share a few of my own thoughts as well.
I think it’s pretty obvious even from the first few clips of his highlights the kind of mindset he has when he’s on the field. If you’re lining up opposite him, he doesn’t just want to block you — he wants to bury you. He’s a powerful bruiser in the trenches. But, more than that, he’s a pretty darn good athlete, too. There are one or two clips of him pulling and serving as lead blocker, and I was surprised at how quick he was in those clips. He also seemed to look pretty comfortable in pass protection as well.
Impact
Feels good to finally get a commitment from the class of 2022, and a darn good one at that. The Irish are hoping to have some more good news coming within the next couple of weeks in the form of a commitment from 4-star tight end Jack Nickel, so keep an eye out.
As far as Joey’s impact on the depth chart, he seems to project as more of a guard/right tackle prospect at this point and I like his potential at either spot. He’s already impressive physically at 280 right now, and he definitely seems to have the frame to add another 40 pounds or so comfortably. I think he could be the kind of guy who is physically ready to contribute as a redshirt freshman, but time will tell. There should, of course, be some fierce competition for any starting position along the offensive line — but I could see a future in which Joey ends up being a multi-year starter.
Welcome to the Irish family, Joey!
This is where I don’t get when ND folks get cranky about oline recruiting (I.E. Tim, Tim and Pete on the latest II all basically agreeing they needed to get Spindler just to have a B- oline class in 2021). Oline will be fine, they still get 2-3 guys a year they like even if they can’t get every single target.
However the class for 2022 with no visits, official contact right now and maybe nothing to scout on this fall has to be a huge worry right now. Pitter, patter…
I think people are just letting expectations cloud their judgment on 2021 OL recruiting
If ND lands Spindler, that’s TWO top 50 offensive linemen in the same class. That pretty much guarantees at least an A- grade in my book.
I’m not really worried about 2022 right now. ND has had a slow start, but so has pretty much everyone else. Kids are just taking their time since they can’t make visits.
Only 2 schools in the country have more than two commits right now — Ohio State (3) and LSU (5). The vast majority of 2022 kids that have committed at this point picked a school in their home state or a school in a state adjacent to their home state.
Their reason for the “B-” (it was B+) was more about the potential of the 2021 class six-seven months ago. Back in December there was a chance the OL class could be extraordinary. Fisher being committed a long time ago, they missed on every other top rated guy except for Spindler, on who we shall see.
Thanks for the correction. I agree with Tyler’s take above about expectations, just unlikely to get 3-4 elite OL, or then in a few years someone logjammed in the depth chart is going to transfer and play elsewhere anyways (Boudreau, Hoge, etc).
Getting 2 elite prospects and likely multi-year starters at the position, and possibly above average NFL prospect caliber players would have to be an A in my book…
..And even getting 1 is no big deal because there’s always a Joey Tanona next year that will be interested.
I think adjusting a grade down because your initial expectations were higher is silly – the class is what it is, good or bad, no matter what you expected it to be several months ago. (Note that I use “you” here in the general sense, not to mean you.) That said, I would probably give it an A- myself if they land Spindler, and I won’t quibble with the II guys’ B+. Landing two top 50 OL in the same class is no small feat.
Also, they haven’t missed on every top-rated guy – playing from behind on 5* Nolan Rucci but not out of it yet. I think he’d have to take a real visit for us to get back in it, but if those open up before he commits I think we’ll get one. And for those feeling like it’s a downer class without him, it’s worth noting that Harry never signed a class with two top 50 guys and only signed one class (out of six) with two top 100 guys – the 2016 class that had #26 Kraemer and #80 Eichenberg.
Not to beat this horse dead but, they did explain why they were adjusting their grade. In most other years they would probably be right with you Brendan with an A-. I’m hearing talk of ND trying to flip some other recruits. Prister is very high on the OL that committed to WV (Wyatt Milum). Any rumors on him?
Also, I see a bunch of predictions today that RB Logan Diggs is going to commit to ND. I like that kids film.
I saw Nickel’s video. Can the guy even catch? I just saw him blocking and tackling.
Brock 2.0?
Video I saw he makes plenty of catches.
Yeah – I’m assuming this is sarcasm based on how much fun it is to watch him block? He’s not Tyler Eifert but he’s definitely a plus receiver with some YAC ability and no fear.