Notre Dame continued its hot start in the 2023 class today when top 100 corner Justyn Rhett announced for the Irish. Based on a sterling June visit, Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman took a commanding lead for the 6’1”, 192 pound Nevadan and never relinquished it.
Rhett did make the rounds a bit over the summer, most notably visiting Georgia and Alabama around the same time he visited Notre Dame. About a month ago he named a top five of Notre Dame, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Tennessee. Were those other schools legitimate threats to land him? Or did he add them to his final five just because their first letters spell GOAT? We may never know.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9544 rating), #101 overall, #10 CB, #2 in NV
247Sports — 4 star (90 rating), #239 overall, #22 CB, #3 in NV
Rivals — 4 star (5.9 rating), #50 overall, #8 CB, #2 in NV
ESPN — 4 star (85 rating), #64 overall, #7 CB, #2 in NV
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (92 rating)
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, Rhett holds offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and USC, among others.
Highlights
Marcus Freeman likes press man corners. It’s why Notre Dame tried to land then-Tulsa CB Akayleb Evans as a grad transfer for 2021. In Justyn Rhett, Freeman will have an excellent press man corner who’s more than a one year rental. Rhett is one of the more physical coverage guys I can remember Notre Dame landing, and he shows it over and over on this film. He plays with some alpha dog edge too; even as a sophomore in 2020 he was leveling dudes and letting them know about it.
His long speed wasn’t on display here, but again on sophomore film – when he played more offense – he shows plenty. I didn’t see anything of him playing zone, and I have no idea how much he plays now. That’s a potential adjustment for him at the next level. Generally though he shows outstanding change of direction, speed, and especially toughness.
Impact
I know he hasn’t even played his senior year of high school yet, but I think Rhett has the look of a freshman contributor. He’s already college sized and has that rough mentality – he’s not going to be overwhelmed physically even in his first season. I think Rhett has the profile to be in the rotation as a freshman and possibly starting as early as his sophomore season. He’s a special talent.
Welcome to the Irish family, Justyn!
Jamie U mentioned he ran a 4.4 40 for ND.
This is fun. Freeman now has 5 top 150 defenders in the class of 2023 at 5 different positions (Edge, DL, LB, CB, S). Which is now the #2 class behind Georgia (who has 5 top 100 players in the class already).
Though it does look like for 2022 that if we keep everyone in the fold (not to be taken for granted) that we will finish at worst 6th. Texas is the only school that has the potential to jump us. Penn st and UNC seem to be done. So we could be looking at 2 of the best back to back classes in a long time.
Though we are going to need the talent because the schedule in the next few years might be much harder than the last few years.
Also really weird: USC has 4(!) – not at typo – commits right now. Hard to see them adding a ton of elite commits – only because they are already taken or out of time. It’ll be interesting to see how they will build this year’s class or if they will take a really small one this year and build up a huge 2023 class.
Fun fact: with Sneed (2022), Brown (2023), and Keeley (2023) – Freeman has recruited 3 of the top 20 recruits all time for ND on 247 (which seems to go back to the 2000 class).
I’m baffled that Stanford is pulling in a top 10 class
Yea, that’s a bit of shocker.
It won’t last. Their class is mostly quantity over quality right now. They’ll fall out of the top 15 when everyone behind them lands a few more guys.
That would be 2 terrible classes out of three for SC. (2020-63rd & 2022)
By the way – we were talking about getting above a .9200 average 247 Composite score the other day? The average for the 2023 class is now .9519 (h/t to our own Tyler for pointing it out).
That will change, of course, but what a start.
It’s insane though that Bama and Ohio state have recruited just under the pace that we are on in 2023 for the last two years (2021+2022). (Which should not dampen the excitement on the these two classes.)
Yeah, this start for the 2023 class is tremendous. The point I was making is stacking at least three .92+ average classes is I think a floor for believing you can theoretically win multiple playoff games. If we get classes like this, we’re on our way to thinking there is a chance of that.
But: that 2023 class is mostly defense so far. We’ll see how much Tommy is improved as a recruiter. Getting Schrauth to commit without a set offensive line coach is a pretty good start though!
Right, Tommy’s gotta match Freeman with *at least* something like 6 top 200 prospects (starting with Moore/Arnold and Tate would be ideal obviously).
I know we joke every year about this being a special class but this class really has a chance to be a difference maker just based on the construction of the class to date. skimming the top 100 of the 247 composite list there are a ton of guys nd is really in the mix for. proctor, dante moore, carnell tate, samuel mpemba jalen brown, peyton bowen, luke montgomery. And these were all guys nd was in with from kelly. have to think freeman could tip the scales for a few guys who we wouldn’t expect.
I will disagree though irishchamp says rees needs to match freeman. frankly it’s freeman’s job to make sure the offense matches the defense and that gives me great hope.
have to say skimming the top 150 there is a ton of talent in LA. not breaking news but kelly gonna be able to get a lot of talent by continuing to be a half assed recruiter
Yeah, if ND can pull in the 5-star QB and a 5-star WR, that pretty much starts getting the offense on the same path as the defense moving ahead…Maybe even more so, given positional importance when we’re talking QB+WR.
I believe for 2022 there’s a pretty even split in like the top 10/12ish recruits from offense to defense, so there can be somewhat of an inaccurate narrative that the offense is necessarily all that behind the defense. Some of that is a natural advantage for Rees (easy to attract elite OL, TE to ND) but it counts just the same.
But as far as seeing Rees take the next step as a recruiter, let’s see him up the WR intake with quality+quantity and get a Buchner (or better) level QB prospect in every cycle and then we’ll really be cookin’ with gas.
2022 class offense average: 0.9248
2022 class defense average: 0.9215
Tommy isn’t as bad as some of y’all like to think.
He’s actually very good on the trail. Kids like him a lot. He doesn’t talk to any of the beat guys – he couldn’t care less about stuff being out there about him – which is why you don’t hear much about him. Look no father than the Schrauth commitment for evidence; lots of reports that it was his relationship with Rees that was key. Hell, the kid committed and is going to sign next week without knowing who his position coach will be.
In contrast, btw, Chip Long loved to talk to the beat, which is why you heard lots of stuff about how awesome he was. Gotta keep that source available, you know?
Also, if anyone’s wondering, this is most definitely *not* conjecture. We’re not Mike Frank or anything but we do hear stuff from time to time.
Yea I more meant in 2023. Not that he can’t do it but he’s obviously way behind Freeman so to speak at this point.
Also, for better or for worse, Rees will largely be judged by the QBs (and maybe 2nd by the WRs) he gets. It seems those offensive numbers are bit inflated by the number of good OL/TE we get (not all positions are created equal).
2022 QB/WR average: 0.9261
2022 OL/TE average: 0.9243
2021 QB/WR average: 0.9197
2021 OL/TE average: 0.9097
I’m just saying.
And, to be clear – there’s ALWAYS room to improve, and I expect Tommy to do that. The current reality might just be a little different than what many expect though.
Also, to the point on 2023 – the early signing period for that class is a year away. Freeman is definitely off to a hot start but Rees has time.
Though, in fairness: that 2022 QB/WR average is being kept that high with the CJ Williams commitment that, at the moment, looks somewhat shaky. And the ND 247 site has all but said Angeli is currently overranked in the Composite as a top-300 recruit, which they almost never do – combining that with ND all of a sudden trying pretty hard to get a second QB in this class the over the last couple months, my expectations for Angeli are very low.
We’ll know soon enough re: CJ Williams and soonish enough re: Moore or (to a lesser degree) Vizzina. If two of those guys are Irish, Tommy recruiting concerns should basically vanish. If one or zero, there’s a legitimate issue.
Also what class is Rees primarily responsible for the offensive class, so to speak (he was promoted Jan 14, 2020 to OC)?
At a quick glance, it does look like the 2021 and 2022 are significant upgrades on offense over the previous 2 classes (esp. with the fact that Jordan Johnson quickly transferred).
2019 – highest rated offensive recruit Kryen Williams at 367 nationally. Whoa there was only 3 non-OL recruits who were destined to play offense that year – one was Brendan Clark, another Abdur-Rahman. What happened that year? just a #’s crunch on offense maybe???
2020- non-OL/TE recruit is Chris Tyree (70) Johnson (36) quickly left and the next one is Pyne at 236 and Watts at 389.
So if Rees started to be responsible come the 2021 class then that seems to be a really strong sign that he HAS greatly improved the offensive recruiting already actually.
You can’t really give him credit for the entire 2020 class. He was likely limited somewhat by depth chart (remember that Jurkovec was still entrenched as QB1-of-the-future until after the early signing period) and by Kelly’s relative lack of involvement.
It’s quite fair to credit him for the 2021 class though. Buchner, Styles, Berrong, and Fisher committed before he was promoted. Obviously he gets full credit for Buchner anyway, and he was definitely involved on the other guys too. Diggs, Estime, Colzie (x2), Thomas, Evans, Spindler, Coogan, Alt, Johnson, and RP3 all committed after he was promoted.
I’m telling you guys, he’s a good recruiter. The recruits really like him. He’s had good results so far and I think could post excellent results on the Freeman Era.
I actually think CJ will stick. Walker, I have no idea.
I’m well aware of your feelings on Angeli, I think everyone is, lol. The message board characterization on the staff’s decision process re: Angeli vs. Allar is very, very wrong, and I’ll leave it at that. You’ll notice that the pay site staff has never said it’s wrong, but also that they’ve never said it’s right. I’m not clear to share the details but I will say that the staff didn’t decide to take Angeli over Allar.
Hmm. Reading between the lines it sounds like Kelly perhaps preferred Angeli or that somehow it was already determined they had no shot at Allar (or perhaps both).
I just watched Allar’s senior film. It would be hard to believe anyone would not have interest in that kid.
Well if Walker goes to Michigan the class average goes up! 😉 I certainly hope you’re right about CJ.
I trust/believe you re: Allar. I’m just saying the coaching staff seems to be treating Angeli as an “off” year recruiting-wise, and the 247 analysts seem to agree. Of course, some off year QB recruits end up being Ian Book!
What do those numbers look now without CJ Williams? How much does one guy affect those numbers?
Looks like he is heading to USC. Hurts to lose him at such a position of need and to a rival at that.
I appreciate the comparisons Brendan!
(Is there a fancy calculator do that or do you just put them in an excel spreadsheet or something similar?)
No problem! Each year we have a new version of a spreadsheet that we use for the Big Board updates. I looked at the 2022 and 2021 spreadsheets and pulled the averages noted from there.
Great to get an elite CB, seems like an area for the Freeman effect to really benefit Notre Dame given the general lack of pure skill in DB and especially CB over the years and difficulty to get a lot of the best talent in. Hopefully he can build what Cincy has now with Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant level corners and then the defense will be really scary wit the front-7 pieces they have and are on the way.
Does Brendan or Tyler or anyone know about how rare it is for a top 100-ish CB to go to ND? Doesn’t seem like there have been too many in recent times. Another great step in the right direction!
I saw a tweet this was the highest rated cb commit since 07 (have to assume this wouldn’t count the db who lasted like a month in 2012)
Yeah, he’s our highest rated CB since (gulp) Gary Gray. And you’re right, it doesn’t count Tee Shepard. I don’t think he even lasted a month, I think it was a few days. Poor kid. He loved ND but was just nowhere near prepared for it.
Technically since Houston Griffith, who 247 had listed as a CB, but he was always going to be a safety at the next level.
I could not have been more wrong about a recruit than I was about Houston Griffith – I thought it was a near-mortal lock that he was going to be star.
Thanks for the info! And as I’m sure you know but more for everyone else, apparently there is another 2023 CB ~150ish range, who has visited ND like 4 times now and predictions for a commitment are starting to come in. Should be increasing the talent level at CB in no time!
Looks like that would be Christian Gray – currently 145 nationally.
Wow that’s two corners that are probably among the highest corners we’ve gotten in a long time that (I assume because Freeman is recruiting them) will actually end up at corner.
https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Sport/Football/AllTimeRecruits/?PositionGroup=DB
247 will only let you filter the all-time list to DB, sadly. Anyway, Rhett is the sixth highest-ranked CB listed (Shepard is second – he did sign), while Gray would likely be the eighth highest (Crawford is between them).
I would not be at all surprised to see Rhett end up near or in the top 50, either. He’s going to keep climbing.
Interesting. Looks like Crawford (2015) – 112, Cole Luke (2013) – 154, Watkins (2014) – 182 were the last time we got this kind of talent.
And looks like 2006 the last time we got them in the same year with both Walls (62) and McNeil (64)
I have a proposal. I think on commitment posts we should switch from showing the ESPN rating to the new On3 rating. ESPN is absolute garbage in all things and none of the writers here should have to be subjected to the abject misery brought about by going to ESPN.com. On3 is a hot new up and comer.
Do they have their own ratings?
They do. They have their own ratings and a similar rating to the composite that they call consensus.
Here’s an example for our top player
https://www.on3.com/db/jaylen-sneed-58975/
I mentioned this to our recruiting team and their verdict is ESPN stays as long as it’s part of the Composite.
What’s the opposite of the NOICE gif? ESPN is the worst.
I am just now exploring On3 for the first time, but it’s pretty impressive so far. I still find the 247 homepage more intuitive (although it is suffering from some bloat these days), but one thing that is really cool on On3 is the visit tracking. Follow. The. Visits.
https://www.on3.com/college/notre-dame-fighting-irish/football/2023/visits/
247 has this info (at least they used to), but it wasn’t nearly as easy to find, clear, or easy to navigate as this.
Rivals has managed to update itself a bit, and obviously holds a ton of industry cache, but I’ve loved that 247 and On3 have really worked on the user experience of following recruiting. The young guns have forced the old dogs to adapt (rivals) or die (scout/ESPN).
You’ll be excited for BGI’s move to On3 then!
BGI?
Blue Gold Illustrated
https://bluegoldonline.com/
Apparently 247 added the visits view as well. Basically the same thing. I still prefer 247, but everyone can agree that ESPN is trash.
I partly wondered because they have rankings going back to like 2009 so I wondered how that happens. But if they just use the composite score of other ratings for those scores and just add their own grades to this years (or whenever they started).