Our last stop on this tour of grades and comments ends with the defensive backs from the 2023 recruiting class. This unit was close to being one of the best hauls in the nation, but suffered a late and very disappointing decommit. But, it’s still a really strong group!
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
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CB Christian Gray
18S Average: 93.7
Brendan: 94
Gray is as good of a pure corner prospect as the Irish have signed in a very long time. He has excellent physical tools, including a long frame, plus speed, and plus agility (his footwork in coverage is outstanding), and combines them with mental tools like recognition and aggressiveness. All of that works together to give him truly elite potential. He may need to fill out a little before he can be a regular contributor, but I don’t think it’ll be too long before he’s a guy you can’t take off the field.
Eric: 93
I love the amount of press coverage he uses in high school and he’ll have a jump start being comfortable doing that for Notre Dame. Overall, Gray is smooth and shows good footwork and mobility in coverage. He doesn’t lack for physical play either. Listed at either 6-1 or 6-0 he doesn’t look quite as tall or long as I was expecting. I see a super high floor for Gray and someone with a ton of potential.
Tyler: 94
If there is a guy who can make a Benjamin Morrison-level impact in 2023, I think it’s Christian Gray. He’s the kind of physical corner that is perfect for Notre Dame’s defense. It would not shock me to see a starting CB trio of Morrison/Gray/Mickey at field/boundary/nickel in 2024, or even in the later part of the 2023 season.
CB Micah Bell
18S Average: 89.7
Brendan: 90
I’m excited to see what kind of player Bell can be at the next level. He primarily played offense in high school, which could delay his development for the Irish, and is a little smaller than Gray. He also could well be the fastest and most explosive player on the team from the moment he gets to campus – as a junior he recorded personal bests of 10.41 in the 100M, 20.89 in the 200M, 24′ 5.25″ in the long jump, and 45′ 9.5″ in the triple jump. He could be a plus performer down the road at field corner and a quick contributor in the return game.
Eric: 91
Bell’s speed is well documented. On offense, he reminds me a bit of a lesser version of Dylan Edwards and makes you wonder if there isn’t a future on that side of the ball. On defense, I really like Bell’s physicality given he’s not that big. I have to assume he will immediately be in the mix as a nickel corner early in his career. He breaks incredibly well on the ball and should be an excellent corner in college, plus he can provide special teams help in the return game.
Tyler: 88
Bell’s got the kind of speed that you want in the secondary. His frame is a bit smaller thank you’d like, but to be fair I don’t think Tariq Bracy ever topped 180 pounds at ND and he was fantastic as a senior. He plays bigger than he really is, though. That, in addition to his speed and overall athleticism, is what’s really important.
S Adon Shuler
18S Average: 89.3
Brendan: 90
Like Vernon, Shuler is a parking lot guy who is more interested in doing his job than anything else. That lack of drama doesn’t lend itself to flashy recruitments or hold the attention of recruiting service evaluators, but it does make for a pretty damn good football player. He looks and plays bigger than his listed 6’0″/200, particularly as a tackler – when he hits people, man, they stay hit. He looks equally comfortable in coverage or in run support and is a credible threat with the ball in his hands. I think he’s one of the more underrated prospects in this class.
Eric: 89
Something about Shuler’s face made me think he’s more of a smaller nickel corner type of player but he’s deceivingly big and definitely someone with good size for a safety. He’s extremely rangy and could actually be a very dangerous jumbo nickel. He packs a lot of physicality and tackling skill with a smooth ability to move all over the field.
Tyler: 89
I’m pretty surprised Adon’s ranking kept dropping since his commitment to Notre Dame occurred. He kept racking up attention from elite programs despite his early commitment and finished the cycle with offers from Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State (among others), reportedly looked good during his week of practice at the All-American Bowl, yet still fell 100+ spots in the recruiting rankings. Make it make sense. I think Adon has the frame and physicality to be the strong safety of the future at Notre Dame.
S Ben Minich
18S Average: 88.0
Brendan: 89
Many fans were, ahem, less than enthused when the Irish offered an Ohio three-star on the strength of multiple sub-11.0 100M times in his junior track season. By the end of the cycle he had risen to consensus four-star status and put together an excellent two-way highlight reel of his senior season. He’s a little undersized for safety; we’ll have to see if he can be another Alohi Gilman, but at the very least with his speed, short-area quickness, and recognition skills I think he could be a very good nickel back or situational safety.
Eric: 87
Impressive first step and closing speed. Minich is a really sound tackler who plays with a physical edge. As good of a pick as any to surprise people based on his rankings. Seems to quarterback the defense from the safety spot really well in high school. Great frame and the potential to be a big impact player for the Irish.
Tyler: 88
I’ve always been impressed with Minich’s game since he first came onto the Notre Dame radar over the summer. He’s got adequate size, looks plenty athletic, and just plays with an edge that I really like to see in the secondary. I think some of the Notre Dame fandom are wrongly overlooking him.
Great article. The Freeman/Mickens effect on CB has been huge. That was such a stark difference between Notre Dame and the teams that win playoff games in terms of talent and depth at that position. That’s changed in a hurry.
Unfortunately, though it seems like ND recruiting is a game of whack a mole when it comes to positions not doing well. Now that CB is in better shape, S recruiting needs to step up big time
Safety has been a struggle for a while now. Outside of Hamilton, it’s something of a cursed monkey paw for ND: presumably recruiting the position well but the top kids never seem to make as much of an impact as anticipated (Griffith, Allen, Gee, etc). O’Leary needs to step things up here. We’re looking at a situation where only one player on the two-deep at safety was actually recruited here to play that position, and he’s a sixth-year guy.
Agreed. Even dating back to the 5-star Max Redfield days, safety hasn’t worked out.
I saw modern philosophy being to recruit more as a DB and not a set CB or S in a lot of cases, where it is applicable, so hopefully that will help spill over that if Notre Dame can continue to excel at CB recruiting that perhaps the raising tide will lift safety performance on the field as well one day.
Generally speaking, with Freeman and the current staff, I’m not really worried about anything recruiting-wise, with the exception of the institutional hurdles that make 5-stars reluctant to sign, as well as needing to prioritize improvements on skilled offensive positions. I have very low concern about anything on the defensive side of the ball (besides being in the uphill battle to sign the absolute elite talent).
I feel bad for O’Leary. He had a great group of 4 blue-chippers committed in early December last year.
Then the best of the group ended up proving to be a headcase and admissions screwed him out of the next best of the group.