Notre Dame added another big fella to the 2023 class today when four-star offensive lineman Sullivan Absher announced his commitment to the Irish. The 6’7″, 290 pound (we weren’t kidding!) North Carolinian had been mostly focused on schools close to home, most notably Clemson and NC State, with Harry Hiestand’s reputation one of the main drivers of his interest in Notre Dame. Absher plays with what one might charitably call an edge, which no doubt is the main driver in Hiestand’s interest in Absher. A perfect match!
Absher visited Notre Dame for the Blue-Gold game and rumors began to circulate that the Irish had taken a big lead. The home-area schools stayed on the radar for a while, but ultimately that visit proved to be a critical step in building Absher’s relationship with Hiestand, fellow ’23 OL commit Sam Pendleton, and the rest of the program. One potentially fun side note here is that the Irish could be on their way to locking down an unusual feat – three linemen from the Carolinas in the same class. Pendleton is from the wonderfully named Pfafftown, NC, about two hours away from Absher’s hometown of Belmont, NC. Monroe Freeling, #80 overall in the 247 Composite, hails from Mount Pleasant, about smack in the center of the South Carolina coast. They’re not exactly next door to each other but they’ve become friendly through the recruiting process.
Freeling also visited for the Blue-Gold game and will be back for an official visit for the huge June 10th recruitapalooza. Buckle up, buttercup.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9024 rating), #275 overall, #22 OT, #10 in NC
On3 Consensus — 4 star (91.00 rating), #176 overall, #15 OT, #5 in NC
The 247 Composite is based on a proprietary algorithm that combines the 247, Rivals, and ESPN rankings. The On3 Consensus is similar, but also includes On3’s own rankings.
247Sports — 4 star (91 rating), #201 overall, #18 OT, #7 in NC
Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), NR overall, #24 OT, #7 in NC
ESPN — 4 star (80 rating), NR overall, #28 OT, #11 in NC
On3 — 4 star (93 rating), #99 overall, #10 OT, #2 in NC
Friend of the Stripes Jamie Uyeyama does the recruit evaluations for ISD, and we trust his evals as much as anyone’s. So while the 247 Composite and the On3 Consensus don’t factor in ISD evals, we put a lot of weight on them ourselves.
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (90 rating)
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, Clemson, and NC State, Absher holds offers from Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, and Virginia Tech, among others.
Highlights
Absher is a big boy, no question. My goodness. His high school hardly ever throws – according to his 247 profile they only averaged 3.5 pass attempts per game last year – so I couldn’t tell you much about how he is as a pass blocker. As a run blocker though, he really likes to hit people. He generally does a really good of getting low off the snap given his size and the size of most of the kids he’s blocking. His initial punch is rough, in a good way, and contributes to how effective he is at drive blocking. He clearly loves finishing and wants to put his man through the ground. I can hear Harry’s gleeful hand rubbing from here.
I think Absher needs to work on keeping his arms extended once he engages, and as good as he is at getting low there are times when he doesn’t. Also, given how rarely they throw, he almost certainly is going to need a lot of work in pass blocking technique. There’s loads of attitude and athleticism there though, and that will take him a long way. He moves much more smoothly than he should be able to at that size, which perhaps isn’t surprising given that he also plays basketball and baseball. (I don’t know where he plays on the diamond, but let’s say it’s first base because I’m cracking up at the idea of your average high school kid drawing a walk and trotting down to stand next to 6’7″ and 290 pounds.)
Impact
The 2021 and 2022 offensive line classes were absolutely loaded, so it’s highly unlikely that Absher will be asked to make any kind of immediate impact. On the flip side, there’s an extremely strong chance that one if not both of the projected starting tackles – Blake Fisher and Joe Alt – will leave after the 2023 season, and who knows what other upheaval may come in the interim. I suspect that Absher will take a couple of seasons to get acclimated to the physical and technical demands of the next level, and then compete for playing time after that. He has all the physical tools to be an eventual starter.
Welcome to the Irish family, Sullivan!
I thought I had read that On3 consensus is just the 4 ratings averaged (evenly weighted).
I meant similar in that they both combine multiple services into one index. Calculation method is definitely different.
Brendan, where do you think we stand with Freeling and Jagusah ?
I think we’re the clear leader for Jagusah and the likely leader for Freeling. Have to see if the new Bama offer for Freeling shakes things up.
That would be quite the OT haul. My guess is we get one or the other. It could hurry a decision for a spot.
Though it really seems we are getting everyone we lead for. It seems like we’ll take both – since they are both top 100 guys.
From what I’ve read, if both want to commit, we would take both.
I agree, of course you would. My ?? is, if one commits would the other see a potential log jam at OT ?
I guess I would doubt it. It’s pretty common to take 4 OL in a class. Besides, if Fisher and Alt are the kind of guys that leave early it’s hard to think that top 100 OTs are going to be worried about some kind of logjam.
And wouldn’t those two be the highest ranked OTs on the team outside of Fisher?
Hiestand loves those big dudes that can run block, but I hope he can pull in one of those top 100 guys we’re in the mix for too. His O Lines have sometimes been a bit shaky in their pass blocking, and while I hope Absher can develop that skill over time after having basically no pass blocking experience, I’ll feel much better about this pick up once we grab one of those elite dudes too.