It was a good time to visit Notre Dame if you’re a cornerback. So it happened for Karson Hobbs who was in person to watch Benjamin Morrison put together one of the best games from an Irish corner in recent memory against Clemson. Hobbs, a commit to South Carolina since this summer, decommitted from the Gamecocks on Tuesday and announced a verbal to Notre Dame on Wednesday.
BREAKING: #NotreDame lands a commitment from 2024 cornerback Karson Hobbs fresh off his decommitment from South Carolina.
He just told #IrishIllustrated to tweet it out.
Why the Fighting Irish?
Hobbs spoke with @247Sports about his decision: https://t.co/pqznGHgUBJ pic.twitter.com/QoSmAQ87AI
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) November 9, 2022
The 6’1″ 180 pound corner out of Cincinnati’s Archbishop Moeller High School becomes the 7th verbal for Notre Dame in the 2024 recruiting class, and the first defensive back.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8567 rating), #521 overall, #50 CB, #21 in OH
On3 Consensus — 3 star (87.00 rating), #512 overall, #52 CB, #19 in OH
The 247 Composite and On3 Consensus both combine 247, On3, Rivals, and ESPN rankings.
247Sports — 3 star (88 rating), NR overall, #42 CB, #17 in OH
On3 — 3 star (89 rating), NR overall, #31 CB, #15 in OH
Rivals — 3 star (5.5 rating), NR overall, NR CB, #25 in OH
ESPN — *not rated yet by the World Wide Leader™*
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
It’s still early days for this 2024 recruit and his list of offers is still minimal. In addition to Notre Dame and South Carolina, Hobbs has also been offered by Kentucky, West Virginia, Marshall, and Akron.
Highlights
Karson has already uploaded some mid-season highlights from his junior year at Moeller. A quick check of their schedule shows the Fighting Crusaders sitting at 11-1 on the season with the lone loss 6-0 to St. Edwards. They’ll be facing Mason High School in their 3rd playoff game this Friday night after defeating St. Xavier 28-7 on November 4th.
Right away, Karson Hobbs’ size and length are a big asset. You can see why Notre Dame coveted him so much this early in the process.
Hobbs does look pretty slim and will have room to add a lot of muscle. At his height, it’s not difficult to see him moving positions a few years from now. His burst looks to be okay, he’s pressing a lot in his highlights but he’s not overly physical. If he’s beat, Hobbs’ pattern recognition is strong and he’s very good at chewing up ground and making a play on the ball.
Overall, there’s a lot to like here for a good athlete and a body-type that can change in the coming years.
Impact
Right now, the depth chart for Notre Dame is looking awfully nice for corner. Thanks to the emerging star of Benjamin Morrison, with Jaden Mickey hopefully bouncing back from injury later this year, it gives the Irish a massive young and promising foundation at corner. The program is also bringing in an excellent defensive backfield class in 2023, too.
Hobbs would be stepping on campus with Morrison starting his true junior (and possibly final) season with the program. You have to think a redshirt is highly likely with an opportunity to make an impact starting in 2025.
Welcome to the Irish family, Karson!
He has two years to add some strength. He’ll move up in the rankings.
Heard yesterday that he only started playing CB as a sophomore. That shows that he still has a lot of untapped potential and he may he drastic improvement even by the time he enrolls at ND.