Notre Dame added to its secondary on Wednesday as 2024 athlete Taebron Bennie-Powell committed to the Irish. A 6’1″ 180 pound prospect out of Lakota West High School in Ohio, Bennie-Powell was teammates with current Notre Dame freshman Ben Minich and is slated to play safety while in South Bend.

Following an in-camp performance this past week in front of the coaching staff, Bennie-Powell was offered and immediately set his commitment date a couple days later.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8519), #1197 overall, #129 ATH, #49 in OH

On3 Consensus — 3 star (84.89 rating), #1197 overall, #68 ATH, #50 in OH

The 247 Composite and On3 Consensus both combine 247, On3, Rivals, and ESPN rankings.

247Sports — 3 star (84 rating), NR overall, #150 ATH, #53 in OH

On3 — 3 star (86 rating), NR overall, #77 ATH, #61 in OH

Rivals — 3 star (5.6 rating), NR overall, NR ATH, #29 in OH

ESPN — Not Yet Rated

Irish Sports Daily — 3 star (86 rating)

Rivals having Bennie-Powell twice as high in Ohio as other services but not rated nationally is impressive.

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame he was holding offers from Pittsburgh, Duke, West Virginia, and Kentucky among the Power 5 plus several other offers from Group of 5 programs.

Highlights

If Notre Dame is projecting Bennie-Powell to safety it’s largely based off his size and athleticism. Lakota West featured a pair of 4-star safeties on the team last year now currently with the Irish and Ohio State so he’ll get his shot at playing this position as a senior. Throughout his junior highlights, Bennie-Powell stays close to the line of scrimmage and is largely playing a hybrid outside linebacker/slot corner position. When he’s close to the line, I like his block destruction and nose for the ball.

I thought he looked noticeably thicker, especially in his lower half, during his camp performance recently at Notre Dame. For example, On3 lists Bennie-Powell at 170 pounds and he looks far heavier than that to me. I’d be interested to see what the Irish coaching staff thinks following his camp performance and where they ultimately project him down the road.

Impact

Can he play safety? That’s probably the first major question for Taebron and his commitment to Notre Dame. It appears the Irish are going to be loading up on weapons in the secondary and Bennie-Powell will find a place somewhere. I don’t see the athleticism right now to project to a starting safety at Notre Dame and I’ll be curious to watch him perform at Lakota West as a senior.

If he can bulk up, a hybrid role similar to what he played as a junior isn’t completely out of the question with the Irish. I’m not sure if he’d be anywhere near a starting-level piece to the defense in such a role but it would be a role nonetheless.

Welcome to the Irish family, Taebron!