It’s been a pretty slow summer for Notre Dame football on the recruiting trail. With the recruiting dead period extended through July due to the coronavirus pandemic and no visits allowed to occur, it’s been difficult for the Irish staff to make moves with some of the targets that haven’t been able to visit campus before.

Luckily the Irish had a couple of things going for them with 2021 defensive back Ryan Barnes. Barnes has been to South Bend before, albeit not on a recruiting visit. His grandparents are from the area and his father, having grown up a Notre Dame fan, decided to take Ryan and his younger brother to campus years before Ryan became a nationally-pursued recruit. That familiarity, couple with the relationship cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens has been able to develop with Ryan, gave the Irish the edge in this recruitment.

On Saturday morning, Ryan Barnes decided to verbally commit to the Fighting Irish. The 6’2″/180-pound prospect out of Maryland makes 11 current commits in the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish recruiting class of 2021.

Recruiting Service Rankings

Rivals — 3 star (5.6 rating), NR nationally, #55 CB, #21 in MD

ESPN — Not yet rated

247Sports — 3 star (88 rating), NR nationally, #34 CB, #16 in MD

247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8678), #585 nationally, #43 CB, #19 in MD

Irish Sports Daily — 3 star (88 rating)

Cohort

Ryan chose the Irish over other offers from Michigan, Clemson, Penn State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Oregon, USC, and many others. His full offer list compiled of 33 total teams across the United States. It’s about as elite of an offer list as you can get.

Highlights

Ryan’s highlight film shows a kid that appears to be every bit as big as his listed height and weight. His size should allow him to be a physical press cover corner on the boundary. He’s a smooth athlete, though I’m not sure about his speed. He looks plenty fast enough to play defensive back at the college level on film but I wouldn’t say he’s fast for a defensive back if that makes sense. I couldn’t find a verified 40 yard dash time for him, just some old track times from his sophomore year which weren’t great — 11.87 for the 100 meter, 24.19 for the 200 meter — but that was over a year ago at this point.

One thing I love about his film is his tackling. I would consider his tackling ability elite for a high school cornerback. Very consistent, excellent form, and he’s typically driving through the ball carrier rather than just catching the ball carrier and wrapping him up.

Impact

In a recruiting sense this helps with the momentum of the 2021 class. Ever since the commitments of Philip Riley and Jason Onye about a month ago, it’s felt like Notre Dame recruiting has just been treading water and not making a ton of progress. Of course that’s not entirely accurate, as a lot is going on behind the scenes and the Irish still find themselves in good position with a handful of good prospects. But that’s been the perception, so this is definitely welcome news. This also creates an excellent duo of 2021 corner prospects in Barnes and Riley for the Irish, and Mike Mickens is proving himself to be a huge asset on the recruiting trail. I don’t think he’s done yet, though. I’m looking for the Irish to go after one more guy that can play corner.

On the field, Barnes will offer flexibility. He’s probably best suited for the boundary corner position, but there’s potential at nickle and safety as well. He perfectly fits the mold of the long, physical defensive back that Notre Dame has been making a priority over the past couple of cycles. He has to get the hang of some of the more technical aspects of the position, but Barnes’ potential is extremely high, which is part of the reason he’s amassed such an impressive offer list.

Welcome to the Irish family, Ryan!