Proving that he is in a better state of mind regarding the Irish program than many of its fans, Donovan Jeter announced his commitment to Notre Dame this morning. Jeter is Notre Dame’s 18th commitment from the class of 2017. The 247 Composite ranks the 6’4″/255-pounder as the #276 overall player and #12 strong-side defensive end in his class. Jeter is an early enrollee.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247 — 4 star (91 rating), #237 overall, #8 SDE, #6 in PA

Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), NR overall, #14 DT, NR in PA

Scout — 4 star, NR overall, #29 DE, #7 in PA

ESPN — 4 star (80 rating), NR overall, #28 DE, #9 in PA

247 Composite — 4 star (.8982), #276 overall, #12 SDE, #8 in PA

Cohort

Jeter holds offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Miami, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others. Whether all those are committable offers or no, that’s still a very impressive list.

Highlights

Something to keep in mind here is that these are junior season highlights, with Jeter about 40 pounds heavier than he is now. He’s playing a different role for his team this year, so he trimmed down and presumably added some quickness. We’ll have to keep an eye out for new highlights to compare this year and last. With that out of the way…

Power, intelligence, and tenacity. Those are the three things that really jumped out for me in this video. Jeter is strong – he flings kids out of the way, he pulls ball carriers to the ground with the tiniest bit of jersey in his hand, he blows up blocks like he’s swatting mosquitoes. But he’s not all cattle and no hat; he shows remarkable patience and discipline on misdirection plays, and stays home to ensure that a reversing ball carrier or screen recipient is met by a large unblocked body. And he’s tenacious getting after the ball carrier, whether the play is on the other side of the field or he has been blocked already. He also shows some really good straight-line speed for a guy his size, often surprising with how quickly he can cover open ground.

I would like to see him play with a little lower base, though; especially in his three-point stance, his backside seems to be a little high sometimes, which makes it harder to win the leverage war against the offensive line. He also doesn’t show great lateral quickness here, although again, with the weight loss and normal physical development he could improve in this area this year. Finally, as we see with almost every high school prospect, he often tackles too high, but that should be fairly easy to correct at the next level.

Impact

Jeter will probably get a chance to get on the field right away in 2017, just as 2016 early enrollee defensive ends Khalid Kareem and Daelin Hayes saw action from game 1 this season. With Isaac Rochell graduating, there will be plenty of opportunity for young players to impress early. Jeter has a college-ready build, so I could see him making a meaningful contribution next year and springboarding off that to further success with the Irish. He has the potential to develop into a player like Isaac Rochell, which is better than a sharp stick in the eye. This is a big grab for the Irish staff and a nice way to cap off an unsavory weekend.

Welcome to the Irish family, Donovan!