In a huge development for the 2020 depth chart, former Notre Dame target and current Ohio State Buckeye Isaiah Pryor announced his intent to transfer to Notre Dame after this season. The Irish pursued Pryor heavily in high school, first at Georgia’s Pace Academy and later at IMG, but lost out to the bright lights of Columbus; the second time around, though, they were able to seal the deal. Pryor was passed by younger players but still had a role, as evidenced by reports that the Ohio State staff was not at all happy to lose him. We’ll get into this more below, but he’s assured of at least stepping immediately into the two-deep at Notre Dame. Pryor will graduate early and have two years of eligibility remaining, so this could be big for the 2021 depth chart as well.
Recruiting Service Rankings – 2017 Cycle
247Sports Composite —Â 4 star (.9712), #63 overall, #8 S, #10 in FL
247Sports — 4 star (95 rating), #77 overall, #10 S, #12 in FL
Rivals —Â 4 star (5.9 rating), #106 overall, #12 S, #20 in FL
ESPN — 4 star (86 rating), #45 overall, #3 S, #9 in FL
Cohort
As a recruit Pryor had over 40 offers, including some of the biggest names in the country – Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, etc. As a grad transfer I’m sure he would’ve had many suitors if he wanted, but as far as I can tell he only visited Notre Dame – once on an official for the USC game with his father, once on an unofficial this past weekend with both parents.
Highlights
We’re three years on from when this video was made, but people don’t make Hudl videos of their college play so here we are. Even so, there’s useful stuff here. Pryor displays outstanding athleticism throughout and looks every inch of his listed 6’2″. He takes smart angles to the ball and is a sure tackler when he gets there. Did I mention athleticism? He can flat-out run. He was a part-time starter for Ohio State last year, so a good amount of what is on film here must have translated; his transfer is more related to a lack of fit for what new DB coach Jim Hafley wants to do than a pure lack of production.
Impact
Jalen Elliott will exhaust his eligibility this year. Alohi Gilman will not, but it would be fairly surprising if he decides to return for 2020. That means the safety depth chart would be Kyle Hamilton (great!), the oft-shuffled Houston Griffith (maybe OK?), converted corner DJ Brown (hasn’t played a meaningful snap yet, I think), and… well… I don’t know? Pryor will graduate from Ohio State in December and enroll at Notre Dame in January, so he’ll be able to participate in spring ball. There’s a very strong probability he’ll start in 2020, and if he doesn’t it’ll be because his presence has pushed Griffith to elevate his game. Huge, huge, huge.
Welcome (finally!) to the Irish Family, Isaiah!
This seems like a great get! Particularly since it is highly likely that every DB who will be returning to ND next year is currently a true sophomore or below. At worst Pryor will provide depth and experience, which will both be much needed, at best he provides much more!
Agreed! I lean towards projecting that he’ll start, especially since he’ll be here for spring ball, but I wouldn’t count Griffith out yet either. I suppose it’s possible that they could move Griffith back to corner too, although then you’re shallow at safety again and Griffith gets shuffled yet another time, so that’s probably much less likely.
Yeah, I mean CB next year now that Vaughn is def. not coming back is: Bracy and Isaiah Rutherford? Wallace? And three 3* freshmen? (Hope one of them is the next Julian Love). Not much there at all, but you would think if Griffith was a good fit for CB he would have stuck by now. Either way, yikes. Glad they get a talented body as a DB.
Yep, those seem to be your options. I would be surprised if Griffith gets moved again. Is there any chance that Ajavon or Pryor end up playing some CB? I don’t know enough about their profiles to know if that’s a possibility in either case.
No way IMO. Ajavon is already a bit of a tweener between safety and LB. Pryor is much more athletic but he’s a safety all the way.
Crawford was more open to returning in recent comments. Obviously it’s hard to know how much health to count on from him, but that’s something.
Good to know.
Crawford coming back would be huge! Though at this point I just want things to work out for him, whatever his path.
“NFL safety Alohi Gilman” seems, um, unlikely at this point. But, then again, Mattias Farley spent a lot more time in the league than I would have anticipated.
Brendan where did you get the info about him not fitting the OSU scheme?
From Bill Kurelic, kind of the main guy at 247’s OSU site:
“Pryor, who enrolled at Ohio State in January of 2017, was at Ohio State for two plus seasons and started seven games in 2018, making 31 tackles. Pryor earned a letter at Ohio State in his first season, the 2017 season. However, Ryan Day hired almost a completely new defensive staff and Pryor saw little playing time early and decided to leave.”
There was another article that I can’t find now that mentioned Hafley wanting different things than what Pryor brings as well. He wasn’t a backup because he didn’t fit Hafley’s system, at least not entirely – he was a backup because he played unevenly in his three seasons there and got passed by guys who were outplaying him. But he’s still a guy OSU expected to contribute, so this isn’t your typical bottom-of-the-depth-chart transfer, and he could benefit substantially from a fresh start elsewhere.
Thanks Brendan
This is a really big commitment, fills a huge gap, and hopefully the coaching staff can continue to keep its eye on things like these in the future to fill roster gaps.
I really want to get excited about next years roster given entire starting line returning, a ton of front 7 talent and depth, the influx of high skill but man the questions around cb and qb/skill talent are a pretty big wet blanket right now. Maybe the next month can get me back in board (who am I kidding the off-season will have me talking myself I to all of it again)