Hello friends, and welcome to the 4th edition of the modern Early Signing Day for college football. Technically, today ushers in an Early Signing Period which extends through Saturday, December 19th. It’s been a wild recruiting cycle thanks to Covid largely shutting down operations across the country but for Notre Dame the script has largely remained the same as the entire class is expected to sign on Wednesday with little drama or fanfare.
Well, there might be a little drama.
In the coming weeks we will be working on publishing our full breakdowns of the 2021 class but for today we are going to look at a large overview of recruiting both in South Bend and across the nation.
Notre Dame’s 2021 Class
Class Size: Gettin’ Beefy
That’s a lot of bodies! Yes, it is and it could grow today or even into the February signing period. The Irish have followed up a smaller 2020 class (18 players, 17 whom ended up signing) with a few more players than expected for this cycle. There is the anticipation that Notre Dame will be losing quite a few more scholarships than your average program, and thus, are ready to make way for a big 2021 haul.
As we wrote last month, there are still so many questions surrounding rosters and scholarship numbers with no one losing a year of eligibility but the Irish staff seem comfortable going big now and being okay in 2022 and beyond.
Flip SZN: It Worked Out
Notre Dame ended up flipping 5 recruits during this cycle, including: Will Schweitzer from Nebraska, Josh Bryan from Colorado, Philip Riley from USC, Caleb Johnson from Auburn, and Devin Aupiu from UCLA. Five of those (all except Schweitzer which happened in August) came last month.
Moreover, receiver Deion Colzie was kind of a flip as well. He left Notre Dame’s class in March of 2020 after an October 2019 commitment with Georgia his expected final destination. Instead, Colzie came back into the Irish class at the end of September.
Notre Dame also had to grind for Philip Riley who committed to the Irish in May, left the class in September, committed to USC a few days later, then re-joined Notre Dame’s class on November 16th.
The Losses: Nary a Scratch
Since Notre Dame recaptured Colzie and Riley the only other decommits from 2021 have been defensive end David Abiara (whose been dealing with some legal issues, was rumored to be looking around at other schools for months anyway and left the Irish class officially a few weeks ago) and offensive guard Greg Crippen who subsequently joined Michigan’s class.
Following up a 2020 cycle with no decommits it’s been one of the strengths of Notre Dame recruiting in recent years not to lose many members of their class. Here are the losses from 2018-19:
QB Cade McNamara, Michigan, 2019
Had the joy of being inserted into this disaster of a Michigan team, you hate to see it. He’s actually looked okay and will probably be in line to start for the Wolverines next year, if you consider that a good thing.
WR TJ Sheffield, Purdue, 2019
I believe Notre Dame wanted Sheffield at corner. He’s been a receiver at Purdue where he’s caught 2 passes so far in his career.
CB Kalon Gervin, Michigan State, 2018
Now starting at corner for the Spartans, he has 30 tackles so far in his career.
RB Markese Stepp, USC, 2018
Still a backup running back for the Trojans, although he could be in line to start next year. He’s rushed for 480 yards at USC.
WR Geordon Porter, Arizona State, 2018
I have no recollection of this person. He’s caught 11 passes for the Sun Devils.
Lea’s Leaving: We Stay Worried
Of course, it’s never easy to lose your star defensive coordinator to one of the worst Power 5 jobs in the country but doing so less than 48 hours before Signing Day doesn’t make one feel super excited. Will the departure of Clark Lea shake loose some of Notre Dame’s commits?
There’s been a tiny bit of smoke about linebacker Prince Kollie possibly leaving the class but it does seem unlikely. There’s probably a 0% chance he would follow Lea to Vanderbilt and the word on the street is that Lea will not burn any bridges and bring Irish commits with him to Nashville.
Kollie would be a massive loss so let’s hope it doesn’t happen. There are some heavy-hitters (Alabama, Georgia, Clemson) reportedly attempting a flip.
Additionally, this isn’t related to Clark Lea’s departure but there is more smoke surrounding running back Logan Diggs who was offered by LSU exactly 1 week ago and could be convinced to stay in-state in Louisiana if they truly want to take him.
Monday evening writer’s Slack chat worried about decommits.
We’ve come to expect this Irish staff to close so well this time of year so it does feel like things will be okay. However, if we had to put a guess out there Kollie seems like a much bigger threat to leave with more options available to him and a stock that has been sky-rocketing this year.
Adding More Talent: 3 Possibilities
Notre Dame has been chasing running back Donovan Edwards (No. 44 overall player) out of the suburbs of Detroit for several months now. It always seemed like a long shot so don’t get your hopes up. He is planning on making his decision today.
The Irish did just offer northern New Jersey running back and current Michigan State commit Audric Estime (No. 245 overall player) this past Monday which seems to signal their belief in Edwards’ decision. I would think if Notre Dame really pushes hard he could flip but there are still some moving parts at running back to make it complicated.
Notre Dame is also pursuing corner Ceyair Wright (No. 77 overall player) from Los Angeles but we’re putting him in the long shot category for now. He goes to Loyola High School just 2 miles from the Los Angeles Coliseum and is planning on deciding in February with USC and Stanford heavily in the mix.
Early Signing: Are We Good?
No, I hate it. I’m not convinced it’s better for players although I realize that’s the biggest issue to argue about and there are good points from both sides. With how much Covid has disrupted this cycle (some Irish commits have never visited campus nor met Brian Kelly in person which is usually a bad sign for their future comfort especially if they live far away) the Early Signing Period has arrived awfully quickly.
Early Signing Day 2020: How COVID changed recruiting, maybe forever. https://t.co/erhUPRucka
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) December 14, 2020
I’m not sure things will change all that much by the time February comes around but the extra time to evaluate and consider more options would be best for everyone. The problem is that even though recruits can wait until February once the door was opened in December the pressure from peers and coaching staff alike was always going to be to sign sooner. Last year, 82% of FBS prospects signed in December will we see that number drop this week?
I’ve said this every year, too. Doing this now in the middle of December is always a bad time for us. Right now we have the ACC Championship and news of Clark Lea leaving within days of each other with Early NSD dropped in for good measure as almost an afterthought. Meanwhile, in February we’ll be staring at absolutely nothing going on with college football.
Most Underrated Prospect: Logan Diggs
Oddly enough, for me this award for 2021 would go to either Diggs or Kollie, both as we mentioned, being flight risks at the moment. I don’t think it can go to Kollie anymore as his national profile has increased (he is a finalist for the high school Butkus Award) and it wouldn’t be a shock if he ended up a Top 100 or even Top 75 recruit.
Diggs is way, way better than his 0.874 Composite ranking and closer to a top 5 talent in this class than he is as the 14th best. He should surprise a lot of people based off his current placement in the rankings.
Class Recap: Wait Until Next Year, Volume 7
This is another good class but one that yet again hasn’t taken the next step for the Notre Dame program. Last year, the reasoning was that the class was too small as the Irish were the only team among the Top 33 to have fewer than 20 recruits while the player average was actually tied for 9th with Florida.
This year, the class is larger and Notre Dame currently sits 8th nationally overall but the player average has dipped to 14th in the country and they are 1 of only 2 programs (Oregon being the other) who are in the top 13 without a single 5-star prospect.
No doubt, the pandemic will be the big talking point for this year’s lack of a leap as the can is kicked down the road once again about why we should expect 2022 to be The Big Year.
Strengths: The Offensive Ceiling
Last year was the cycle for big impact offensive skill players and while that’s TBD for the receivers right now it has been a homerun for running back Chris Tyree and tight end Michael Mayer. The 2021 class has an equally impressive chance of having a similar impact maybe not right away but over the long run.
Obviously, a lot of that hinges on the development of quarterback prospect Tyler Buchner who many people are zeroing in on for this cycles boom or bust player, perhaps the most intriguing such recruit in the entire country.
There’s a bunch of offensive linemen, a trio of very good receivers, and an underrated running back who could be joined by a second commit at his position. That’s a really good core that could take off like a rocket ship if Buchner is anywhere close to the real deal.
Weaknesses: Pass Rushing
I’m probably a little higher on Schweitzer than most but a little less so with Onye and Aupiu. Notre Dame has done a really good job at developing pass-rushers in recent years but this cycle looks particularly challenging, especially now that there will be a new defensive coordinator in town.
I personally don’t love most of the defensive backs but I do like their potential a lot more than most of the players up front in pass rushing roles.
# of Early Enrollees: 11
Remember the wild days when 4 or 5 recruits would be on campus in January? How quaint! The following players will be enrolling at Notre Dame in just a few short weeks:
QB Buchner, WR Styles, TE Berrong, OG Spindler, OT Fisher, OT Johnson, DE Schweitzer, DT Rubio, CB Barnes, CB Riley, CB Johnson, S Walters.
Our recruiting writers and I were having (and are still having!) a heck of time trying to figure out who will be the player with the most immediate impact in 2021. With as many as 4 starters possibly moving on from the offensive line I feel like we shouldn’t be shocked to see Blake Fisher win a job at some point next year. He’s so, so good.
Race for the No. 1 Ranking: Alabama vs. Ohio State (Surprise)
These two programs are way out ahead for the top spot in the country. To a lesser extent, Georgia, LSU, and Clemson are within striking distance but comfortably in the 3rd through 5th slots.
Alabama and Ohio State currently claim a combined 11 prospects who are Composite 5-stars. Georgia (3), Clemson (2), and Miami (2) are the only other schools with multiple 5-star prospects. Each of Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, Florida, LSU, Texas A&M, and North Carolina have a single 5-star in their class.
5-Stars Remaining: 7
There are 17 total recruits from the Composite Top 100 who have not committed yet. From that group we have 7 players who are 5-stars still to announce their intentions:
#1 Overall, DE Korey Foreman – Announcing on January 2nd with USC as the perceived leader.
#3 Overall, DE J.T. Tuimoloau – Announcing in February with Ohio State as the perceived leader.
#11 Overall, OT Tristan Leigh – Announcing on January 2nd with several teams still in the mix.
#16 Overall, LB Terrence Lewis – Recent decommit from Tennessee who is announcing on January 2nd. Auburn leads his Crystal Ball.
#18 Overall, DT Maason Smith – Announcing on Wednesday with LSU and Georgia the leaders.
#20 Overall, LB Xavian Sorey – Announcing on Wednesday with Georgia expected to sign him.
#26 Overall RB Camar Wheaton – Announcing on December 23rd between Oklahoma and Alabama.
As far as early signing day, this would usually be a very slow day between the end of the season and a bowl game. I’m surprised to see you down on it.
Mitchell Evans is my sleeper in this class. He moves really well for a 6’7″ high schooler. He’s no Michael Mayer but I think he could be a really fine TE in a couple years.
That’s true, last year ENSD came 10 days prior to the bowl game. That’s way better than this year obviously but we’re still in season mode and it’s difficult to get everything together.
Signed already this AM:
Onye
Styles
Thomas
Riley
Kollie (!!!)
Barnes
Berrong
Colzie
Evans
Fisher
C. Johnson
Nice to see Kollie come in. Now we wait for the morning RB drama, that should be “fun”.
I love that his high school is “David Crockett” – I’m imagining there’s another high school nearby that’s called “My Father’s Name is David, Please, Call Me Davey Crockett High School”
More signings around 8:15 AM ET:
Rubio
Spindler
Walters
Alt
JoJo Johnson in, as well.
Now just waiting on the 5 Cali kids:
Buchner
Tucker
Aupiu
Schweitzer
Bryan
Plus, Diggs (LA) and Kia (HI).
Mike Frank from ISD hearing that Diggs and Estime are NOT signing today.
What the heck do we do if Diggs leave the class and we swing and miss on both Estime and Edwards?
Don’t want to think about that. I suppose we have our top 3 backs still next year with Abdur-Rahman training there as a 4th option so it wouldn’t be an emergency but its hard to imagine that a RB wouldn’t want to commit after seeing us run the ball this year. We have had a good amount of touches even for the 3rd running back with C’Bo getting 56 carries so a talented freshman should know they could at least get some run next year and be set up to be 1B by their sophomore year.
The beat writers and recruitniks feel pretty good about an Estime flip so I think we’ll be okay either way.
Related, (and somewhat creepy) I saw a pic of him on twitter somewhere without his shirt on and it was crazy. Looks like a 25 year old or something. He’s def a solid 215 that looks like he’s ready for carries next season, even if just in short yardage or goal-line situations.
He’s ready to go.
Yeah, kid’s shredded. I’m assuming this is the pic you mean.
It would suck not to land an RB, but with our top 4 back next season, I’m not sure why it’s a concern. Should make the opportunity more obvious for ’22 recruits, and there’s always the transfer portal if we’re in a pinch.
Personally, I’m more concerned with QB if Clark really did tear his ACL and requires surgery. Feel like that’s more of a pressing issue than who might be our fourth-string RB next season.
Not really thinking so much about next season. We will be fine next season but its in 2022 that I was thinking. If Williams leaves early after next year and C’Bo as well then we are down to Tyree, Abdur-Rahman, and any freshman that we might have that year. So getting a RB this cycle who would be ready to contribute in 2022 is the key.
The lack of playmakers on defense in this class is disappointing, especially since our big difference maker (Lea) is leaving. We’re not likely to ever hang with OSU/Bama when it comes to total overall recruiting, but we can keep up with them with good player development plus a few impact players each class. We absolutely need at least 1 high end pass rusher and 1 high end DB every single class, and I’m not convinced we have either in this class. I sure hope I’m wrong.
On offense, this class really comes down to Buchner, doesn’t it? The receivers should be good enough, especially with Johnson in last year’s class. Would be nice to have added a high end Running Back, but we’ve got plenty of eligibility left from the guys on our current roster. Next year a high end RB feels like a need. I trust this staff to evaluate and develop O Linemen and TEs, so that leaves it really all to come down to Buchner for the offensive class.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty happy with the DBs. First, it’s a lot of bodies, and a lot of length so I feel like just based on numbers at least 2 are going to hit, even if it’s tough to identify which ones. There’s no Kyle Hamilton’s, which yeah, need that because Clemson/Bama (teams on schedule in 22-23) are signing those guys. But I think Riley can be pretty good, and Barnes is said to be fairly under-rated.
Agree on the pass rushers fully. They’re banking a lot on the development path, thinking they can make an Ade out of almost anyone. Seems like big asks. Hopefully they get back to targeting more athletes with Botelho/Foskey level size/skill more regularly and this year is just a down year there.
Rubio and Kollie are two studs on defense.
The other front seven guys seem to fit the “body type” ND desires. (6’4″ 220 lb. long and athletic) I trust this current staff to find FB players.
Since when did we recruit “high end” pass rushers or DBs? And yet Lea & Co have been churning out top-10 defenses. Hayes was pretty well-regarded but it took him a while to really make an impact. Okwaras both were better than fine. Ogundiji, Jamir Jones, etc. Foskey looks like a stud. Kids like Aupiu, Schweitzer and Onye all appear to have great long-term potential, which is all that we need once you’ve fully built out the pipeline like Lea and Elston have.
We haven’t often recruited high end DE and DB’s not so much out of choice as out of necessity. Everyone is after pass rushers and DB’s that can cover. Since we haven’t been quite at the elite level we have made due with guys that are good but need development. Sure, we have turned that into elite defenses but would never turn down top 50 talent at those positions.
“I’ve said this every year, too. Doing this now in the middle of December is always a bad time for us.”
I assume the “us” here is the 18S writers room and not ND? I don’t really see how ND is particularly disadvantaged by the early signing period than other top programs.
Yeah, for us bloggers.
Sneak peek at my individual player grades for offense:
95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff
Fisher – 96
Buchner – 90
Styles – 90
Bryan – 89
Spindler – 88
Diggs – 88
(Estime) – 87
Colzie – 87
Thomas – 87
C. Johnson – 87
Berrong – 84
Evans – 82
Alt – 80
Coogan – 78
Get one of the RBs and that’s 8 offensive players with eventual start+ possibly underclassman contributions. Very promising! Is that one of the better offense hauls in recent memory?
Feels like it should be. A couple beast OLs, three 4* receivers, and maybe just maybe the QB prospect we’ve all been waiting for. Really liking the material to work with here.
I really like the haul a lot.
Buchner 90 grade is a bit of a bummer – given that they’re chasing a 3-star for 2022, he’s probably the most important ND recruit in recent memory. Realize his recent performances haven’t been great so 90 seems fair, but man if he can be an AA that would be huge for the program.
They’re also pursuing a borderline top-50 QB from Kentucky, as well. And I don’t understand why stars would mean a damn thing for the ’22 class when a lot of these kids didn’t play full seasons this year. Now more than ever, I would trust our staff’s scouting assessment a hell of a lot more than some jagoff at Rivals.
He’s a tough one to rate. He looked like a 93 or 94 his junior year but the change in the throwing motion or the summer and an OK showing at the Elite 11 dampened the excitement around him and now with no senior season its just hard to know exactly what we’ve got.
I think I’m willing to trust Rees and Kelly on this one.
Sneak peek at my individual player grades for defense:
95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff
Kollie – 94
Rubio – 92
Barnes – 84
Schweitzer – 84
Riley – 83
Tucker – 83
Johnson – 82
Kia – 82
Walters – 81
Aupiu – 76
Onye – 76
This is looking like we will need a lot of development if we are going to be maintaining a top 10 defense with this group. Only two guys that could be starters as underclassmen or better.
I do like the fact that out of the 5 DB there is a lot of flexibility. Only Walters is clearly a S and only Johnson is clearly a CB. The other 3 guys could shift to one or the other which probably helps their development as long as we don’t yoyo them back and forth (like Griffith). So, as long as 2 of the 5 hit as solid players we should be fine but it’s disappointing to not get a clear difference maker in the secondary.
Also, I’m OK with taking a couple of guys on the DL who might only be potential back ups. Obviously you would love to have stars, but we have seen that being able to rotate 8 to 10 guys a game can really elevate the play of the whole line and relieves lots of stress from the starters. So, as long as Onye and Aupiu can get to the level of a quality back up like Jamir Jones or Jayson Ademilola I think that the DL class can still have a big impact.
It’s very possible I’m being too harsh on my grades!
I went back and looked at the 2015-17 cycles and my lowest grades on defense, though:
DT Jonathan MacCollister 76
S D.J. Morgan 77
S Nicco Fertitta
DE Kofi Wardlow 78
DT Brandon Tiassum 78
CB Ashton White 80
LB Jon Jones 80
DT Micah Dew-Treadway 81
S Mykelti Williams 82
DE Ade Ogundeji 83
LB David Adams 83
One great development story and a whole lot of nothing from that group. However, 2018-19 looks a lot better for development (or I just did a poor job grading!):
LB Jack Kiser 76 (LOL)
DE Justin Ademilola 78
LB Paul Moala 78
DT Howard Cross 78
DT Ja’Mion Franklin 79
S Litchfield Ajavon 80
DT Hunter Spears 80
LB Marist Liufau
S D.J. Brown 80
DE Ovie Oghufou 81
CB Isaiah Rutherford 81
CB Noah Boykin 83
LB Bo Bauer 83
We could have 5 or 6 starters from this group which is great.
Well grading prospects is a tricky business all the way around.
Perhaps this years defensive class has low rankings due to Covid. I’m being hopeful here. In other words, hopefully because many of them didn’t get senior seasons or many camps there are several who would be viewed as late risers (like Kollie or Hamilton) and so we would view several of them more positively if we had senior film to look at.
Obviously this is an optimistic outlook but hopefully that is the case with 2 or 3 of the lower ranked defensive players in this class.
Those grades could be low, but the problem is that no one really knows at this point. Especially with how raw and green a lot of these players are, especially Onye who hasn’t played much HS at all…Just don’t know. Notre Dame is going to hope that the athleticism blossoms and it comes together, but in a lot of cases, I’m guessing they don’t really know right now themselves outside of a couple of these defensive players.
Woof. There’s always next year.
Does this mean losing more players with eligibility remaining? We aren’t about to lose scholarships because we self reported that a kid got a free lunch from Jimmy John’s, are we?
Yeah, I think they are expecting not to have a lot of guys come back who could (nearly all current 5th years and seniors) plus a few guys who are graduating and may be ready to move on.
The cost of being good. Sigh.
So, the expectation is that all these players will leave?
Tier I
QB Ian Book
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
LT Liam Eichenberg
RG Tommy Kraemer
DE Ade Ogundeji
CB Nick McCloud
LG Aaron Banks
DT Kurt Hinish
DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
RT Robert Hainsey
LB Drew White
PK Jonathan Doerer
DE Daelin Hayes
WR Javon McKinley
WR Ben Skowronek
S Shaun Crawford
OL Josh Lugg
Tier II
WR Avery Davis
TE Brock Wright
LB Isaiah Pryor
OL Dillon Gibbons
Tier III
OL Colin Grunhard
WR Jafar Armstrong
I’ll let Eric reply but I think he just means that they know that all of the guys on this list won’t return, even though b/c of Covid they all could return.
Some guys don’t want to have to do graduate school, some guys might want to transfer for more playing time, some guys are going pro, some guys might just be ready for the next stage of life…
My best guess:
Leaving: Book, JOK, Eichenberg, Kraemer, Ogundeji, McCloud, Hainsey, Hayes, McKinley, Skowronek, Crawford, Wright, Armstrong
Wouldn’t be shocked if Banks left with a really good NFL grade or if Davis bolts.
I’d wager we see 3-4 transfers from the 2018-19 classes, too.
So far I think the only fairly confirmed staying are Doerer and Lugg. I don’t think many will be added. Maybe MTA and/or Hinish? Maybe White?
That’s…not a lot coming back.
I also read somewhere (forget now) that Grunhard is expected to grad transfer out as well. No big deal, but another one out. Should be quite the exodus of bodies, unfortunately.
I would have to imagine that both Hinish and MTA are coming back. Or at the very least one of them. They are not going to get high draft grades but are certainly going to be playing a ton next year for a very good team.
Maybe one more year of development and production and they could become fringe NFL draft picks. Seems like for those two it would be a clear choice to return and certainly the staff wants them to.
It would seem that White, Pryor, Gibbons, and a receiver (either McKinley, Skowronek, or Davis) would also be coming back because of the same reasons listed above.
A lot of the names you mention (other than the 2 DT’s), IMO, fit into your well-put earlier talk:
“Some guys don’t want to have to do graduate school, some guys might want to transfer for more playing time, some guys are going pro, some guys might just be ready for the next stage of life…”
And, even then, if it’s Doerer, Lugg, MTA, White, Pyror and Gibbons coming back that’s still…..not all that much talent returning (though a few useful starters) but especially in comparison to what is leaving it’s not going to measure up.
Oh totally agree on that. It’s some useful starters who might develop a bit more and make a big impact but the amount of talent that is leaving is much larger.
I just was trying to point out that while only a couple have officially announced there are certainly a few more guys who will be back. Heck, we need some of them to come back and with the relaxed Covid scholarship numbers for next year there really is no reason to not have some of these fringe impact players come back if there is not a younger guy ready to step into his spot who has shown great promise.
I’m hoping that Banks and the DTs will return. That would give us a good leg up on maintaining the defense and rebuilding the OL.
I also really can’t imagine Drew White not coming back, although Bo Bauer has been so good lately that I’m not sure we’d see much of a drop in production there.
Thanks. My expectation (every year) is that most would leave but, provided they have NFL aspirations, it seemed to me like Lugg and Pryor might be enticed back by the chance to start. Banks is gone in my opinion — folks talking about him coming back to play left tackle are setting themselves up to be disappointed. It would benefit him but how much would it suck to break an ankle & waste the year when you’ve already got 2 (3?) years as a starter on tape and you’ve already been talked about as a likely day 2 pick PRIOR to this season.
That would suck, but being drafted in round 1 is a lot better financially than on day two. In recent years, it’s proven worthwhile and quite lucrative for other OL to return for that additional year of seasoning.
True, but is that Banks? Is he a LT for the NFL? I honestly don’t know, but it seems like he would have to prove a lot to be a first round LT from where he is right now.
He’s also 330+ pounds and dealt with foot injuries. Coming back for a 5th year isn’t necessarily a total guarantee that draft stock will be improved, sometimes it isn’t. His body probably only has so many more reps in it, I wouldn’t fault him for trying to get paid for it ASAP if he wants to go that path.
But I’m sure it’s a business decision. If there’s a path that makes sense to come back, he’ll have to weigh that. Hopefully there’s a decent case for it, but when you talk about OL returning for more seasoning, you’re usually not talking about for a 5th year who has started the last 2.5 seasons. Banks doesn’t need any more “seasoning”, he needs to move to a more lucrative position if he’s a fit for it, or go to the next level and get paid to do what he does as a guard.
Crawford’s coming back for 3 more years.
I really just wish he would come back next year. Then he would have a full career of 4 senior days 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Also, my favorite trivia is that Shaun Crawford was teammates with a player (Chase Hounshell) who played on the 2011 Notre Dame team. That’s pretty wild there’s basically 2 degrees of separation to just about anyone in the Kelly era.
And Shaun Crawford played 1 year before Julian Okwara got to ND, and 1 year after he left. Crawford was ND teammates with both Okwara’s.
I’d love to see him hang on long enough to play alongside Shawn Crawford Jr. in our secondary. That would really be something.
why?
I don’t think it’s a major upheaval or anything. But, I do think your average program across the country will be bringing back 3 to 4 more upperclassmen who would’ve exhausted their eligibility this year while ND really isn’t set up to bring back a ton of those guys.
Not the surprise signing that many were hoping for but 3 star Ronnie Powlus from Penn High School just signed with ND.
This may signal that Brendan Clark’s knee issue is somewhat serious and it might also signal that the staff is just not wanting to test the waters of the transfer market to get another QB.
The QB room next year will be filled with youth.
PWO or like a real scholarship?
Hopefully this has more to do with replacing a signal guy like JD Carney and not an actual contender to play…
Is there a rule about coaches children automatically being on scholarship? Because don’t employees children already get free tuition?
Youths?
Remember when people used to debate whether you should take a QB every year?
Not sure. Here is where I saw the news.
https://irishsportsdaily.com/s/13814/breaking-notre-dame-signs-2021-qb-ron-powlus-iii
It appears that according to Jamie he is being brought in to provide scout team reps and potential back up by his upperclassman years. So I’m thinking that this was an actual signing.
However, on his 247 profile it shows that he committed but doesn’t show that he has a scholarship offer. So, my guess is that he is somewhere between a PWO and a scholarship player since his dad is on staff and since I doubt that he will be taking up a scholarship if there was a numbers crunch in the future.
Per this tweet, he’s on scholarship:
https://twitter.com/markskoljr_WNDU/status/1339258987582271488
OK, that clears it up. I’d imagine that the staff just wasn’t that worried about the numbers considering the numbers we have leaving and the expanded roster numbers the NCAA will give for next year.
I’m still really hoping they go the grad transfer route. People on other boards mock me for this, but I think they should be hitting up Jack Coan early and often. He was really good in 2019!
Is he in the transfer portal? I’d have to look up his stats because I just don’t know much about him.
I think that they should certainly be considering it. If Clark really is injured then we have a sophomore (average HS rating) and two freshman (Buchner and Powlus) as our potential starting QBs.
While we should have playmakers at WR and RB we will probably be a bit rough at OL for the first few games since we are breaking in new starters and it would be nice to have an experienced QB back there.
Looked up some stats. Here they are for anyone that is interested.
Houston Baptist’s Bailey Zappe is my pick!
Looked up the stats. He is pretty impressive although obviously not the greatest competition. Also, clearly not much of a runner, although I have no idea what kind of scheme they run. But, 19 rushes for 14 yards kind of makes me think he is not much of a running threat.
What happened to Clark?
Lingering knee issue from high school. Will be fully evaluated after the season.
Testing the waters of the QB transfer market achieves an entirely different end than bringing Powlus on board.
I think it does a bit. You would have 5 scholarship QBs on the roster next year if you go out and get a transfer. Not saying they won’t do or that I don’t think that they should but I do believe that it makes it more unlikely.
That doesn’t make a lot of sense, what difference is it to Powlus if he’s 4th string or 5th string next year? He’s not playing anyways.
This should have nothing to do with getting a short-term grad transfer that can actually help the team in 2021.
I was thinking of two reasons. First, the scholarship limit. Not sure what it is going to be at but 5 QBs seems like a lot but I agree that this is probably not the biggest issue.
Thing is that the grad transfer market is going to be different this year because if you didn’t play as a freshman as a QB, and most don’t, then you potentially have 2 years of eligibility remaining (I think I have this right, but I could be thinking about it wrong).
Now that would make a grad transfer more than just a short-term answer. This is both a positive if you think the grad transfer is truly worth it but a negative if he then becomes the obstacle to your young stud (Buchner) being able to take over the reins.
Nah, no big deal on scholarship limit. As you allow, we don’t know what it is, but it is not going to be 85 next year, so that’s irrelevant whether or not Powlus has a scholarship that it would make it tougher to add a starting QB if they wanted one. As if that’s not important enough to make it happen.
Grad QBs are the definition of one and done. They come in and try a last gasp to save their career, usually don’t work out great, and then it’s over. Any good grad QB will go to the NFL. Any bad QB will not be wanted back. Sets itself up for a short-term solution either way, so that’s also not really a consideration.
Is everyone signed now? Other than Diggs.
Pretty sure, just waiting on all of the RB action to shake out. Oh and Ceyair Wright but he’s not choosing until January.
Edwards commits to scUM. That’s a bummer but not a huge surprise.
Overall pretty great class, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Tho I must say, Kollie is the prospect I’m the most excited for. Hope we keep this thing rolling for the class of 2022.
Alright, delusional human hardwired to seek out patterns here. Hear me out on this comp:
2021 class reflects the 2016 class in a number of ways:
For those worried about the quality of this class, I seem to recall similar concerns about the 2016 class in lagging behind the Alabamas of the world. How can we keep up if we sign classes that only sometimes breach the top 10?
In looking back at the 2016 class (many of whom are still on the team and were present for this awesome run the last few years) I can count:
I trust the coaching staff to find under-appreciated guys even more in this year than a normal year. This staff knows what it is doing.
Love the data!
Take a look at Iowa’s class. Has there ever been a higher percentage of white guys in a recruiting class?
I was hoping to see a white corner but nope.