We recently explored my grades for the Notre Dame offense recruiting stretching back to the 2013 class and today we turn our attention to the other side of the ball. As I mentioned in part one of this series, I am the toughest grader on this website. You saw a little bit of that with the offense and now you will get a heavy dose of this looking back at the defense.
Let’s get right to it now.
My grades followed by writers average grade in parentheses.
Defensive Line
Eddie Vanderdoes – 96 (95)
Andrew Trumbetti – 95 (93)
Jordan Botelho – 94 (94)
Jayson Ademilola – 94 (93)
NaNa Osafo-Mensah – 93 (91)
Khalid Kareem – 92 (92)
Jay Hayes – 91 (91)
Isaac Rochelle – 90 (91)
Darnell Ewell – 90 (90)
Daelin Hayes – 89 (91)
Julian Okwara – 88 (90)
Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa – 88 (88)
Kurt Hinish – 88 (87)
Jacob Lacey – 87 (89)
Jhonny Williams – 87 (85)
Isaiah Foskey – 86 (90)
Bo Wallace – 86 (86)
Kolin Hill – 85 (87)
Elijah Taylor – 85 (87)
Daniel Cage – 84 (86)
Jerry Tillery – 84 (86)
Pete Mokwuah – 84 (85)
Ade Ogundeji – 83 (83)
Rylie Mills – 82 (87)
Aidan Keanaaina – 82 (86)
Grant Blankenship – 82 (84)
Jonathan Bonner – 81 (85)
Micah Dew-Treadway – 81 (83)
Hunter Spears – 80 (80)
Ja’Mion Franklin – 79 (84)
Howard Cross – 78 (81)
Jacob Matuska – 78 (81)
Brandon Tiassum – 78 (81)
Kofi Wardlow – 78 (81)
Justin Ademilola – 78 (78)
Jonathan MacCollister – 76 (81)
Alexander Ehrensberger – 76 (80)
Plus/minus difference of 3 points: Isaiah Foskey (-4), Rylie Mills (-5), Aidan Keanaaina (-4), Jonathan Bonner (-4), Ja’Mion Franklin (-5), Howard Cross (-3), Jacob Matuska (-3), Brandon Tiassum (-3), Kofi Wardlow (-3), Jonathan MacCollister (-5), Alex Ehrensberger (-4)
Overachievers: Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bonner, Ade Ogundeji
Underachievers: Andrew Trumbetti, Jay Hayes, Darnell Ewell, Jhonny Williams, Bo Wallace
Apologies for including the infamous Eddie Vanderdoes who later fled to UCLA after signing with Notre Dame. His career with the Bruins was a bit of a disappointment set against his lofty expectations finishing with 122 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks while missing nearly all of his junior season due to injury.
Full disclosure, when we handed out grades for Tillery we all gave two, one for each side of the ball. Nearly all of us were in agreement that he was a much better prospect at offensive tackle compared to staying on the defensive line. Well, turns out he was quite good on defense although it took a couple years to blossom.
Jonathan Bonner wasn’t anything special but he started 26 games over his career and definitely qualified as someone who overachieved. Thus far, it looks like Ogundeji (34 tackles, 7 TFL, 4.5 sacks in 2019) will outplay his 83 grade with one more season to go in South Bend if he hasn’t already.
I was about as high on Trumbetti as anyone and he never moved past solid starter territory, finishing with 90 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and just 2.5 sacks despite playing in 43 games.
Jay Hayes finally showed promise for the Irish in 2017 (27 tackles, 3.5 TFL) before finishing his career at Georgia where he did absolutely nothing for the Dawgs.
Ewell took a medical scholarship and is one of the most recent disappointments for the program, Jhonny Williams transferred to Toledo then to Grand Valley State, and Bo Wallace never enrolled at Notre Dame before washing out at Arizona State.
I thought this was a good visualization of how difficult it really is to develop lower rated defensive line recruits. Of the 16 players from Mokwuah on down, 3 are incoming freshmen, 3 are young and outside the two-deep, 8 had a small impact at best, and 2 became starter-level players.
Linebacker
Jaylon Smith – 98 (97)
Shayne Simon – 95 (96)
Nyles Morgan – 93 (96)
Jack Lamb – 91 (93)
Asmar Bilal – 90 (89)
Tevon Coney – 89 (90)
Doug Randolph – 89 (88)
Josh Barajas – 88 (91)
Osi Ekwonu – 88 (89)
Drew White – 88 (89)
Nile Sykes – 88 (88)
Michael Deeb – 87 (88)
Jamir Jones – 87 (87)
David Adams – 83 (85)
Matt Bauer – 83 (83)
Spencer Perry – 83 (83)
Greer Martini – 82 (83)
Ovie Oghoufo – 81 (83)
Jonathan Jones – 80 (85)
Marist Liufau – 80 (82)
JD Bertrand – 80 (80)
D.J. Morgan – 77 (78)
Jack Kiser – 76 (82)
Plus/minus difference of 3 points: Nyles Morgan (-3), Josh Barajas (-3), Jonathan Jones (-5), Jack Kiser (-6)
Overachievers: Greer Martini
Underachievers: Shayne Simon, Doug Randolph, Josh Barajas, Nile Sykes, Michael Deeb
I was shocked at how few overachievers were at this position. Martini certainly qualifies after finishing his career with 190 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks. He had a very good 4-year career for the Irish.
My grade on Jack Kiser is likely to be hilariously wrong as he may be the backup Rover as soon as this spring and by all accounts is heavily favored by the coaching staff.
This will be a big 2020 for Shayne Simon who has 12 tackles through 2 seasons thus far. If he develops into a starter he may fulfill his promise, if he’s a backup or worse in 2020 it might not happen for him.
Doug Randolph’s career was cut short by a back/neck injury after 2 seasons and just 6 tackles. The trio of Barajas, Sykes, and Deeb also made no impact at Notre Dame. Barajas transferred to Illinois State where he was injured and played sparingly, Sykes transferred to Indiana where he made a decent impact with 49 career tackles, and Deeb had to take a medical scholarship in South Bend.
Defensive Back
Max Redfield – 95 (95)
Kyle Hamilton – 94 (96)
Shaun Crawford – 93 (94)
Devin Studstill – 92 (92)
Derrik Allen – 91 (91)
Houston Griffith – 90 (91)
Troy Pride – 90 (89)
Julian Love – 90 (88)
Cole Luke – 89 (91)
Nick Watkins – 89 (91)
Isaiah Robertson – 89 (89)
Landen Bartleson – 87 (84)
Jalen Elliott – 86 (87)
Devin Butler – 86 (82)
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – 85 (88)
K.J. Wallace – 85 (86)
Nick Coleman – 85 (85)
Ramon Henderson – 85 (83)
Donte Vaughn – 84 (86)
Caleb Offord – 84 (84)
Noah Boykin – 83 (86)
Drue Tranquill – 83 (85)
Jordan Genmark Heath 83 (84)
Rashad Kinlaw – 83 (84)
Mykelti Williams – 82 (87)
Isaiah Rutherford – 81 (82)
D.J. Brown – 80 (84)
Clarence Lewis – 80 (83)
Ashton White – 80 (82)
Joe Wilkins – 80 (82)
Litchfield Ajavon – 80 (81)
Paul Moala – 78 (79)
Nicco Fertitta – 77 (80)
Plus/minus difference of 3 points: Landen Bartleson (+3), Devin Butler (+4), Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (-3), Noah Boykin (-3), Mykelti Williams (-5), D.J. Brown (-4), Clarence Lewis (-3), Nicco Fertitta (-3)
Overachievers: Nicco Fertitta, Paul Moala, Drue Tranquill, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Julian Love
Underachievers: Max Redfield, Devin Studstill, Derrik Allen, Houston Griffith, Isaiah Robertson
Everyone. Was. Wrong. About. Max. Redfield. Although I bet most wouldn’t remember he put together 143 tackles across 3 seasons. He played a lot his last two years but never came close to being one of the better defenders on the team.
The career of Devin Studstill was so strange featuring 38 tackles as a freshman, then 18 tackles, and 4 tackles in an injury-shortened 2018 season. He transferred to USF this past season where he finished his career on a high note with 74 tackles.
Derrik Allen transferred to Georgia Tech this past year, while Houston Griffith took a step back as a sophomore and will have to fight for a two-deep spot at safety this spring, and Isaiah Robertson hasn’t made an impact after switching to wide receiver.
Fertitta got a handful of snaps at safety but mostly special teams work where he cobbled together 36 career tackles. Moala could be in line to start in 2020 so he’s likely an overachiever.
I forgot how little we thought of Tranquill (originally a safety, remember) and in retrospect his career looks even more absurd: 292 tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and a spot on our Hall of Fame Pyramid. We all liked Julian Love a lot, and still he outperformed expectations.
It’s funny I always felt like I was driving the JOK hype train but not until we saw him in his first spring game. As a recruit I was a little less enthusiastic about him coming in compared to others. Now, he’s well on his way to being in the conversation as one of the top linebackers of the Kelly era.
This defensive board has so much BVG stink on it. The lack of high level recruits, the amount of reaches, the names I don’t even remember at this point (I legitimately do not remember Mykelti Williams). How this defense has been good for the last 3 years is a testament to Elko and lea, and elston.
With regards to defensive line recruiting, the point you make about the bottom tiered recruits is true but the converse is also true. Pretty much every good defensive line recruit has been at minimum a solid player for Nd if not more, which is really encouraging given how defensive line recruiting has improved this current 3-4 year cycle relative to 13-15
And Jurkovec is in the transfer portal. I can’t say I’m surprised. I definitely don’t blame the kid. Recruiting quarterbacks is just a crapshoot. There is no guarantee with any of these kids.
So the idea would be that he transfers this year and still has 2 years of eligibility somewhere else, right?
So for him its either now, or wait until he’s a grad transfer.
Bryan Driskell cryptically hinted Jurkovec has a case for immediate eligibility but I guess we’ll see.
I mean even if he can’t play in 2020 it’s probably better for him to find a coach/system that fits him and believes in him and gets him up to speed in 2021. Seems like Notre Dame was focused more on what Jurkovec lacks and can’t do rather than coaching up what he has.
Not too often that a top-5 QB is going to stay in a program for 3 years without having a path to play and there’s none here.
https://www.si.com/college/notredame/football/notre-dame-footbal-phil-jurkovec-to-transfer
Wonder if the Long firing has anything to do with the issues mentioned in the article.
I know Redfield underachieved his first 3 years. Year 4 came and I had high hopes…until the gun episode. It was one of the saddest events ever for everyone.
I’m still irrationally of the opinion that Redfield was Jaylon-level talented, but that BVG ruined his career and, in turn, his life. Just imagining Jaylon, Love, Redfield, and Tillery together under Clark Lea is…wow, now I’m sad.
I kinda hope Simon can have Bilal-like finish to his career. Why not, right?
I thought Daniel Cage was a solid player until he got hurt.
FWIW MDT was a starter and captain at Minnesota this season. He had a nice year from what I’ve read. I believe he was granted a 6th year of eligibility so he’ll play for them again this coming season as well.