Notre Dame will take the field tomorrow for the first time in 2017 for the annual Blue-Gold game, and finally wipe away the last vestiges of the second Season That Never Happened of the last decade. While a substantial portion of the Irish fan base (drink!) understandably remains in show-me mode, the program has unquestionably generated more positive off-season vibes than at any point in recent memory. Will the game support or contradict those vibes? As usual, we’ll all draw more conclusions from the day than are warranted, and anoint someone who may never be seen again as the Next Big Thing (also known as the “Junior Jabbie Memorial Award”). As usual, this is also a major recruiting event, with a number of key Blue Gold Game visitors. The Notre Dame staff has done a good job of getting some key targets to swing through this weekend, and has augmented that list with a number of current 2018 commits and even a few 2017 signees. And hey, unlike last fall, these visitors are guaranteed to see a Notre Dame win tomorrow! Whee! Let’s take a look at who will be in town.
Players who have already committed to ND are in italics; rankings are 247 Composite overall/position.
2018 Visitors:
PJ Mustipher, DT, #62/#6
L’Christian Smith, ATH, #103/#2
Dallas Gant, OLB, #117/#5
Chase Cota, WR, #127/#24
Braden Lenzy, ATH, #141/#7
Kalon Gervin, CB, #169/#21
Kevin Austin, WR, #189/#37
Bo Bauer, ILB, #194/#8
Markese Stepp, RB, #205/#7
Jayson Ademilola, DT, #251/#24
Justin Ademilola, OLB, #340/#26
Ovie Oghoufo, OLB, #347/#28
Micah Jones, WR, #350/#61
Jalen Mayfield, OT, #419/#30
Erick Hallett, CB, #510/#44
Nasir Peoples, S, #1072/#77
Justin Birdsong, CB, NR/NR
Dominique Hampton, CB, NR/NR
Cagan Campbell, CB, NR/NR
Notes:
A quick note on visitors from other classes… There are a few 2019 kids coming in, but the only one that’s really on Notre Dame’s radar right now is RB Kenny McIntosh, who holds an Irish offer and is the younger brother of current Irish RB/WR Deon McIntosh. Miami looms large, just as it did for Deon, but Notre Dame is a legitimate player here. Also, several of the 2017 signees will be in town to bond with their future teammates and help with the recruiting efforts – Josh Lugg, Jafar Armstrong, Avery Davis, and Jordan Genmark Heath. Four signees are coming on their own dime from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Texas, and California to bond with guys. Man, I love that 2017 class. I haven’t seen any names come up from the 2020 class, which isn’t surprising given that there are no 2020 offers out yet, and also I think they just switched to training pants so it’s not a great time for a road trip.
Now, on to the 2018 visitors… PJ Mustipher will make about his 30th visit to campus, and no doubt will spend some quality time with brother Sam. With Notre Dame already having Jayson Ademilola in the fold and reportedly with a strong lead for (and very high opinion of) Ja’mion Franklin, it’ll be very interesting to watch what happens on this trip with the younger Mustipher. Ohio State has surged recently with him, so if the Irish want him they’ll have to push hard… Ohioan L’Christian Smith has long had Kentucky in the lead but is just starting to take visits, so his leaderboard could change dramatically in the near future. The 6’6″ Smith is being recruited as a jumbo wide receiver by the Irish. Ohio State, as you might expect, is a major player here as well… Dallas Gant is probably the biggest story of the weekend, with this serving as his final visit to any school before his May 16th announcement. He just chose to visit Ohio State’s spring game over Michigan’s, which likely means the Wolverines are out, but it’s way too close to handicap the stretch run. If Brian Kelly, Mike Elko, and Clark Lea can lay out the red carpet for Gant and his parents, they may just well win a critical head-to-head battle with the Buckeyes. Nasir Peoples got an Irish offer a couple of weeks after he committed to Virginia Tech; word just got out that he’ll be at the game, on the same weekend Virginia Tech has their spring game. Ouch.
The last two uncommitted visitors who have offers are both receivers, Oregon’s Chase Cota and Florida’s Kevin Austin. While they hail from opposite corners of the country, they also bear several similarities: Both are making their first visit to Notre Dame, both are about 6’3″ and 200 pounds, both are very smooth athletes, and both have some ties to the program – Cota is good friends with current commit Braden Lenzy, and Austin shares stomping grounds and a little league coach with area recruiter Autry Denson. Notre Dame seems to have an early lead with Austin; he’s not likely to commit this weekend, but a strong visit could go a long way to making that lead near-insurmountable. It’ll be interesting to see how much Cota likes his visit, given that he’s an Oregon legacy – his father Chad played for the Ducks before logging an eight-year NFL career. Even that has a backdoor Notre Dame connection, though; with the Panthers in the late 90’s, Chad Cota started alongside former Irish standout Pat Terrell. If you’re curious, I think the staff would happily take both guys and close down receiver recruiting, although Amon Ra St. Brown would always have a spot if he wanted it.
Jalen Mayfield recently decommitted from Minnesota and is generally considered to be a hard Michigan lean, although the visit this weekend suggests at least some level of interest in the Irish. He doesn’t have a Notre Dame offer yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get one this weekend, especially after he was excellent at the Opening Chicago regional. His Composite ranking is low, but 247 by itself has him as the #105 overall player and it also wouldn’t be surprising to see him move up considerably in the Composite as the year rolls on. Erick Hallett, Justin Birdsong, Dominique Hampton, and Cagan Campbell are all defensive backs in search of an offer. Campbell is an undersized blazer – he’s listed at 5’10″/170, and is the current holder of the Alabama 6A 200m title and the fastest indoor 400m time in the country this year. Birdsong probably has the most buzz of any of them right now, but the hunch here is that he won’t earn the offer this weekend. I think these are all guys the staff wants to continue evaluating and keep in touch with in case other things go south.
Finally, eight of Notre Dame’s current 2018 commits will be in town to assist in the effort – Braden Lenzy, Kalon Gervin, Bo Bauer, Markese Stepp, Jayson & Justin Ademilola, Ovie Oghoufo, and Micah Jones. Stepp actually rescheduled his Opening regional plans, from DC this weekend to New Jersey next weekend, so he could make the game. These guys are all a huge part of building camaraderie in this class; Stepp, Lenzy, and the Ademilolas in particularly have been very active. They’re also a big driver of the positive off-season vibes. Notre Dame men, indeed.
Enjoy the game!
How is Franklin rated?
Not great, #434 overall in the 247 Composite. His biggest sin is his height; he’s more like 6’1″ than his listed 6’3″. Having said that, though, I think he’s severely underrated – he’s very quick off the ball and strong like bull. I know talent evaluation isn’t really considered one of Tom Loy’s strengths, but for what it’s worth says he likes Franklin better than Mustipher. Supposedly he’s Elko’s #1 priority at DT.
For that matter, I think a number of the writers have been saying for awhile now that the staff likes him better than some of the higher rated guys on the board. I’m not sure it’s just Loy’s opinion. We’ll see. I’m not sure they shouldn’t just try to three, though, at DT. They’ve quietly brought in some numbers and raw ability at DE over the last couple classes, but DT is scary-thin right now between injuries, recruiting holes and some guys just not developing.
“And hey, unlike last fall, these visitors are guaranteed to see a Notre Dame win tomorrow!”
/worst AD in America (TM) disappoints recruits (and NDNation) by secretly manipulating the game to make it end in a tie.
Should’ve mentioned above, but Erick Hallett is Brock Wright’s former teammate.
As big as the uncommitted prospects are, seeing all those committed guys coming is very very excellent. Especially now that some big dogs are coming after a number of these guys. I think having friends going to your school hugely increases the comfort level (although I knew no one going into ND) and think these guys building relationships with each other is a big part of recruiting.
One significant correction to make here – I thought Kenny McIntosh had an offer but he doesn’t, at least not yet. Could very well get one this weekend though.
I know St. Brown is the big name that everybody really wants, and rightfully so, but Lenzy, Jones, Austin and Cota would be one heck of a WR haul.
Are we on the outs for St. Brown? The 247 Crystal Ball is pretty positive for us, but nothing recently, and 2 of the last 3 predictions are for USC (ew, gross).
I don’t think so. ND is in it, but not the slam dunk that the crystal balls might indicate, from what I’ve read. It sounds like they’d take him no matter what, but there is the potential to land a very good group of four that eliminates the make-or-break nature of his recruitment. It helps that this is a very deep year for WRs.
Not exactly, but USC is definitely trending and ahead of us right now. If Longo was still running the S&C program we would be an afterthought – papa wasn’t going to let that happen. He’s in show-me mode now; early feedback on Balis from ESB is positive, but the family will have to visit and see it in person.
I think we’re a pretty solid bet to get an official, and if John likes what he sees we’ll be right back in it. But Amon Ra is his own guy and neither brother is going to push him too much, so it’s tough to handicap.
I’m a bit bearish on Jones but there’s an awful lot to like about the other three. No question those four would be one of the top receiver hauls in the country.
I wonder what happened to Junior Jabbie.
Great article Brendan. I hate to say it, but I’m starting to get excited for this season. The buzz around spring is pretty good, and the recruiting has been great so far.