Jacob Lacey became the second commit in Notre Dame’s 2019 class when he pledged to the Irish today. Michigan expected Lacey at their summer barbecue event this weekend, but he cancelled that trip and instead became Michigan’s second top 150 recruiting loss of the week to Notre Dame. #RememberTheSix
First I give GOD all the glory for everything.I wanna thank my family and my coaches! God. Country. Notre Dame☘️☘️☘️ GO IRISH! https://t.co/olc1RP9btt
— Jacob Lacey🎈 (@JacobLacey6) July 29, 2017
Clemson also offered recently and posed some risk, but Notre Dame had made too much of an impression on Lacey and his family already. Lacey has visited Notre Dame about a half dozen times and built a substantial level of comfort with the school, other players, and the coaching staff.
Now, if you really want to have some fun… Lacey’s commitment means that Notre Dame has top 150 defensive tackles in three consecutive classes – Darnell Ewell in 2017 (#149 247 Composite, #139 Rivals, #146 Scout), Jayson Ademilola in 2018 (#46 247, #75 Scout), and now Lacey in 2019. That’s one hell of a succession plan on the interior.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247 Sports — 4 star (92 rating), #126 overall, #8 DT, #3 in KY
Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating)
Scout — Not yet evaluated
ESPN — Not yet evaluated
Note: The initial 247 Composite 2019 rankings haven’t come out yet given that Rivals, Scout, and ESPN haven’t evaluated enough prospects yet. Rivals also hasn’t ranked 2019 prospects yet, although Lacey’s 5.8 rating translates to roughly a top 300 ranking.
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, Michigan, and Clemson, Jacob Lacey holds offers from Louisville, Michigan State, Penn State, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt, among others. He has drawn early interest from Florida State, Ohio State, and Oregon as well.
Highlights
This is sophomore film. SOPHOMORE. Lacey shows tremendous explosion and power off the snap. His short-area quickness is fantastic and when he has to chase, he pursues like a linebacker. He ties all that ability together with a great motor – I saw a few plays where he got stoned on the first or even the second move and just kept coming, Terminator style. His team uses him as a pulling guard on offense, which tells you something about his athleticism.
If I had to pick something to work on, he needs to learn how to use his hands better. But for a guy going into his junior year of high school, if that’s all I can complain about, he’s doing something right.
Impact
We mentioned the string of elite defensive tackles coming into the depth chart. Even so, Lacey already looks physically advanced and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him force his way into the rotation early. I think he’ll definitely be a starter and likely an excellent one down the road. This is truly a monster pickup for Notre Dame.
Welcome to the Irish family, Jacob!
These are the kind of players ND has to land consistently to be playoff contenders. Huge pickup. Now we just need to start landing elite pass-rushers.
This staff is just tearing it up right now. We need to win a lot of games this year. It would be criminal to waste all of this great effort on a bad season and lose some of these guys.
I watched a couple of minutes of film, man, he can move.
SOPHOMORE. I don’t know if I mentioned that above… Seriously though, that tape and his measurables? I’d be stoked if that was senior film. This kid is going to be a beast.
I’d also add, btw, that when the full 2019 rankings are done I wouldn’t be surprised if Lacey is officially a top 100 kid.
Does that league only have blue and white teams in it?
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Whether or not BK is here next year, I really hope we can keep Elko, Polian, and Denson.
These are 3 guys who have proven it on the field and on the trail (technically Elko still needs to prove it at ND, but I have been very impressed by his career to date). Also, Polian/Denson are obviously even more tied to ND than BK, and I imagine ND was the bigger draw for Elko than BK.
Before a season I always hope next year we have the same coach, because coaches don’t get fired after great seasons, but I am much more tied to these guys at this point than BK.
Wow, if this is what a 4 star looks like, I cant imagine how incredible a 5-star DL must look. This kid is incredible. There was one play it looked like he was going up against an OL standing 6-5 310 and he just blew him away. Really excited to have landed him. Hope we dont lose him down the road.