Notre Dame’s 2020 recruiting class started with a resounding bang when elite signal caller Drew Pyne pledged to the Irish today. Many probably missed this at the time, but Drew’s tweet when Notre Dame offered last June left little doubt:
Extremely happy and very excited to receive an offer from Notre Dame‼☘🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/VL0vf9dq4u
— Drew Pyne (@dpyne10) June 24, 2017
Yes, that’s Mini Drew, in his Adidas Brady Quinn jersey. And now I feel really old… The 6’1″, 172-pound Connecticut product is fresh off a visit to campus with his cousin Kevin, a potential five-star 2020 OT. It was Drew’s third visit since last June; he attended Irish Invasion and was also on hand for the Georgia Level 5 Gut Punch thriller.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247 Sports — 4 star (90 rating), #220 overall, #7 PRO, #3 in CT
Rivals — 4 star (6.0 rating)
Rivals has evaluated but not ranked 2020 kids and ESPN has done neither, which is why you see no Rivals rankings or ESPN data here. In turn, the 2020 247 Composite rankings don’t exist yet. That 6.0 Rivals rating translates to somewhere inside the top 30-50, though, and his offer list speaks for itself. I’d expect his 247 rank to rise as the cycle wears on.
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, Pyne holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, among others. AS A SOPHOMORE.
Highlights
I’ve seen some comparisons to Everett Golson as a passer, and I can get on board with that. Pyne has an effortless throwing motion and a quick release that enable him to throw darts at any distance, and arm strength to spare. Fantastic anticipation, occasionally throwing to a spot where the receiver would be open before the guy even had his head around. He shows excellent and consistent footwork, maintaining a solid base as the pocket moves around him. And when things break down, he does maintains his mechanics on the move really well. He’s also good enough as a runner to keep you honest – I don’t think anyone’s going to confuse with him Michael Vick anytime soon, but if you give him an opening he can hurt you.
Impact
Tough to project out for a sophomore, but man, it certainly looks like Drew Pyne has all the tools to be a successful starting quarterback at Notre Dame. When his times comes will depend on Phil Jurkovec’s development and who the Irish eventually land in the 2019 class, but if he maximizes his tools, he has star potential. This kid is the real deal.
Welcome to the Irish family, Drew!
2020. So the kid is still in diapers?
You will be too by the time he starts at ND.
Great article. These early commitments leave me torn. I’m excited, but apprehensive because of the timeframe involved.
Drew has literally dreamed of being Brady Quinn since he was a little kid. I know, ‘crootin, but I think this one is pretty solid.
Same. Minus the little kid part.
He wears #10. I’m always apprehensive about early commits, but this one seems like a done deal barring something crazy happening with the program.
To wit:
From New Canaan, has Marko checked if he does lax?
Is that the H.S. he plays for ?
Yup, New Canaan HS.
Pyne is a better passer but Jurkovec is a better runner
Just the recruit we’ve been pyning for.
Sad, bitter people who downvote perfectly good recruit name puns are such a Pyne in the arse.
Also, he’s only the 3rd best QB in the football powerhouse state of Connecticut?!?
@FIRE KELLY!@
I simply have standards for humor.
Stop being such a Pynis!
But they clearly aren’t super high. I make exceptions for puns about genitalia. Sad I can only + this once.
Assuming Davis does not transfer and Jurkovec redshirts, I guess we don’t take a QB in 2019 unless on of the offers already out comes in. Given that it will be a small class, who will want to come in between 2 4* recruits when the odds indicate they won’t play.
Ian Book came despite all of the impressive QBs already on the roster. I think you could still bring in a quality 3 star who has a realistic understanding of his lack of an NFL future. (Not to mention the fact that Kelly has a history at ND of his 2nd and 3rd options at QB getting meaningful snaps)
We just offered 2019 QB Graham Mertz (4*, #252 overall), a Wisconsin commit who visited for Irish Invasion last year. If you’re curious about the timeline, he and McNamara were both at Invasion, ND offered McNamara, McNamara committed, Wisconsin offered Mertz, Mertz committed, McNamara flipped, ND offered Mertz.
Scuttlebutt for some time post-McNamara-flip had it that we would offer if Mertz said he would visit. There’s no visit news to report yet, but it seems reasonable that he has made that promise. We’ll see what happens.