Welcome back to the 18 Stripes Big Board for Fighting Irish football. Today we will be going over Notre Dame’s targets on the offensive side of the football.
Quarterback
Irish quarterback commit Avery Davis (.908) is currently in Florida practicing for the Under Armour All America game, which takes place this Sunday. So far there have only been two days of practice, but the reports on Davis are pretty much what we expected. He’s a gifted athlete with a live arm. He has potential to be a pretty good passer down the road, but he’s still pretty raw right now. These camp practice settings aren’t really where he shines, though. I’m more interested in seeing him in live action.
Running Back
| Score | Name | State | Ht./Wt. | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .965 | Anthony McFarland Jr. | MD | 5-8/200 | Cold |
| .898 | CJ Cotman | FL | 5-11/180 | Cold |
The Irish have had one running back committed since the summer, and that is CJ Holmes (.899). CJ is one of five Irish commits to have signed grant-in-aid paperwork with Notre Dame, and he is all set to enroll in early January.
Wide Receiver
| Score | Name | State | Ht./Wt. | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .990 | Joseph Lewis | CA | 6-2/205 | Cold |
| .969 | Devonta Smith | LA | 6-1/165 | Cold |
| .910 | Oliver Martin | IA | 6-1/190 | Mild |
| .904 | Jamire Calvin | CA | 5-9/175 | Mild |
| .875 | Kevaughn Dingle | FL | 6-1/195 | Cold |
| .862 | Gavin Holmes | TX | 5-11/180 | Mild |
| .854 | Jordan Pouncey | FL | 6-2/185 | Cold |
| NR | Michael Smith | FL | 6-2/200 | Mild |
In the Fold
You may have already seen that Jordan Pouncey decommitted from Notre Dame this week after the news broke that Mike Denbrock is likely to take the Cincinnati OC job. Jordan cited the Denbrock news as a major deciding factor, but the truth is he was probably gone as soon as Miami offered him a couple of weeks ago.
Pouncey’s decommitment leaves the Irish with only one receiver commitment in this cycle (yikes). And that guy is slot receiver Michael Young (.871). I’m not worried about the solidity of Young’s commitment right now. He’s shown no signs of wavering or even being slightly interested in other schools up to this point.
This does put Notre Dame in a bind, though. The loss of Pouncey means that Notre Dame will be looking to add two more receivers to this class, so expect the Irish to expand their board a little.
In Play
At this point it’ll probably be Notre Dame or Iowa for Oliver Martin, who still does not have a decision date set. It’s really unclear where he will end up at this point, and I’m not sure how Denbrock leaving (if/when that becomes official) would affect him. Denbrock has been putting a lot of work into him lately, and I have a hard time believing it wouldn’t impact his decision in some way.
Jamire Calvin has gone on record saying that Denbrock leaving wouldn’t impact his decision too much, but that may not matter anyway. At this point, we’re not sure if he will pass admissions. Not a good development there.
Gavin Holmes received his Notre Dame offer a couple of weeks ago, and he quickly put Notre Dame into his top group along with Nebraska, Baylor, Oregon, Arizona State, UCLA, and Utah. It is expected that he will visit Notre Dame sometime in January, but that isn’t officially set up yet.
The newest receiver offer went out to Michael Smith about a week ago. He’s a guy who has gone way under the radar (still not rated by any of the pay sites), but he burst onto the scene this fall in his first season starting for Vero Beach High School. He had a pretty monster year, catching 67 balls for over 1,500 yards and 24 touchdowns (an area record). Autry Denson has been working on his recruitment and has established a pretty solid early relationship. Michael has an official visit set up to Notre Dame for January 20th. Notre Dame is the first major school to extend an offer his way, and with Denson in charge of his recruitment, I like our chances here.
This isn’t a guy who is on our big board yet, but a few weeks ago news came out that Notre Dame was evaluating another receiver out of Georgia, Braylon Sanders (.875). Scott Booker had an in-home visit with him earlier this month, and though Booker is no longer on staff I wouldn’t be surprised if Notre Dame took this recruitment one step further and sent an offer Braylon’s way.
Tight Ends
Everything is still awesome.
Notre Dame still has two elite tight end commits this cycle in Brock Wright (.963) and Cole Kmet (.953), and that is not expected to change.
Brock is currently in Florida with with future QB Avery Davis practicing for the Under Armour All America game. Reports are that he has been very impressive both as a receiver and as a blocker. I’m of the opinion that he is the most complete tight end prospect in country in the Class of 2017. Oh, and he’s also got his grant-in-aid papers all signed and he’s ready to make his way to South Bend soon.
Cole will be playing in the US Army All America game on January 7th. Practices for that game have yet to start. I’m excited to see Cole in action, though. He’s a huge mismatch in the passing game and may be the best receiving tight end in this class.
Offensive Line
| Score | Name | State | Ht./Wt. | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .999 | Foster Sarell | WA | 6-6/320 | Mild |
| .983 | Austin Jackson | AZ | 6-6/270 | Cold |
In the Fold
The Irish have four offensive linemen committed in this class after the big addition of tackle Aaron Banks (.927) earlier this month. Aaron has already signed his grant-in-aid paperwork and he will enroll early. Other commits include guard Robert Hainsey (.961), tackle Josh Lugg (.920), and guard Dillan Gibbons (.885).
Hainsey is also in Florida right now practicing for the UAAA game. He’s been pretty solid throughout practice, and he’s clearly a competitor. He’s been taking reps all over the offensive line at both guard and tackle, even splitting reps on the edge with 5-star DE Josh Kaindoh.
Josh Lugg is another guy that will be playing in the Army All America game next weekend. He’s a pretty raw prospect right now, but he has all the tools and his upside is as high as anyone in the country.
In Play
Still nothing new regarding Notre Dame and Foster Sarell. The Irish are in his Top 3, but probably in the third spot behind Stanford and Washington. Although ND would love to add him to this class, the current crop of linemen will probably be it for the Irish.
I absolutely love Brock Wright. I think this kid can be special at Notre Dame. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he contributed as a true freshman. With Jones hopefully getting on the field in 2017 and Wright coming in. The TE position is sitting pretty moving forward.
I just wish all this BK wanting to leave garbage gets put to bed asap. I am sick of hearing it.
100% agree about Brock Wright
So obviously I wrote this up yesterday before the confirmation came out that Denbrock will be leaving ND. Keep that in mind when reading.
Day 2 UA practice reports have Hainsey dominating. Stoned 360-pound LSU DT commit Tyler Shelvin on consecutive reps. He’s also grabbing every possible rep he can at any OL position and, reportedly, soaking up as much as he can from the coaches there. Really like this kid.
Also, Adebo is killing it as a receiver at the UA practices, but I don’t think anyone should expect to see him on offense at ND. Maybe he’ll get some reps here and there, or factor into the return game, but he’s a corner all the way for us. Good to see that he has excellent ball skills, though.
FYI Michael Young reaffirmed his commitment last night. As I said, looks like ND will hang onto him.
Not great that we’ve moved into “NR”-ville. I suppose something of an inevitability given this past season, but, dang. Hope they’ve found a diamond in the rough, but that seems pretty unlikely.
He didn’t attend any camps and the only film of him is his senior footage, which takes a while to be evaluated. I think his production against pretty good Florida competition this year speaks for itself. But anyway, pretty sure he’s being evaluated by some the pay sites right now so we’ll find out what they think soon.
Well, that (and Brendan’s comment below) makes me hopeful. Hopefully we’ll get Martin and this will be less of a need.
I admit I am also somewhat concerned about how WR recruiting took a turn this year.
Over the summer, it looked like we were a sure bet to land at least one of Osiris St Brown, Tarik Black, or Hezekiah Jones. Then before the season even started that idea went down the drain.
We’ve still got two blue-chip targets left on the board in Martin and Calvin, but Martin is a toss-up and Calvin is looking like he’s trending in the wrong direction.
Then you add that Torii Hunter and Corey Holmes are leaving, as well as Pouncey’s decommitment, and now we are definitely in a bit of a bind recruiting WRs this cycle — something I never thought I’d say.
I’m pretty sure it’ll work itself out, though. I think this WR haul will end up just fine.
That’s not related to our season – the staff has been evaluating Michael Smith for a while and pulled the trigger earlier this month after seeing his senior film. Denson has been by his school a few times and has a solid relationship with him. Smith has also started to get attention from Miami, LSU, and Tennessee, among others.
Classic late bloomer. He sat last year behind a veteran group and, as Tyler notes, was a first-time starter, so nobody had any film of him before. Vero Beach plays against some solid competition. In the loss that knocked them out of the Florida playoffs, he had 13 catches for 189 yards and two scores against the eventual state runner-up. 6’2″/200 and scores better than once every 3 touches? I’m impressed.
Also just read that he only started playing football a couple of years ago – was always a basketball guy before. So he’s still very raw and getting by on athleticism, which is a good sign for development potential.
Does that mean he’s a Donovan Peoples-Jones? No. But he’s not some guy we scraped off the bottom of the barrel either, and his offer isn’t a consequence of the bad season.
I should that, in fairness, if we had Martin, Calvin, Pouncey, and Young in the fold, we most likely wouldn’t be looking to add Smith. So I guess in some sense it could be related to the season, although even then the season isn’t the reason (or the only reason, anyway) that Martin, Calvin, and Pouncey aren’t committed right now.
Bottom line, turns out that human beings are complex and many factors are behind any given action or inaction on their part. Go figure.
Great updates as usual! Hopefully ND can finish with some size at WR and not just get all short receivers. One potential negative to having only one WR committed in this class is that it probably decreases the odds that Chase would be switched over to defense.
Can we expect a defense big board update after the new year with a few surprise 4*/5* d-line commits?
With it being the dead period, I’m not expecting any more commits until late January.
But then again if I was expecting it, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
Not a commit, but there’s a little bit of a surprise in that 4* DE Ryan Johnson just put out a top six with ND and is talking about a potential visit in January. We were on him a while ago and then he kind of dropped off the radar, but presumably the staff has kept in touch.
Feldman reporting that ND is hiring Memphis OC Chip Long as OC. To borrow a phrase, this hire looks a bit small-timey. He has been OC for a year after being the TE coach and recruiting coordinator at Arizona State. Memphis’s Offensive S&P+ was 37 this year (after losing a 1st round pick quarterback, to be fair). Preliminary googling indicates he is considered a pretty good recruiter. He’s 33. He got a 3-year contract, according to Feldman.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
EDIT: Presumably our real OC and playcaller next year will be BK, so maybe not the end of the world that we didn’t get a name guy like Helfrich. But I don’t really see the point of giving the guy the Aranda-like 3-year-deal treatment, but perhaps that’s what the market is these days (thanks to, you know, not having to share the spoils with the players and whatnot).
I don’t think it’s a small time hire at all. He is not being brought in to take over play calling duties. This move is all about recruiting and I LOVE IT. Long is young and he is relentless on the recruiting trail. With Denbrock out the door we are going to need someone on offense who is a excellent recruiter. I love what BK has done this winter hiring two outstanding recruiters in Polian and Long.
You have much better coaches when you get more talented players. To be the best you need these good recruiters because while ND might recruit the mid-4 star kid on its own, you still need top recruiters to pull in that 1-2 elite player every year (which makes all the difference). Your point King Kenny about the recruiting prowess of these coaches excites me.
So, Long as OC kind sounds like a continuation of recent years offense to me. Kelly will be the play caller on game day. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m sure Kelly didn’t forget how to call plays overnight. But this move doesn’t scream change either. I love the updates Tyler, keep em coming.
Good points, Russell, but here would be my spin: BK has gone all in for change in the three areas where he desperately needed to (defense, ST, S&C). I think trying to manage major change on offense would be too much, especially given that his overall offense numbers have not been that bad. He needs to run more and more assiduously, and change up some pass calls, etc. but I think he trusts himself to do that. Hence a lesser known “OC” who is technically good and a good recruiter but willing enough to live with BK calling the plays (which Mike Denbrock was not) can be a good solution.
Yep, you have to applaud all 3 hires BK has made so far. Everyone knew their was a major issue in S and C but no one thought he would remove Longo but he did that as well.
But I don’t think Kelly will ever have a true run first offense. He will live and die with the passing game. That’s just who he is. He just can’t help himself.
Agree; but note I did not say BK would ever switch to a run-first offense. You are so correct, his whole heart and soul is pass first, so we should get used to that… Ho ho.
What I did say is that he should “run more and more assiduously”, and that we know he can do from 2012. Might happen with him trying to protect a first year starter.
I like your point of view better than mine More Noise. Those are good points.
Merci, Monsieur!
First of all, thanks Eric, Brendan, and Tyler for all of the info.
Secondly – I go into a hole for four weeks, and look what happens! I’m not even upset. I’m just impressed. A few thoughts in no particular order:
1) Given how hellacious this year has been, recruiting seems pretty good.
2) As More Noise (and others) note: this is wholesale change. This much change makes me nervous, but I actually find it encouraging in contrast to the “We’re fine, we just need to execute better” garbage we got during the season. A lot of people try to get by without risks. This is crazy risky, but it strikes me as the actions of a man who is not content to just collect a large paycheck.
3) With a simple scheme, I believe we will see a top-40 defense next year (based on post BVG defense this year). That’s great. I mean, I’m assuming that’s what Elko will do.
4) Why all the change on offense? I mean, Booker firing was a no-brainer – TEs have been underperforming and special teams was a nightmare. Sanford was bound to get hired eventually. But I’m confused by the Denbrock situation. I was a little frustrated by the offense (particularly pulling Kizer for Zaire and abandoning the run for no good reason), but I didn’t feel like that unit was underperforming.
5) Can someone explain the Longo move to me? I have been a harsh critic of Longo the past couple years as we’ve had higher than normal injuries, but this year we seemed a little below normal (i.e. healthier than usual). We’ve produced a ton of NFL draft picks, so it seems to me like Longo was doing fine. Does anyone have thoughts on this?
We have to remember it is really only the BVG and Booker that were fired. It happens though that other coaches move on for other reasons all the time. It just all comes together this year to be a pretty big change.
Denbrock I think is on account of him not calling the plays anymore. Then it was his choice to leave to call plays elsewhere.
Longo I don’t understand really but it’s hard to know without being there and seeing his philosophy play out, etc. The other post of tidbits I think mentioned that players were unhappy with Longo though.
Nice write up, Tyler.
It’s been noted that Avery Davis has looks really, really good running the zone-read at the UA practices the last couple days.
Work hard to bring in Martin and Smith at WR and we have a nice, well-rounded class offensively.
Got my fingers crossed we can find a way to land Antjuan Simmons. Land him plus the guys you mentioned and I will fill a little better about this class.
Agreed. Definitely need to get Simmons in the class still. Everything from the experts indicates that we are still in the driver’s seat.