Welcome back to our latest scholarship update as we’re just 9 weeks away from National Signing Day.
With our last update there was a focus on the effects of hiring a new defensive coordinator. Despite the slow swirling rumors about the future of Brian Kelly it’s a new DC that remains the greatest known unknown. Unfortunately, in terms of recruiting there may not be much time nor is there much opportunity for a new coordinator to make waves before February. The Irish just aren’t in on many impact recruits and the 4-8 season definitely isn’t helping.
Please note, we have walk-ons who have been awarded one-year scholarships in the past highlighted in gray within our Google form but do NOT count them for year-to-year scholarships.
Out of Eligibility Following the 2016 Season:
OL Mark Harrell
DT Jarron Jones
S Avery Sebastian
LS Scott Daly
DE Isaac Rochell
LB James Onwualu
CB Cole Luke
Notre Dame is losing 2 captains and 3 full-time starters from this group in addition to the rather significant loss of Jarron Jones who will leave a void even though he sometimes didn’t feel like playing against certain opponents.
2017-18 Academic Classes
17 Verbal Commits
23 Sophomores
21 Juniors
17 Seniors
5 Grad Students
83 Total Scholarships
The current commit list took a decrease last week as Indianapolis linebacker Peter Werner left the Irish class after looking longingly into the eyes of Urban Meyer during a visit for The Game. On Saturday, rising redshirt junior Corey Holmes announced his intent to transfer after graduating this spring, as well. He’ll be able to play in 2017 with 2 more years left of eligibility. We are also projecting current redshirt sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer to declare early for the NFL so that drops the rising senior class down to 17 players.
List of Eligible 2017 Grad Students
Tier 1
OL Mike McGlinchey
TE Durham Smythe
Tier 2
OL Colin McGovern
OL Hunter Bivin
Tier 3
TE Jacob Matuska
The list of graduate players is shrinking quickly. Malik Zaire, John Montelus, and Devin Butler will all transfer out to play their finals years elsewhere. Although he hasn’t publicly declared anything it’s believed Torii Hunter will be going pro in something other than sports. We’re also projecting Tarean Folston either to the NFL or a transfer to another school.
Without any grad transfers into the program that leaves a max of 5 players returning. We already know McGlinchey and Smythe will be returning. McGovern (446 snaps) and Bivin (216 snaps) each started games at right guard but neither finished the season as the starter. Will there be room? Very likely not an issue. I’m still wondering if we’ll see McGovern retire after his laundry list of injuries that have prevented him from maintaining a high level of play.
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The Roster
^2018 commits are included below, for reference. All eligibility displayed is for the upcoming 2017 season.
QUARTERBACK
Roster (2): Wimbush r-SO, Book r-FR
Commits (1): Davis
Assuming Kizer takes off for the pro ranks this is isn’t great depth. Obviously, losing 2 quarterbacks with eligibility left wouldn’t be ideal. Remember when everyone was so excited to have both Kizer and Zaire and this depth was the envy of the country? What a Notre Dame thing to do to see one QB fall on his face and transfer while the other one doesn’t live up to the hype and leaves for the NFL anyway. Really worked out well!
We’ll be missing Kizer’s size, too. Wimbush is 6’1″ while both Book and Davis are 5’11” in height. I’m going to bet that Avery Davis takes snaps next fall. Just a gut feeling.
RUNNING BACK
Roster (4): Adams JR, Williams JR, Brent r-JR, Jones r-FR
Commits (2): Holmes [2017], Stepp [2018]
Folston had his moments but you wonder how much the Irish will really miss him should he leave. His 77 attempts were fewer than he had as a true freshman and his 4.34 YPC average was by far a career-low. There was enough good things to be said about Tony Jones during fall camp that he should move up to a competent third option and allow the team to redshirt Holmes if needed.
WIDE RECEIVER
Roster (7): St. Brown JR, Sanders JR, Boykin r-SO, Stepherson SO, McKinley SO, Claypool SO, McIntosh r-FR
Commits (2): Pouncey [2017], Young [2017]
Even though this is still a young group with lots of eligibility the losses of Hunter and Holmes leaves things a little bit too thin. With enough room I’d practically guarantee a third receiver will be added to the 2017 recruiting class.
TIGHT END
Roster (5): Smythe r-SR, Jones r-SO, Weishar r-JR, Luatua SR, Matuksa r-SR
Commits (2): Wright [2017], Kmet [2017]
We haven’t heard anything about the future of Matuska yet. He played 10 snaps in his 4th year in the program after moving back from the defensive line. You can’t really say there’s a need to come back and 7 tight ends on the roster is a bit much.
OFFENSIVE TACKLES
Roster (5): McGlinchey r-SR, Bars JR, Bivin r-SR, Kraemer r-FR, Eichenberg r-FR
Commits (1): Lugg [2017]
The return of McGlinchey offers plenty of stability for 2017 but there will be plenty of questions moving forward on the edges. Does Bars stay at right tackle? Where do the hyped rising redshirt freshmen play?
INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Roster (7): Nelson r-JR, Mustipher r-JR, McGovern r-SR, Hoge r-SO, Byrne r-JR, Ruhland r-SO, Boudreaux r-FR
Commits (2): Gibbons [2017], Hainsey [2017]
Plenty of depth on the interior offensive line, especially with the flexibility offered by some of the tackles.
STRONG-SIDE DEFENSIVE END
Roster (4): Bonner r-JR, J. Hayes r-JR, Kareem SO, Ogundeji r-FR
Commits (1): MacCollister [2017]
The loss of Isaac Rochell means someone is going to be gaining a ton more snaps next year. The off-season will be an important one to figure out what the future is going to be at this position.
WEAK-SIDE DEFENSIVE END
Roster (3): Trumbetti SR, D. Hayes SO, Okwara SO
Commits (0)
It didn’t seem humanly possible but this position disappointed against even modest expectations. No position needs an injection of new coaching and some sort of shake up that sparks growth more than the weak edge.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Roster (3): Tillery JR, Taylor r-SO, Dew-Treadway r-SO
Commits (3): Hinish [2017], Ewell [2017], Ja. Ademilola [2018]
We saw some good things from Taylor (3 solo stops, 1 TFL) in the USC game which hopefully he can build on in the off-season. Getting MDT back from injury will be good for depth. We can reasonably expect the incoming freshmen to throw their hat in the ring, especially the physically developed Ewell.
NOSE GUARD
Roster (3): Cage SR, Mokwuah r-JR, Tiassum r-SO
Commits (0)
The future of Cage is a monumental concern for 2017 and beyond (for all intents and purposes he missed the second half of the season) that the outlook isn’t great right now. It’s almost a given that we see other players moving from tackle to this position. Plus, we’ll have to wait and see how the new defensive system emphasizes 300+ pound nose guards.
STRONG-SIDE LINEBACKER
Roster (2): Martini, SR, Jam. Jones SO
Commits (1): Oghoufo [2018]
Everyone is expecting Martini to move back here with the graduation of Onwualu. In other news, Jamir Jones essentially blew a year of eligibility playing special teams and 5 defensive snaps. At least, he’s somewhat experienced?
MIDDLE LINEBACKER
Roster (3): Morgan SR, Barajas r-SO, Jon. Jones r-FR
Commits (2): Adams [2017], Ju. Ademilola [2018]
Morgan has this position on lock down but we’ll see how the competition plays out between Barajas and Jones for backup snaps especially if Martini is no longer the real backup here.
WEAK-SIDE LINEBACKER
Roster (2): Coney JR, Bilal r-SO
Commits (2): White [2017], Bauer [2018]
This position quietly did some nice things in 2016 as Coney (61 tackles) and Bilal (28 tackles) return as Top 12 tacklers from a year ago.
CORNERBACK
Roster (7): Watkins r-JR, Coleman JR, Crawford r-SO, White r-SO, Pride SO, Love SO, Vaughn SO
Commits (2): Adebo [2017], Hicks [2017]
We’ll see if Nick Coleman can re-gain some confidence (just 41 snaps over the last 8 games!) and how well both Watkins and Crawford rebound from injuries. The latter three rising sophomores combined for an enormous 1,067 snaps this past fall.
SAFETY
Roster (6): Tranquill r-JR, Fertitta JR, Studstill SO, Elliott SO, Perry r-FR, Morgan r-FR
Commits (1): Roberston [2017]
Outside of the two redshirts this fall every returning safety played at least 100 snaps. It’s nice to finally have some depth but the production still has to go way up at this position. The Irish can’t bank on a freshman like Robertson making big waves and could really use a huge step forward from the likes of Studstill and Elliott.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Roster (3): Newsome r-JR, Yoon JR, Shannon r-FR
Commits (0)
We’re no longer carrying two long-snappers on scholarship, so that’s nice.
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Remaining Focus for 2017
We mentioned this is the previous scholarship post that the roster remains surprisingly stable given the 4-8 season and some of the turmoil surrounding the program. Even with some of the transfers we aren’t seeing glaring holes open up although this could always change.
My mind turns immediately to possible grad transfers coming in to South Bend. The Irish could really use a starter-level body at nose guard similar to USC picking up Utah’s Stevie Tu’ikolovatu this past summer. A decent backup quarterback looking for a degree also wouldn’t be a bad idea because I’m not sure anyone is going to be comfortable with Book or Davis in 2017 should Wimbush go down with injury.
In recent years Notre Dame has been a few spots over the 85-scholarship limit at this point in the calendar. Right now, they’re at a projected 83 and that’s before more likely attrition in the form of medicals and/or transfers. In other words, there is plenty of room remaining in the 2017 recruiting class.
However, we may not be able to have our cake and eat it too. The calls of a collapsing recruiting class filled with fleeing commits look quite alarmist but it’s still going to be difficult to land 6 or 7 more bodies which there’s room to do.
At minimum, I can see 4 more additions: Defensive back (Thomas Graham), linebacker (Antjuan Simmons), defensive line (Josh Paschal), and receiver (Oliver Martin) with defensive line clearly the biggest need. With 4 more quality recruits that’s likely enough to secure a Top 20 class, which while still frustrating in a vacuum, is not a bad job closing things out after an 8-loss season.
I started following recruiting at the very end of 2011, so the tail end of the 2012 class. They are now all gone! Time flies.
Time flies when you’re having fun. 🤗
Time flies. Â See how fast they can run a 40. Â Put them at safety.
I like the way they swarm to the ball.
Which is why this season went so slowly.
2+ months? All I can think of is how much time there is to lose what we have. We really need a home-run DC to bring some kind of silver lining to the year.
I wish it was this easy, but ND needs to visit some high ranked defensive linemen with a copy of this depth chart in hand and say, “Look at all of the playing time that is available for a great player like you!”
I think we’ll get Graham, Simmons, and Paschal. Less bullish on Martin, but I think we have a good shot to get either him or Jamire Calvin. I also think we’ll flip the Colorado CB/WR commit we just offered, Chris Miller. I like our chances to get Greg Johnson if he ever makes it to campus, but I don’t know how likely that is.
I also don’t expect any more decommits after Werner. Don’t want to overshare from the pay sites, but there’s VERY good reason to think that Hicks will stick and, as usual, there’s no smoke that any professionals have been able to find behind people’s most recent fretting over Adebo. Everyone else is completely solid.
Jerron Cage is still on the radar as well – we would be in excellent position if he gets processed out of Ohio State’s class, which seems increasingly likely.
Kelly is using his in-home with Foster Sarell today. Probably a very long shot, but we’ll see what happens. I have a growing suspicion that he’s going to pick Washington. He announces at the Army All-America game in January.
We still have a good shot at Banks as well once Sarell doesn’t pick us. He’s down to us and Michigan. I think we’ll land Calvin for sure and take Martin too if he wants in.
Won’t need to wait for Sarell to figure out about Banks, actually. Banks is making his decision this Friday.
Also, there are rumors that Thomas Graham will have his decision made within the next few weeks.
I think we close out the class fairly strong from here on out and we end up with a class of about 22-23 (currently at 17).
Really? That sounds… good? Â I have to admit that I don’t follow recruiting that closely (mostly what I can gather off here and also the Irish Illustrated podcast), but it seemed like the general sense for the last ~2 months after the season went in the tank was “well, we have basically nobody we’re really in on (other than Graham)”. Â Have things just somehow turned ok quickly?
We built up a pretty good sized class, so we weren’t going to be heavily involved with a lot of recruits at this point regardless. Graham, Paschal, Martin, and Calvin have been on the radar the whole time for sure. The staff has quietly been working Cage throughout as well, or at least keeping in touch with him. Apparently they had been in contact with Miller for quite some time as well and were trying to keep it quiet. The staff obviously does tons of work that doesn’t make it into the reporting circuit.
Cliff Notes: Perception didn’t quite match reality, and despite how obsessively we track this stuff we still aren’t aware of everything that goes on.
Any news about Q. Nelson for sure? I’ve seen his name on mock drafts in/around the 3rd round, not sure if that’s enticing to him or what. And Nelson didn’t seem as out-spoken about definitely coming back like McGlinchey was, though that could have been a function of the team captain having more media availability that a “regular old guard” doesn’t get as much of.
I also wonder how much they’ll consider Hoge as starting center. Even outside of the dreaded rain game it didn’t seem like Mustipher was that smooth…But that could just be the trouble with my evaluation of a center who has the unenviable task of following in a Martin’s shadow.
RG will be interesting too if they invite back a 5th year with the intentions to start. I believe I remember that Kraemer briefly got some consideration/practice at RG last offseason adding him to the line might be a big talent upgrade if he’s a fit inside to join McGlinchey, Nelson, Mustipher/Hoge and Bars.
I would think that line in 2017 might be what we all thought/hoped pretty much those same guys would do as pretty much the same unit’s expectations in 2016.
I don’t know why Nelson would leave, honestly – I don’t think he’s anywhere near NFL ready. Even 3rd round is probably generous right now. He has the measurables but he has a lot of polishing left to do, and I don’t think the NFL would be all that interested yet. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Mustipher take a big jump next year either, given this was his first extended action.
The good thing about so many young guys being out there in 2016 is that we now will return a ton of line experience in 2017. Hopefully they all take the strides we would expect.
Thanks for the insight. FWIW, SB Nation had Nelson as the #5 guard of the season in their All American voting (and the only ND player even making the whole list, at any position). I’ve seen him mocked reasonably high as well. As a 4-year college vet with a degree I was just curious, but like you said he has a lot of actual game action still to do.
Folston had 77 rushing attempts for 334 yards. On his first rush of the season he went for 54. That means the rest of the season he was 76 for 280.
Dexter Williams had 39 carries for 200 yards. He had 59 on one play, so 38 for 141 on all others.
Best offensive line in the country- what a joke that was.
I don’t think playcalling did them any favors, either. I keep beating this drum, but it seems to me almost the entirety of the running game this year was read option. That just doesn’t lend itself to getting running backs going downhill, or getting much push out of an OL.
I’m not advocating straight power I cold war era football, but there are other ways to add some variety and aggression to the running game out of offensive packages like ND’s.
Aaron Banks!!!