Buckle up because we have a lot of players to get through today. While the Irish saw instant impact freshman All-American play from safety Kyle Hamilton and a steady, solid presence from defensive tackle Jacob Lacey, the rest of the large defensive class took a redshirt.
Let’s not waste time with any further introductions.
247 Composite grades are followed by our 18 Stripes grades from the 2019 recruiting review.
Defensive End
Isaiah Foskey
247C: 0.916
18S: 90
Foskey’s freshman season will be remembered for his timely punt block against Stanford. With less than 5 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter and trailing 17-7, Foskey got his hand on the Cardinal punt, nearly picked the loose ball up, and had a helping hand from Ade Ogundeji who nearly scooped and scored. Three plays later, the Irish cut the deficit to 17-14 and eventually took a lead into halftime.
Foskey will have an interesting 2020 because some big things are expected of him despite only 5 tackles (1 solo) as a freshman and quite a bit of unknown about his capabilities. Still, he looks like the type of player that is going to blossom quickly and that was one of the questions about him coming out of high school as he spent so much time playing tight end.
If Foskey can develop quickly as a defender he’s certainly starting material early in his career.
NaNa Osafo-Mensah
247C: 0.901
18S: 91
When the Irish started recruiting NaNa he was sitting with a 0.947 Composite score as the #118 player in the country. When the cycle was completed, NaNa fell to a 0.901 score as the #298 player nationally, one of the larger falls in recent memory.
You could excuse his lack of impact as a freshman due to the deep 2019 defensive end depth chart, too. Still, Nana was an early enrollee and will be participating in his second spring coming up soon. Despite his drop down the rankings we here at 18 Stripes really liked NaNa as a prospect and if he’s going to live up to the billing a big move should happen either this spring or in August.
Defensive Tackle
Hunter Spears
247C: 0.896
18S: 80
The freshman season for Spears was largely written off after he suffered a knee injury in early November of his final high school season. That was his second major knee injury in high school which isn’t great. However, Spears was able to persevere and actually become available as a freshman playing minimally across 3 games.
As he becomes a redshirt freshman the concerns about size and where he fits on the interior need to be figured out. Spears was actually pretty lean late into his high school career (he was listed as an end but was destined for tackle in college) and officially at 303 pounds for 2019, just a pound off the heaviest freshman in the class. I tend to think he’s a nose guard for Notre Dame.
Howard Cross
247C: 0.895
18S: 81
It seemed like the evaluations for Cross were all over the place a year ago. You couldn’t read anything about him without mentioning his size, or lack thereof. It was definitely a big concern for me and then he was listed at under 6’1″ and just 269 pounds for 2019.
I’m sure he’ll be up to 280-285 in due time and while he’ll never be 6’3″ his limited action last year (7 tackles) was pretty impressive all the same. Cross’ speed and tenacity as a 3-tech could actually make him a really valuable asset along the defensive line. If you look at the roster there really isn’t anyone who is smaller but quicker, so Cross could fill that role.
Linebacker
Osita Ekwonu
247C: 0.916
18S: 89
If you’re judging things based off our grading system Ekwonu would be in line for a big redshirt freshman season. To date, that’s really hard to project.
The biggest thing is that there remains so many bodies at the inside linebacker positions and Ekwonu’s size at a young age (230 lbs) means he could be relegated to remaining at Mike only. If he’s ‘stuck’ at this position he could open spring as the 4th or 5th option as Drew White still has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
There’s a big opportunity if the staff like Ekwonu at Buck where a full-time job is theoretically available.
JD Bertrand
247C: 0.891
18S: 80
Bertrand is in the same boat as Ekwonu being a shorter but heavier linebacker who might not be a fit anywhere but the Mike position. The key difference between him and Ekwonu being–if the summer and August workouts meant anything for guys so far down the depth chart–that Bertrand was briefly in the mix for 3rd-team reps and appeared to be ahead of his classmate that early in their careers.
Until further notice, a trusted backup is needed behind Drew White. Bertrand may need to pass a couple older players in his first spring, a tall task indeed, but I get the sense someone is going to surprise early in their career and shake things up. Bertrand could be one of those candidates.
Jack Kiser
247C: 0.888
18S: 82
Kiser was a controversial signing for the Irish coming from the smallest of Indiana towns and (at the time) being lowly-rated by the recruiting services. That controversy has dissipated quickly since he finished up a sensational high school career, got a nice bump by the services, and impressed early in his time on campus.
He was slowed by shoulder surgery that kept the early enrollee out of last year’s spring practice. Even still, he was trusted enough to start from day one on special teams and even stayed there for the first four contests before ultimately being rested for a redshirt.
It’s early, but this has all the markings of a great signing by Clark Lea and someone who will be a starter at some point. There may be some reps available in 2020 at Rover and down the line Kiser could develop more physically to play inside, too.
Marist Liufau
247C: 0.884
18S: 82
When he was recruited it seemed as though Liufau was the perfect Rover in Notre Dame’s system. As it often happens, the guys who you think are perfect for one position move elsewhere! What we know prior to spring practices is that Liufau was moved to Buck linebacker at some point during August practices last year. Is that a permanent move?
As a freshman, Liufau weighed 20 pounds less than projected 2020 Buck starter Jack Lamb. He was light for a Rover! Either he was moved to allow more practice reps for someone like Jack Kiser and/or the staff think Liufau is going to rapidly add more weight soon.
Liufau is almost an inch taller and slightly lighter than Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah but unlike his teammate the Hawaiian has a frame to add tons of weight. I’m excited to see him develop physically with his speed from high school.
Corner
Isaiah Rutherford
247C: 0.917
18S: 82
We’ve heard virtually no updates about Rutherford since he arrived on campus. Our grades for him were also quite a bit lower than the services. Is this a cause for concern?
One thing is for certain the Irish need to know if Rutherford can contribute right away this spring. There simply isn’t enough depth for him to use another year developing without seeing the field. He’s up there as one of my two or three most important to watch for spring practice.
KJ Wallace
247C: 0.901
18S: 86
Here’s a corner our staff thought would impress the most from this class and the brief nuggets of information that came out from 2019 sounded affirming. So much so that with the weak depth at corner last year there was a moment where maybe Wallace was going to burn a redshirt.
However, the staff probably rightly decided to hold off and stick with some veterans instead. If Vegas was giving out odds on the third-best corner for 2020, Wallace would head into the off-season with the overwhelmingly favorable odds. The talk last season was that he had a really enticing combination of speed and physicality, much needed at corner going into the fall.
Cam Hart
247C: 0.871
18S: 82
I remarked when Hart signed that he was a sight for sore eyes as a taller, skinnier receiver whose body-type wasn’t all that present on the roster. After less than a year, he’s already moved to corner.
He’s the same size as the departed Donte Vaughn and it’s just so hard for corners this size to excel on this level. Needless to say I’m highly skeptical.
Safety
Litchfield Ajavon
247C: 0.912
18S: 81
Ajavon had about as quiet of an August as you can have upon arriving on campus during the summer and spent the season largely forgotten about until bowl practices when he was singled out by Brian Kelly after a workout.
Going off our grades, not much is expected of Ajavon over his career, likely a backup at best. There will always be surprises and maybe the guy who looks like he’s 37 years old will be one of them! We should find out soon where he stands as there simply isn’t enough depth not to be getting a lot of reps this spring. We’ll be paying close attention to Ajavon’s athleticism as he’s believed to be a typical strong safety who can come into the box and tackle really well.
NaNa is fascinating. At the time he committed, he seemed like the most important ND commit in years – not the best, but given how bad DE recruiting had been for a few years, the most important. And, now, weirdly, next to nothing is expected of him. Kind of has a bit of a Darnell Ewell-y career arc vibe? Hopefully not, of course – post 2020 DE depth looks kinda ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at the moment
The big difference is that NaNa there hasn’t been much buzz at all, where with Ewell there were some really glaring red flags early on. Post 2020 between him, Foskey, Oghuofo (who get snaps even in last year’s deep DL rotation), Justin Ademilola, Botelho there will be a lot of options for pass rushers including at least 3 that already have seen some meaningful game time even before 2020.
True – the buzz has not been affirmatively negative, so agreed that the Ewell comparison is not apt in that regard. I was thinking of it more being like he was viewed as a must-hit recruit at the time of commitment who is not at all must-hit. It’s a good thing the program has so much more depth now that we can have some of those guys not work out.
I think something is expected of him pretty soon!
I’m not really sure of that! He’s probably 3rd string at best right now, and that’s maybe being optimistic? And, it seems like Foskey and Oghuofo are locks to be ahead of him, plus probably Ademilola given that he has gotten meaningful snaps the last two years, and if Botelho is as good as advertised… well, that’s third string in 2021.
But, maybe/hopefully he will have taken a leap in spring practice and it ends up that he looks like a productive player. After the Phil J. ranking drop-off proved to be justified when his HS tape looked great, though, I’m a bit skeptical about someone with a similar (and in fact steeper) fall-off.
I think he could be a really meaningful player even as a 3rd string redshirt freshman.
Also, it’ll probably help if he’s a strong-side end in which case the depth is Ogundeji, Justin Ademilola, and then NaNa. He’d be ahead of Wardlow, I’d think. It wouldn’t shock me if he develops into a backup by October.
Now, if you’re using a ceiling of a super high impact young player, yeah he’s probably not getting there any time soon.
Hats off to the coaches for the development, recruiting and roster management to redshirt this many guys. In years past like one- third would have been hailed as saviors since they were four star recruits and now they all redshirt. Pretty impressive how far they’ve come since the 2016 season
SOme credit to the coaches, but it is mainly a result of the change in rules to allow participation in 4 games no matter when in the season. For instance, under the old rules Foskey could not have played against Stanford.
I guess I didn’t mean for preserving the redshirt per se but just more the fact guys aren’t being recruited and being expected to be saviors and key rotational guys as much as they used to be. I mean 5 years ago a 4 star d lineman was absolutely gonna have to play their freshman year whether they were ready or not
That’s a really good point. Even a couple of years ago, MTA and (I think?) Hinish were forced into action as freshmen. It makes such a big difference developmentally if those kids can take a full year out of the gate to focus on getting bigger & stronger. Even moreso for those like Cross and Foskey who can do that while also getting their feet wet with a few Saturdays of game action.
Yep, Hinish had to play as a true freshman in 2017, he’s a senior in 2020 with this the last year of his eligibility (barring pulling a Hayes and having an injury redshirt). Ideally you’d think the new rules should help a lot of DL’s out, gets them to play a bit early but also retain eligibility longer.
Either way, the rule change should help the ND depth at DL a lot. After all, it’s to thank for having Hayes in 2020, so that’s obviously a big positive.
That is my favorite part of the rule. You can participate a little, but still save a year. You can manage for injuries and development. This way a kid doesn’t come in and basically sit all year. There is always a chance they will play later in the season rather than after game 3 being done.
18S rated most of the redshirts much lower than 247. Don’t you think they will be very productive?
About the same as 247:
Foskey
Ekwonu
Liufau
Wallace
Hart (graded as WR)
Higher:
NaNa
Lower:
Spears
Cross
Bertrand
Kiser
Rutherford
Ajavon
We’ll probably see 2 or 3 of those last 5 turn into solid guys at minimum. That’ll be good development if it happens.
Yeah, but the guys you rated lower were much much lower (Usually 5-10 points lower). The ones you rated higher were incrementally higher.
We’re not using the same grading system, which probably is part of that difference. Also, I definitely drive the average down for our scores. I think a lot of people see guys with 0.890 Composite scores and think that’s definitely a backup at minimum, and I certainly don’t always look at it that way.
Golf clap btw for the literal red shirt photoshops. Can’t wait to see all these guys in the spring, especially Wallace and Rutherford.