Signing Day 2019 is almost a full year away, which means it’s time for another way-too-early guess at who the Fighting Irish will end up landing for this cycle. As you probably remember, I did one of these posts last year.

I was not as accurate as I had hoped.

Will my guess be more accurate this year? Only time will tell. But let’s get right to it.

(Players in bold are already Irish commits, players in italics have have yet to be offered by ND)

Quarterback

Cade McNamara — NV — 6-1/187 — .9104

  • Cade went from an unrated, under-recruited prospect at the time of his commitment to being one of the top quarterbacks in this class and holding additional offers from the likes of USC and Michigan. The Irish appear to have this one locked down at the moment.

*Other name to keep an eye on — none

Running Back

Cesare Mellusi — FL — 6-1/205 — .9055

  • Good sized kid, has really good burst. He hasn’t been quiet about the fact that ND leads right now. He may end up in the fold sooner rather than later.

Kyren Williams — MO — 5-10/190 — .8588

  • Listed as a WR by the recruiting services at this point, but ND is offering him as a RB. Explosive athlete. Really loved his Junior Day visit. Notre Dame is in extremely good shape here.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Sampson James, Steele Chambers

Wide Receiver

Kendall Abdur-Rahman — IL — 6-1/180 — .8800

  • Good athlete who could play a number of positions. His recruitment is really just starting, so this is a bit of a projection.

Bryce Kirtz — IN — 6-0/180 — .8778

  • Another projection, honestly. In-state kid who, on the surface, seems like he could be an academic fit.

Cornelius Johnson — CT — 6-3/195 — .8567

  • Big-bodied receiver who seems poised to heat up on the recruiting trail. He will be on campus for the upcoming Junior Day on March 3rd. He could receive an offer during that visit.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Kyle Ford, David Bell, Jake Smith, John Metchie, ??

Tight End

Hudson Henry — AR — 6-5/225 — .9764

  • Top-of-the-board target at tight end. Another guy who visited for the January Junior Day. The Irish put themselves in great position to land him that weekend. Still a lot of work to be done, though.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Luke Deal, Jude Wolfe

Offensive Line

Quinn Carroll — MN — 6-6/290 — .9699

  • He’s been on campus a few times now, most recently this past weekend. Again, probably a lot of work that still needs to be done, but the Irish are in great shape here.

John Olmstead — NJ — 6-6/290 — .9317

  • The Irish would be in even better shape here if Hiestand was still coaching the OL. As it is, they’re still in great shape and most expect him to end up in South Bend.

Bryan Hudson — KY — 6-4/292 — .9198

  • Really wanted an ND offer for a long time. Apparently Quinn likes him more than Hiestand is, because it didn’t take him long to offer. The Irish aren’t in as good of shape with him right now as they are with Carroll and Olmstead, but that could change with one visit.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Harry Miller, Andrew Kristofic, Zeke Correll, Saleem Wormley

Defensive End

Joseph Anderson — TN — 6-4/260 — .9327

  • Big target for ND at the strong-side end position. The Irish are in fantastic shape here. Right now it seems like just a matter of time before he commits. With the depth at the position right now, the Irish could use a blue-chip guy on the depth chart.

Adam Berghorst — MI — 6-7/245 — .8600

  • This kid has a huge frame. Just recently visited Notre Dame this week and received his offer. Michigan State and Michigan will be some stiff competition, and I’m not actually confident that ND will land him, but they’ll have a good shot.

RJ Oben — NJ — 6-4/235 — .8556

  • Former teammate of recent signees Shayne Simon and Justin and Jayson Ademilola. Digging into the St Peter’s Prep pipeline one more time. High-academic kid with Ivy League offers.

*Other names to keep an eye on — NaNa Osafo-Mensah (I really, really wanted to add him to this guess. He’s got ND as his leader following his Junior Day visit and set up a commitment date of May 19 shortly after. I refuse to jinx it, though. And part of me also feels like it might be too good to be true), Bill Norton, MJ Anderson, ??

Defensive Tackle

Mazi Smith — MI — 6-3/290 — .9452

  • Notre Dame appears to be in the lead for him right now. With Lacey and Spears in the fold already, could the Irish land a third blue-chip defensive tackle? Has that ever happened before?

Jacob Lacey — KY — 6-2/300 — .9384

  • Notre Dame’s first 2019 commit doesn’t appear to be wavering at all. He’s putting in work on the rest of ND’s targets along the defensive line, making him even more valuable than his ranking would suggest.

Hunter Spears — TX — 6-4/280 — .9145

  • The newest Irish commit, and second blue-chip defensive tackle in the class. I’m actually disappointed he made it official before I published this. This one was pretty much locked up months ago.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Rodas Johnson, Jowon Briggs, DeWayne Carter

Linebacker

Cameron Williams — IN — 6-3/205 — .8968

  • In-state kid with a pretty mild offer list at this point. Recruiting services seem to like him, though. This is one that could come down to if or when the Irish decide to offer.

Keith Maguire — PA  — 6-2/215 — .8728

  • Received his offer during the January Junior Day and the Irish put themselves in front of the pack with that visit. This one is far from over, though. He’s since added offers from the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Clemson.

Other names to keep an eye on — Brandon Smith, Nick Henrich, Shammond Cooper, Lance Dixon, ??

Cornerback

Kenyatta Watson — GA — 6-2/187 — .9182

  • Listed by some of the sites as a safety, but the Irish are targeting him at CB. He’s got great length for a CB. Forgive me if I’ve said something like this already, but Notre Dame put itself in pole position with Kenyatta during his Junior Day visit in January. I don’t think this one is over, but ND continues to push all the right buttons.

KJ Wallace — GA — 5-10/180 — .9050

  • Committed to ND shortly after Junior Day. Kind of short, but a very solid player. Has already started putting on work on the other southern kids from the Tennessee/Georgia area.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Julian Barnett, Isaiah Rutherford, Salim Turner-Muhammad, ??

Safety

Litchfield Ajavon — VA — 6-0/185 — .9500

  • High four-star athlete, five-star name. Would be a big-time get at safety for the Irish. He keeps his recruitment pretty quiet, but most sources have the Irish as his most likely landing spot right now.

Kyle Hamilton — GA — 6-3/188 — .8316

  • Just recently offered this week. Smart kid with a great frame. High academic type. Like 3.8 GPA/30 ACT score type. Also super underrated at this point, his recruitment is probably on the verge of blowing up.

*Other names to keep an eye on — Nick Cross, Wesley Walker, ??

Kicker/Punter

Anthony Pecorella — NY — 6-2/185 — NR

  • I picked this specific specialist for one reason: he’s the only kicker or punter that came up when I searched under Notre Dame’s “Targets” page on 247.

*Other names to keep an eye on — ?? (I was barely able to find this one name for you guys)

Final Thoughts

This would end up being a very, very good class. A fantastic haul on both sides of the trenches (FOUR BLUE CHIP DL!!!) and some very good skill position players to back that up. I think this prediction will be a bit more accurate than last year’s, but it is tough to say at this point. It’s inevitable that some new names pop up from now until February 2019, but I’m thinking the Irish land less of those new names, and more of the guys they started targeting earlier in the cycle. This, of course, is largely dependent on how well the Irish perform on the field this year. I don’t think the 2018 season will end up being a deterrent to any recruits, but you never know.