Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2021 21 2021 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Lemming: "The receivers because Notre Dame is weak at that position. Deion Colzie and Lorenzo Styles could play and contribute. Styles can run and is an explosive kid. Colzie is a big, strong, red-zone type receiver. He's not super fast, but he has good speed. "One of the two running backs will be playing. They won't start because they have two guys ahead of them who are really good [in rising ju- nior Kyren Williams and sophomore Chris Tyree], but one of the two will be an important depth piece. "Rocco Spindler is somewhat of a Quenton Nelson type offensive line- man. He's mean, tough, aggressive, and I think he will be really good. He's technically sound enough to where he could come in and play. Blake Fisher could also step in and play. "Defensively, I feel that linebacker Prince Kollie needs to add more weight and strength. He's really good — that's why I gave him the Butkus Award — but he does need to get up to 220 pounds, at least. Be- cause he's not a mid-year enrollee, then I think it could take him a while to play, but you never know. I also love the attitude of defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio. He's a blue-collar type player. "They're weak at corner, so Philip Riley could come in and play a little bit. Ryan Barnes is also a good player. Justin Walters could also come in and play right away. I also like the two kids they got late out of California [defensive ends Devin Aupiu and Will Schweitzer], but they need more weight and strength work too. They both could be pretty good." BGI: Which prospect do you think could outplay his ranking? Lemming: "If I had to pick one guy, it'd be Joe Alt. His dad was one of my All-Americans, and his dad looked just like Joe does coming out of high school. I think that Joe could benefit from a redshirt and end up being a solid right tackle. "Another three-star then would be Mitchell Evans. He's an athlete. He played quarterback, but they're bring- ing him in at tight end. He could be a guy who surprises a lot of people because he can run and is big. "He's just never played the posi- tion that much. It's going to be fun to watch him. Notre Dame does a great job going after these guys with length." BGI: What is the strongest position group of the class? Lemming: "Offensive line. They have two five-star players [Fisher and Spindler] and two of my top seven offensive linemen in the coun- try. They're legit, big-time guys. "I think Alt will be great, and Caleb Johnson was a great catch for them late. He has the length and the ath- letic ability. I like Pat Coogan from Chicago, too. The offensive line group is outstanding." BGI: What is the weakest position group of the class? Lemming: "There isn't one. All of these kids are good, but I'm looking at them to get into the top five. You look at it, though, and it really is an outstanding class." BGI: What are your thoughts on Notre Dame's six-man 2022 class thus far? Lemming: "Outstanding. I think they've gotten off to such a good start that they could possibly wind up in the top five. They need a great quar- terback and tailback in the group. "They'll do great on the offensive line again, and they should get [of- fensive linemen] Billy Schrauth [from Fond du Lac, Wis.] and Jake Taylor [from Las Vegas]. That will be an- other outstanding group." ✦ Rivals 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Texas A&M 4. Oregon 5. LSU 6. Georgia 7. Clemson 8. USC 9. Michigan 10. Notre Dame 247Sports 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. LSU 5. Clemson 6. Oregon 7. Texas 8. USC 9. Notre Dame 10. Michigan ESPN 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Clemson 5. Oregon 6. Texas A&M 7. LSU 8. USC 9. Notre Dame 10. Florida Tom Lemming 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. LSU 5. Oregon 6. Clemson 7. Texas A&M 8. Notre Dame 9. USC 10. Michigan 2021 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of Feb. 7 Lemming compared incoming offensive lineman Rocco Spindler to Notre Dame great and NFL All-Pro Quenton Nelson, and said he could play right away up front. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM