Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 16, 2023 45 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ment for best duo in the country. They're fighting between Michigan and Texas for that. "Kedren Young is ready to go, in my opinion. He has immense production, runs 11-flat in the 100-meters and is a natural back. He has the flu- idity and suddenness that allows him to make defenders miss in a phone booth, plus he has physicality to steamroll them as well. "And then you add in Aneyas, who has that extra gear. At 5-9, 200 pounds, he's the juice guy. When you look at one-two punches across the country, I don't know if there's one more dangerous than the duo going to the Fighting Irish." BGI: What do you want to see from Saline (Mich.) High quarterback CJ Carr (No. 14 at his position and No. 192 overall player nationally) and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 27 in the country at his position) for them to get a rankings bump? Those are the headliners of Notre Dame's class, and On3 is the major outlier on their respective rankings. Power: "With Carr, the things I want to see the most are the game to continue to slow down for him, have him stack really consistent showings on a week-to-week basis and become more comfort- able in the context of a game. He's at his most comfortable in a camp setting with structured drill work. "We want to see him carry over that polish and consistency from camps to Friday nights. With his skill level, he really should be dominating most of his competition. That's what I want to see — a phenomenal senior season, picking apart defenses, handling pressure well, not getting flustered and stacking consistent performances. He has the skills to do that." Bellaire: "From a skill set standpoint, I want to see Carr develop from outside the pocket. What we saw from his junior film and the Elite 11 in- person — when things are on time, he's golden. He's consistently accurate, and the ball comes off his hand flawlessly. "However, when he's forced to roll and make off-platform throws, the ball tends to wobble. He starts to spray the target and is not as dialed in. I want to see him gain more consistency in those areas and become more of a threat with his legs would be nice, too. "With Viliamu-Asa, you have a player with tre- mendous production who plays at the highest level of competition in the country. His body type is solid, standing at 6-3, 220 pounds with decent length at the position — just a hair under 32-inch arms. "Between the hashes, he's dynamite. He stacks and sheds blockers, he brings down ball carriers consistently and he does an excellent job diagnos- ing. The top-end speed is a concern, especially after running a 12-plus second 100-meters and a 25-plus second 200-meters. "We really need to see development in him play- ing sideline-to-sideline. That's becoming more vi- tal to the position as the years go on. However, his instincts and ability to trigger so quickly can make up for a lack of top-end speed at times. He's extremely similar to Drayk Bowen, who we had comparable concerns with coming out of the 2023 cycle." ✦ Saline (Mich.) High quarterback CJ Carr is rated as the No. 14 quarterback and No. 192 overall prospect nationally by On3 — but he is No. 6 and No. 49, respectively, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted measurement of the primary recruiting media services. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Sign up now at BlueandGold.com! NOTE: BlueandGold.com is the companion site to Blue & Gold Illustrated magazine. It is a separate subscription and is NOT included with the magazine. FEATURING: ✦ NEXT-GENERATION PLAYER DATABASE ✦ RECRUITING SCOOP ✦ DAILY TEAM COVERAGE ✦ STRONG COMMUNITY ✦ NEW MOBILE APP! ✦ MONTHLY OPTION AVAILABLE 25% JOIN TODAY JOIN TODAY BLUEANDGOLD.COM BLUEANDGOLD.COM The premier Notre Dame site, now on the On3 network, has a special offer for ALL Notre Dame fans: 25% OFF with promo code Irish25 Regularly $109.99 a year • Offer valid for new subscribers only