Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Dame signed three corners last season (Cole Luke, Devin Butler and Rashad Kinlaw), two more were targeted this season — especially with the possibil- ity of KeiVarae Russell turning pro early next year. Summary: Kelly admitted he was luke- warm about taking Tranquill (orig- inally a Purdue verbal), because he didn't know whether to use him at safety, linebacker or even receiver. But the more he watched him, the more he was glad he was brought aboard, particularly when Smith opted to stay West. On National Signing Day, Ter- rence Alexander chose Stanford over Notre Dame, which was unable to land its corner complement to Wat- kins. On Paper Grade: B The long shot of both Smith and Al- exander joining on National Signing Day would have made this an "A," but this duo combines well with last year 's group that was led by safety Max Redfield and corner Luke. Safety is a priority next year. KICKING GAME Signed: Tyler Newsome Meeting Needs: Triple-threat Kyle Brin- dza (punting, field goals and kickoff) is in his final season and finding some- one who can do all he does so well is a tall order. The Irish might have found such a figure in the 6-3 Newsome. Summary: Last year Notre Dame brought in kicker John Chereson and punter Andrew Antognoli as preferred walk-ons. Signing Newsome this year should elevate the competition in all three phases of punting, placekicks and kickoffs. Newsome's freshman year provides a good opportunity for an apprenticeship under Brindza. On Paper Grade: B Newsome is the first kicker/punter to be offered a full ride to Notre Dame since Brindza in 2011. Ideally, that's how you would like it: Have a starter for two or three years like Brindza, and then an heir apparent freshman hopefully ready to step in the year after. OVERALL ANALYSIS A meat-and-potatoes class of line- men, linebackers and tight ends pre- pared by culinary chefs that is miss- ing some dessert and side orders at running back, kick and punt returner, wide receiver and defensive back. This is the type of group that should have Notre Dame regularly vying for dou- ble-digit victory seasons (including bowls). With a good bounce here and there, maybe even the College Football Playoff. The issue that looms is whether Notre Dame seriously closed the gap among the southern powers such as Alabama, LSU, Florida State — which are consistently recruiting the way Notre Dame used to during the glory days from 1988-93 — to be a consis- tent championship contender in the long run. On paper, it doesn't quite seem that way, and maybe the gap widened. The offense would have been more complete with Hood and Quick, while the defense had to do some salvage work at the end. Overall Grade: B to B+, which is gener- ally a top-10 to top-15 rating to recruit- ing outlets, at least on paper. ✦