Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Notre Dame that morning without a ceremony. "It was a different atmosphere," Cage said. "It's a great education. They're saying the right things. "As soon as Coach VanGorder gave Coach Elston the OK to recruit me and give an offer, he reached out and said, 'I know this is last minute, but we would like to recruit you again and help you to get to know us.'" Cage was one of several players along the defensive line that received a late offer from the Irish. In the end, he and Staten Island, N.Y., three-star defensive tackle Pete Mokwuah, a one- time Rutgers commit, joined the 23- man Notre Dame class. "I'm a very special player," Cage said. "One thing I can work on is my leverage to stay low. I'm not the best with the hands, and there's work to be done. I'm a very passionate player. I give 110 percent every play, and I'll give everything I've got. "Playing time is really up to me FILM ANALYSIS Strengths Cage has one of the quickest first steps you will find in this class … Penetrates the offensive line ex- tremely well with a bevy of moves … Uses twists, stunts and spins to get to the quarterback … Aggressive by nature and displays that on the field … Very active and physical, and tries to deliver a powerful blow when contact is made. Areas For Improvement Needs to work on leverage and keeping a low pad level … Can get too high at times … Although quick off the snap, he needs to work on sideline-to-sideline speed ... Very strong upper body, but needs to continue to work on his legs to increase power and speed.