Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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stop the pursuit of other five-star hopefuls. Toailoa, who resides an hour outside of Los Angeles, models his game after former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o. Toailoa plays a lot like him too, and that's why the Notre Dame coaches have flooded the mailbox of the nation's No. 6 player in California, No. 2 inside linebacker and No. 47 overall prospect in the country with Irish literature. While Toalioa and Hayes are certainly possibilities to be in the 2016 class, the best bet to join Kramer in the blue and gold might be King. The top prospect in Illinois, No. 4 strongside defensive end nationally and No. 57 overall player in the country already has ties to the program. His high school teammate and good friend Robby Regan is set to walk-on this summer at Notre Dame as a quarterback. Irish head coach Brian Kelly has been a frequent visitor at Hinsdale South High, and he hopes that contact will eventually pay off down the line with a commitment from King. PREVIEWING THE CLASS Notre Dame signed 24 prospects in the class of 2015 and enrolled four early for the spring semester. The Irish were able to bring in a relatively balanced class — 13 players on defense, 10 on offense and a specialist — that evened out the scholarship count. Notre Dame unofficially has 89 players on scholarship, with 41 on offense, 45 on defense and three on special teams. That number has to shrink, but it includes potentially seven fifth-year seniors and defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder 's son, Montgomery, who was a preferred w a l k - o n t h a t w a s a w a r d e d a scholarship last summer. Kelly said on Feb. 4 that walk-on scholarships are on a year-to-year basis, so the Irish have the option to not renew VanGorder's scholarship. He also said it will take time to work out the numbers. With that said, there are seven seniors that are projected to return for a fifth year in 2016. Next year linebacker Jaylon Smith, cornerback Cole Luke and wide receiver Will Fuller might be NFL prospects after their junior seasons, while senior offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley is destined for the NFL. Those calculations suggest that the Irish will be looking for a class of at least 17 in 2016, assuming that there are a few transfers and some other roster turnover. H e re ' s a p o s i t i o n - b y - p o s i t i o n outlook with projected needs and a target prospect at each position. QUARTERBACK 2015 QB: 5 Projected Take: 0 or 1 Notre Dame will return junior Malik Zaire, and sophomores DeShone Kizer and Montgomery Van- Gorder, plus fifth-year senior Everett Golson. The Irish will also welcome Brandon Wimbush, who is the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015. Notre Dame would like to add a top talent at the position but could settle for a project-type player to develop down the line. Target: Ervin Barrett, 6-2, 190, Orlando, Fla. (West Orange) — There are other high-profile targets on the board, but Barrett, who was high school team-