Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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"We are probably plus one in our numbers as the wide receiver board looks," Kelly said. "We think we have a guy in there that's a specialist, too. So we don't feel like we're heavy there as much as we have got one guy in there in particular that can do a lot of jobs for us." • Notre Dame already had four tight ends with at least three years of eligibil- ity remaining, yet it signed one of the nation's elite prospects there in 6-5, 220-pound Aliz'e Jones, who is expect- ing to contribute right away. • Running back needed two players to complement the junior tandem of Tar- ean Folston and Greg Bryant, and the Irish were able to supply reinforcements with 6-2, 210-pound Josh Adams and 6-0, 200-pound Dexter Williams. • Linebacker has recruited well the past two years, led by Smith in 2013 and Nyles Morgan in 2014, but Notre Dame might have assembled its best trio under Kelly in a single year with Josh Barajas, Asmar Bilal and Te'von Coney. FILLING NEEDS Kelly said he had only two "must" areas in this year's recruiting class: cor- nerback and kicker. A trio of corners feature Nick Cole- man, Shaun Crawford and Ashton White, and Kelly said what is piv- otal there is they can play both inside (nickel) or outside in the teams' various packages. Because four-year starter Kyle Brin- dza has graduated and because current freshman Tyler Newsome is concentrat- ing mainly on punting (although he also is cross-training as a kicker), landing Rivals' No. 1 kicker, Justin Yoon, was crucial. The one area that is not "long" is 11 Letters in receiver Equanimeous St. Brown's first name, which is tied with 1989-92 linebacker Karmeeleyah ("Karl") McGill for the most by a Notre Dame football player. His full birth name is Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown. 13 Different states represented among the 24 scholarship recruits signed. The breakdown is four from Indiana, three from Illinois and Ohio, two from California, Florida, Nevada and Louisiana, plus one apiece from Texas, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey and Tennessee. 16 Signees that participated in one of the three national postseason all-star games. Quarterback Brandon Wimbush, kicker Justin Yoon, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, linebacker Te'von Coney and cornerback Shaun Crawford all played in the Under Armour All-America Game Jan. 2 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Safety Nicco Fertitta, offensive lineman Tristen Hoge, tight end Aliz'e Jones, defensive lineman Jerry Tillery, and linebackers Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal participated in the U.S. Army All- American Bowl Jan. 3 in San Antonio. The following day, defensive linemen Micah Dew-Treadway and Brandon Tiassum, wide receiver CJ Sanders and defensive end Bo Wallace took the field in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in Carson, Calif. Wide receiver Miles Boykin did not play in the game because of a hand injury. 45 Ranking of quarterback Brandon Wimbush on 247Sports Composite list that combines all the four major recruiting networks. He was rated the highest among the four Irish players in the top 100. The others were tight end Aliz'e Jones (62nd), center Tristen Hoge (89th) and running back Dexter Williams (94th).