Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING tackle with Ronnie Stanley projected as a first-round pick next year and Mark Harrell's status to return for a fifth season in 2016 uncertain. Offensive line coach Harry Hiestand has expressed that he would like to sign at least three tackles in the class and add a fourth if he can find the right prospect. Kraemer and Eichen- berg give him a strong foundation — Rivals.com ranks them as the No. 2 and No. 37 offensive tackles in the country, respectively. The quest to find a third and fourth for the class might be the real challenge. Hartland (Wis.) Arrowhead four-star offensive tackle Ben Bredeson took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame April 10. He left campus with the Irish in his top four, joining Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan. Bredeson said he doesn't have a de- cision date in mind, but Notre Dame appears to be in good shape. "It bumped them up, if you want to put it in terms like that," Bredeson said after the visit. "It was a great trip to Notre Dame and I got everything I wanted out of it." The 6-4, 280-pound Bredeson is ranked as the No. 3 tackle in the coun- try and the nation's No. 41 overall prospect by Rivals.com. While he's the top uncommitted target at the po- sition, right behind him is Orlando (Fla.) Bishop Moore four-star offensive tackle Parker Boudreaux. He recently put the Irish in his top 10 and is expected to visit South Bend in June. Boudreaux claims more than 70 scholarship offers and is ranked as the No. 22 offensive tackle nationally and the No. 42 prospect in Florida. It will be a difficult sell to pull Bou- dreaux out of the South, but Hiestand has already gone to battle with Ohio State's Urban Meyer twice this recruit- ing cycle and won in the Buckeyes' home state with Kraemer and Eichen- berg on board. If anyone can do it, it's him. DEFENSIVE END The Irish signed five defensive line- men in the class of 2015, but only one of them, Bo Wallace, projects as a rush end. Everyone else — including the versatile Tillery — is slated to play on the inside of the line. That has created a situation, again, where the Irish are looking to add num- bers to the position. Okwara, who is the younger brother of current Irish senior defensive end Ro- meo Okwara, was a prospect that the staff couldn't miss out on given his ties to the program and the interest he was receiving from schools like Georgia and Clemson. He's ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 6 player in North Carolina and the No. 179 overall prospect in the country, but at 6-4 and 220 pounds will need time to develop. A prospect that could play right away, given his size, is Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wayne High four-star defensive end Auston Robertson. He has a top three of Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State, and was in South Bend for Junior Day March 21. The 6-5, 250-pounder — who is rated as the No. 2 player in Indiana, the No. 9 weakside defensive end in the land and the No. 202 overall player nationally