Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/783750
28 MARCH 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY COREY BODDEN AND DAVID MCKINNEY U nlike last year, the week lead- ing up to National Signing Day was much more event- ful for head coach Brian Kelly and his staff in 2017. Notre Dame landed six commit- ments in the final week including three on National Signing Day — Kapolei (Hawai'i) High defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Hampton (Va.) Bethel linebacker Jeremiah Owusu and Washington (D.C.) St. John's College High defen- sive end Kofi Wardlow. The 21-man group was ranked as high as No. 13 (Rivals and 247Sports), and as low as No. 16 (ESPN). Blue & Gold Illustrated caught up with some of the nation's top recruiting experts to gather their thoughts on the class as a whole and more. BGI: What are your overall thoughts on Notre Dame's 21-man class? Tom Lemming, veteran recruiting analyst: "It was a bit of a of a roller coaster. They were having a great year, and then they lost about five of their recruits to other teams and looked like they were in big trouble, but they finished very strong. I've got them 10th. "Notre Dame did finish with a very strong push and got some ball- players, and they're ballplayers that can help them on defense where their glaring weaknesses are along the defensive line. They really haven't recruited great defensive players in abundance since the 1990 class, and that was 27 years ago. Hopefully, this group will get them started, and they can come up with one of those great classes." Mike Farrell, Rivals director of recruiting: "Finishing 13th is a good ranking for a non-Power Five pro- gram that has to recruit nationally. There are some very good prospects that hit positional needs for them, especially along the offensive line and at tight end. I've expressed my RECRUITING ROUNDTABLE Analysts say Notre Dame's 21-man class started and finished strong, but could have been much better Norfolk (Va.) Lake Taylor High School four-star defensive tackle Darnell Ewell was arguably Notre Dame's most important recruit in the class of 2017, in part because he has the talent to make an immediate impact this fall. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM