2018 Notre Dame Football Preview

2018 Notre Dame Football Preview

Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview

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158 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY COREY BODDEN AND DAVID MCKINNEY N otre Dame had landed 15 commit- ments in the class of 2019, with nine of them coming on the de- fensive side of the ball, as of June 21. In the front seven alone, Notre Dame already holds six commitments — four from defensive linemen and two from linebackers. The Irish are also off to a fast start along the offensive line with four commitments, two of which are Rivals100 prospects. Notre Dame also landed a commitment from Chris Sailer's No. 1 punter in 2019, Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Hillcrest specialist Jay Bramblett. Going forward, Notre Dame will try to add more firepower to the offensive side of the ball while focusing heavily on filling out its defensive class with top targets. The following is a position-by-position breakdown for how the Irish are expected to proceed for the remainder of the recruiting cycle. All information is through mid-June. All rankings are via Rivals. Quarterback Committed: 0 Projected Take: 1 Synopsis: Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Val- ley North four-star and Wisconsin commit Graham Mertz was Notre Dame's focus, but in mid-June he announced he was shutting down his recruitment and would stick with the Badgers. The new name to know for Notre Dame at quarterback is Brendon Clark, a three- star and one-time Wake Forest commit from Midlothian (Va.) Manchester. The former Demon Deacons pledge was offered by Notre Dame in late May, but kept it under wraps until backing off his Wake Forest commitment in mid-June. Clark took an official visit to Notre Dame over the weekend of June 15, and the No. 23 pro- style quarterback nationally appears to have emerged as the top target under center. Running Back Committed: 1 (Kyren Williams of St. Louis, Mo.) Projected Take: 1-2 Synopsis: Running back recruiting has been a priority for Notre Dame this cycle. After top targets Chez Mellusi of Naples (Fla.) High and Steele Chambers of Roswell (Ga.) Blessed Trinity both committed else- where within a few days of each other, the Irish moved on to other prospects. Enter- ing mid-June, three players represented the Irish's best chance at landing a running back in 2019. THE NEXT CLASS A position-by-position look at Notre Dame's recruiting efforts for 2019 Fort Worth (Texas) Nolan Catholic four-star NaNa Osafo-Mensah (No. 172) is the highest-rated defensive end to commit to the Irish since Daelin Hayes in 2016 (No. 31). PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM

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