2018 Notre Dame Football Preview

2018 Notre Dame Football Preview

Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview

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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 159 Notre Dame got on the board when St. Louis St. John Vianney three-star Kyren Williams, the No. 9 prospect in Missouri, pledged to the Irish. Williams took an of- ficial visit to Notre Dame over the weekend of June 15; he then cancelled a scheduled visit to Michigan and announced for Notre Dame on June 21. Amarillo (Texas) Tascosa three-star rusher King Doerue, the nation's No. 34 ball car- rier, has expressed significant interest in Notre Dame and plans to make a visit to South Bend. Buford (Ga.) High athlete Derrian Brown listed the Irish among his final 11 on June 10, but the four-star back has yet to set up a visit to South Bend. Wide Receiver Committed: 0 Projected Take: 2-3 Synopsis: Heading into the back half of the summer, the wide receiver board was wide open for Notre Dame. Notre Dame received a June 2 unofficial visit from Olney (Md.) Good Counsel three- star receiver Cam Hart, who has offers from Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Maryland, Duke and Pittsburgh among others. Notre Dame goes into the summer in excellent position with Hart. Three-star TJ Sheffield of Thomp- son's Station (Tenn.) Independence and Cam Wynn of Chattanooga (Tenn.) Notre Dame both included the Irish in their top groups. The Irish are in the top four for Sheffield along with Ohio State, Purdue and Arkan- sas, while Wynn had narrowed his group to 10 as of mid-June. Sheffield — the No. 56 wideout in the class of 2019 — has unofficially visited, but Wynn had not made it to campus yet. Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman star Trey Knox, the No. 53 overall player in the nation, is plan- ning to officially visit South Bend in the fall for an Irish home game. Hightstown (N.J.) The Peddie School four-star wideout John Metchie unof- ficially visited campus in April, but Penn State and Alabama seem to have the momentum for the nation's No. 186 overall prospect. Additional names to know include Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick three- star Cornelius Johnson, a Nike Foot- ball Opening finalist; Orange (Ca.) Lu- theran four-star Kyle Ford, the No. 79 overall player in the country; Blanchard (Okla.) High three-star Jamie Nance; and Edwardsville (Ill.) High three-star Kendall Abdur-Rahman. Johnson and Abdur-Rahman both made it to South Bend this spring for unofficial visits. Nance has seen his recruitment blow up, adding 16 Power Five offers since be- ing named wide receiver MVP at the Rivals Three-Stripe Camp in Dallas March 25. Tight End Committed: 0 Projected Take: 0-1 Synopsis: With two signees in the 2018 class and 2020 four-star tight end Kevin Bau- man of Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic already committed, expect Notre Dame to be picky at the position in 2019. If the Irish do decide to take a tight end in 2019, a top target will be Parkersburg (W.Va.) High three-star Brenton Strange, who visited South Bend June 18. As a ju- nior, Strange hauled in 59 passes for 938 yards and 11 scores. Notre Dame is also looking at Fairfield (Ohio) High three-star Erick All, the No. 23 tight end in the class of 2019. If the Irish decide to skip on taking a tight end in 2019, they can turn all their focus at the position on four-star rising junior Michael Mayer of Alexandria (Ky.) Cov- ington Catholic. Heading into his junior season, Mayer held offers from Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Ten- nessee and several others. Offensive Line Committed: 4 (Quinn Carroll of Edina, Minn.; Zeke Correll of Cincinnati, Ohio; Andrew Kristofic of Gibsonia, Pa.; and John Olmstead of Metuchen, N.J.) Projected Take: 4-5 Synopsis: The line is the one position on offense where Notre Dame has gotten off to a blistering start. The Irish had four commits through mid-June, including two in the Ri- vals100 in Quinn Carroll at No. 38 and John Olmstead at No. 66. Four was the target number for the Irish staff, but it would gladly take five if the right player wanted to join the class. The top remaining target is four-star Saleem Wormley of Smyrna (Del.) High, the No. 103 overall player in the class of 2019. Wormley will announce a commitment July 23. An additional name to know on the offensive line is Walter Rouse of Sil- ver Spring (Md.) Sidwell Friends, the No. 25 player in the state of Maryland who visited June 19. Defensive End Committed: 2 (NaNa Osafo-Men- sah of Fort Worth, Texas; and Howard Cross of Montvale, N.J.) Projected Take: 3-4 Synopsis: After adding just Kofi Wardlow and Justin Ademilola the past two classes (2017-18), defensive end is a major priority for the Irish in the 2019 cycle. With Cross and Osafo-Mensah, the No. 172 overall player in the nation, in the fold, Notre Dame is off to a strong start. Over the weekend of June 15, top targets Aeneas DiCosmo of Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic and Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy end David Ojabo took official visits to Notre Dame. Ojabo followed up that visit by an- nouncing Notre Dame as one of his top 15 schools. The three-star stated following that visit he plans to return to Notre Dame in the fall for a game. Dunlap (Ill.) High three-star ath- lete Josiah Miamen also visited Notre Dame in June. The Irish impressed Miamen during his trip, and if Notre Dame decides to push for his commit- ment they could very well get it. Edina (Minn.) High four-star offensive tackle Quinn Carroll was Notre Dame's top-rated commit through mid-June, coming in at No. 38 in the Rivals100. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL

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