Every Notre Dame Opponent’s 3 Highest-Rated Players As High School Recruits
Notre Dame won’t run into many teams on its 2020 schedule with more talented rosters, at least according to recruiting rankings.
As it stands now, Notre Dame has 41 combined former four- and five-star recruits on its roster, the result of five straight top-25 recruiting classes.
There are some decorated recruits on plenty of Notre Dame’s foes, too. Some have turned into impact players as their ranking suggested they should. Others haven’t quite reached their expected ceiling or had the chance to play yet. Here’s a look the three highest-rated players on each opponent (plus Notre Dame itself), according to Rivals’ rankings.
Navy
Breakdown: Service academies don’t have scholarship limits like the rest of the NCAA, but they also don’t bring in too many players with loads of other FBS opportunities. There are exceptions, though. The Midshipmen don’t have a former four-star recruit on the team, but signed a pair of players who were three-star recruits with a 5.6 Rivals grade and have become impact players.
Mychal Cooper was Navy’s leading receiver in 2019, with 380 yards. Kevin Brennan enters his second year as the starter at “bandit” safety and was the team’s second-leading tackler.
Navy has a trio of three-stars who were given a 5.5 grade, including leading tackler and middle linebacker Diego Fagot. Cornerback B.J. Gibson is likely to claim a backup role in his sophomore season, and Anton Hall enters a crowded backfield as a freshman.
Brennan, Fagot and Gibson each held at least one Power Five offer.
Arkansas
Breakdown: Feleipe Franks came to Arkansas as a grad transfer from Florida and is the favorite to be the starting quarterback. Trey Knox was Arkansas’ third-leading receiver as a freshman, catching 28 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns. Xavier Kelly is a grad transfer from Clemson who is in the mix to start on the defensive line. He has 28 tackles and 2.5 sacks in his career.
Western Michigan
Breakdown: Western Michigan actually signed a four-star recruit in 2018, offensive lineman A.J. Reed, but he never enrolled. Kaleb Eleby is the player on the roster with a 5.7 grade, and he’s the expected starter at quarterback.
The Broncos have signed a collection of 5.6-graded players. Spencer Kanz and La’Darius Jefferson are included because they were the highest ranked at their positions. The former started 10 games at right tackle last year, and the latter transferred from Michigan State in January after rushing for 289 yards in his two seasons.
Breakdown: Terrance Davis is a graduate transfer from Maryland who started 31 games at guard in his Terrapins career. His last two seasons ended due to injury. Nolan Groulx redshirted in 2019 and is expected to be in the mix for a role in 2020. Mike Allen has served as a backup for his career and is likely to operate in the same role in 2020.
Wisconsin
Breakdown: Graham Mertz is highest-rated quarterback recruit in Wisconsin history, but seems destined to serve as Jack Coan’s backup once again in 2020. Logan Brown is a true tackle and blocked by two returning starters. Jalen Berger was an early enrollee who stated his goal is to run for 1,000 yards as a freshman. He will get a chance to take some of the massive workload fellow New Jersey native Jonathan Taylor left behind.
Stanford
Breakdown: Stanford has a quintet of former five-star recruits, and all of them are expected important contributors. Davis Mills is the unquestioned quarterback after replacing the injured K.J. Costello midway through 2019. Walker Little and Foster Sarrell are the bookend tackles. Little missed all but one game of 2019 after tearing his ACL, but is considered a possible first-round prospect.
Pitt
Breakdown: Paris Ford was a first-team All-ACC selection at safety in 2019. Damar Hamlin, a 30-game starter, plays next to Ford and was granted a fifth year of eligibility. Pitt’s running game wasn’t very productive in 2019, but A.J. Davis led the team with 530 rushing yards and should be in the backfield rotation once again.
Duke
Breakdown: Chase Brice is Duke’s likely starting quarterback after taking a grad transfer from Clemson. He has two years of eligibility left and threw for 1,023 yards and nine touchdowns in two years backing up Trevor Lawrence. Tony Davis redshirted in 2019 and faces a crowded path to playing time in a deep Duke secondary.
Duke has signed or brought in a few four-stars who were ranked outside the Rivals250, but only Drew Jordan was a top-20 player at his position. He is one of Duke’s three main defensive ends and has played in all but one game since arriving in 2017, notching 6.5 career sacks.
Clemson
Breakdown: Lawrence has thrown 66 touchdown passes in two years and is the favorite to be the No. 1 pick next spring. His only loss was in last year’s national title game. He’s one of 12 five-star recruits and five top-five overall players on Clemson’s roster.
Bryan Bresee should have a rotation role, at minimum, as a freshman. D.J. Uiagalelei was the top-ranked quarterback in the 2020 class and is poised to take over Lawrence in 2021.
Georgia Tech
Breakdown: Yellow Jackets head coach Geoff Collins reunites with Antonneous Clayton, whom he initially recruited to Florida in 2016. Clayton is in the mix for a defensive end role. Jahmyr Gibbs will push for a role, but Georgia Tech has an established starting running back in Jordan Mason. Myles Sims was a deep reserve at corner in his first year eligible after transferring from Michigan.
Louisville
Breakdown: Fifth-year senior Dez Fitzpatrick was Louisville’s second-leading receiver in 2019 and has 1,756 career yards to go with 18 touchdowns. Micale Cunningham took over at quarterback early in the 2019 season and helped the Cardinals’ offense reach a new level. He threw for 2,061 yards, 22 touchdowns and averaged 11.6 yards per attempt. He also ran for 482 yards. Russ Yeast is back for his senior year, which will mark his third as a starting safety.
USC
Breakdown: Only USC, Stanford and Clemson have five-star recruits for all three spots.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, the younger brother of former Notre Dame receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, had 1,042 yards in 2019 and is the Trojans top returning wideout. He’s a projected early-round draft pick. Bru McCoy’s recruitment had more twists than a Twizzler, but he’s expected to have a big role after sitting out last year as a transfer. Chris Steele was a freshman starter at corner and is safely penciled into his job again.
Notre Dame
Breakdown: Daelin Hayes returned for his fifth year, and it will be the first where he’s a clear starter heading into the season. Freshmen Jordan Johnson and Michael Mayer will push for roles right away. Wide receiver is the more unproven room, but Mayer could slide in next to likely No. 1 tight end Tommy Tremble with an impressive fall camp.
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