Fantasy Draft: Building A Notre Dame Recruiting Dream Team
Football season also marks the beginning of fantasy football season for all us ‘Average Joes,’ out there, so here at Blue & Gold Illustrated, we decided to have a little fun with our job.
I mean, come on, we cover Notre Dame football recruiting for a living!
We thought about doing a standard fantasy football draft of Notre Dame football commits and targets but wanted to incorporate offensive linemen, and doing a full 11 on each side of the ball seemed a little over the top.
Instead, we decided to go NFL Street style. If you've never played the video game, your offensive lineup consists of three linemen, a quarterback, two wide receivers/tight ends and a running back/athlete. The defensive lineup features three linemen, a linebacker and three defensive backs.
And that inspired us to do the first ever BGI recruiting draft. The only rule we established was not being able to draft guys that have Notre Dame offers but definitely won’t end up in South Bend i.e. Bijan Robinson or Kelee Ringo. Players in both the 2020 and 2021 classes were eligible.
You can see both EJ and Mike’s full teams at the bottom of this article and debate on who selected the better group on the message board. But before you do that, check out our round by round draft process, which explains each pick. By the way, this was a snake draft.
Round 1
EJ: DL Korey Foreman, Corona (Calif.) Centennial (2021) — You have to build your team around guys in the trenches. Foreman is my top overall prospect in 2021 and is an absolute bully upfront. He picked up a Notre Dame offer during the spring evaluation period and is considering making a visit this fall.
Mike: DB Tony Grimes, Virginia Beach (Va.) Princess Anne (2021) — I took a different approach than EJ. Rather than building my team from the inside out, I wanted to go ahead and snag the best defensive back on the board in what I feel like would be a glorified 7-on-7 contest, and I felt that was Grimes. He can matchup with anyone.
Round 2
Mike: WR Jordan Johnson, St. Louis (Mo.) De Smet — The five-star Notre Dame commit is dynamic. It wasn’t a hard choice for me to go ahead and snag Jordan Johnson.
EJ: WR Beaux Collins, St. John Bosco (Calif.) — I’m a sucker for big wide receivers, and I think Collins is the best in the country. He’s more than just size. This dude can stretch the field, is extremely fluid and is a superior route runner. I love everything he brings to the table.
Round 3
EJ: RB Will Shipley, Weddington (N.C.) (2021) — I could have waited to take a running back, and there are some awesome options at the position. But this speaks to how much I love Shipley. He would be dynamite in this setting. I think the Christian McCaffrey comparisons are spot on.
Mike: WR Emeka Egbuka, Steilacoom, (Wash.) (2021) — The next best receiver on the board with EJ taking Collins, was Egbuka, in my opinion. He is an extremely tough cover in one-on-one scenarios and has exceptional leaping ability.
Round 4
Mike: DB Ga’Quincy McKinstry, Pinson (Ala.) Valley (2021) — In Grimes and McKinstry, I have the best 1-2 punch at defensive back you could ask for. McKinstry is an all-purpose defensive back, and at 6-foot-1, 175-pounds with great speed, he’s tough to beat.
EJ: OL Tosh Baker, Pinnacle (Ariz.) — In my opinion, I’ve snagged the best defensive lineman and offensive lineman on the board. Baker is a premier left tackle, and a guy you build your team around. He’s actually a steal in this round. Baker will be the next great Notre Dame offensive lineman.
Round 5
EJ: DB Jakailin Johnson, St. Louis (Mo.) De Smet — Mike is killing me in the secondary. He took my favorite guy in Grimes and my other favorite in McKinstry. I needed to take a DB here, and Johnson is elite. This is a guy that can cover any type of receiver and is an absolute playmaker on the back end. Plus, he goes against Jordan Johnson everyday, so he should have no issue facing him 1-on-1. Clamps!
Mike: OL Blake Fisher, Avon (Ind.) (2021)— This is a near five-star prospect in the 2021 class and someone who is just going to get better and better as his high school career progresses. For a prospect well over 300 pounds, Fisher moves very well and has excellent strength.
Round 6
Mike: DL Jordan Botelho, Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis — For this pretend matchup, I wanted to go with speed and outstanding pass rushers, so naturally, my first pick was Botelho. In the most recent Rivals rankings update, Botelho, a Notre Dame pledge, jumped into the Rivals250 at No. 214, but he’s more of a top 150 guy, in my opinion.
EJ: DL Tywone Malone, Bergen Catholic (N.J.) — I want big, athletic defensive linemen that can bully Mike’s team in the trenches. Foreman was a tremendous start, and Malone is a great compliment. This is a Top 50 prospect nationally with so much upside. His brute strength is outstanding and the fact that he plays baseball at a high level speaks to his athleticism.
Round 7
EJ: OL Tommy Brockermeyer, Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints — I have the best offensive lineman on the board from the 2020 class in Baker and now the best offensive lineman on the board in 2021 in Brockermeyer. The nation’s No. 10 overall recruit, Brockermeyer is one of the best prospects in the trenches that I’ve ever evaluated.
Mike: DB David Daniel, Woodstock (Ga.) (2021) — Daniel is the No. 75 overall recruit and No. 3 safety in the nation for the 2021 class, and after seeing him live on Sunday, he backed up his ranking. He’s another defensive back, like Grimes and McKinstry, who could play any of the DB spots and excel at it.
Round 8
Mike: OL Landon Tengwall, Olney (Md.) Good Counsel (2021) — An elite offensive line prospect who could play guard or tackle, I’m very high on Tengwall. The only thing I’m unsure of with him is arm length, but Tengwall is a very skilled lineman.
EJ: OL Donovan Jackson, Houston (Texas) Bellaire Episcopal (2021) — Another national top 50 prospect in the 2021 class, Jackson had perhaps the best offseason out of any recruit in the country regardless of class. He’s going to be a monster interior offensive lineman at the next level but also has the potential to stick at tackle. My O-Line features three beasts.
Round 9
EJ: DL Gabriel Rubio, Lutheran of St. Charles (Mo.) (2021) — Again, I’m looking for big, athletic defensive linemen, and Rubio certainly fits the bill. The Notre Dame commit is just starting to scratch the surface on his potential, but he’s already one of the more intriguing prospects in the nation for next cycle. I love my D-Line.
Mike: LB Barrett Carter, Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett (2021) — Right now there aren’t many linebackers in 2021 who Notre Dame has offered and of course, there aren’t any on the board in 2020. The best option is Carter, who does most of his damage off the edge as a pass rusher, but he’s very good out in space as a cover guy in the flats as well.
Round 10
Mike: DL Rylie Mills, Lake Forest (Ill.) — In this style of contest, I’d want Mills as my nose and he would be a force inside. Mills is locked in with his Irish pledge and doesn’t get discussed a ton, but he is one of the best players in Notre Dame’s class.
EJ: TE Michael Mayer, Covington Catholic (Ky.) — I could have gone with speed at my other receiver position, but I continued to go with size since I can motion Shipley out. Mayer will basically serve as my NFL Street version of Rob Gronkowski. He’s the most complete tight end in the country, IMO. And he can serve as an in-line blocker as well.
Round 11
EJ: DB Derrick Davis, Gateway (Pa.) (2021) — Have you seen this dude’s film? He fits the NFL street persona and is one of the most physical players in the nation. Davis is actually listed as an outside linebacker, and I would use him in the box often. But he can play safety as well. We need to talk about this guy more often because he’s a baller.
Mike: DL JC Latham, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy (2021) — His skills are a bit raw, but his size is impressive and he is very strong. He has pretty good athleticism for a guy at 6-foot-6, 270-pounds.
Round 12
Mike: OL Rocco Spindler, Clarkston (Mich.) (2021) — Rounding out my offensive line group is Rocco Spindler, who is very gritty prospect. He may even be better as an interior defensive lineman in college, but I really like him on offense.
EJ: DB Lovasea Carroll, IMG Academy (Fla.) (2021) — I love versatility in the secondary, and Carroll certainly brings that. He’s also a guy I can use on the offensive side of the ball in certain packages. The South Carolina commit still has interest in Notre Dame, so I’m glad he was a viable option.
Round 13
EJ: LB Reid Carrico, Ironton (Ohio) (2021) — There just aren’t many options at linebacker, making it a premium position. But I’ve been very high on Carrico since the Irish offered during the spring evaluation period, and I feel like he would be a playmaker on my defense.
Mike: QB Drew Pyne, New Canaan (Conn.) — The reason the quarterbacks went so low was because there isn’t a huge difference between Buchner and Pyne from a talent standpoint. If EJ would’ve picked one of the two high in the draft, I would’ve been fine taking the other late in the draft.
Round 14
Mike: RB Chris Tyree, Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale — I actually considered taking Tyree with one of my first two picks, but I didn’t and then EJ went with Shipley. At that point, he couldn’t take any more running backs, so I didn’t need to take Tyree until the very end because he couldn’t take another RB. Tyree would be great in this kind of game with so much open space.
EJ: QB Tyler Buchner, The Bishop’s School (Calif.) — Like Mike said, it didn’t make sense to take quarterbacks early since you can only have one, and there isn’t much of a difference between the two signal callers. But I actually feel like I got the best. Yes, Buchner hasn’t played much football, but I would wager that he’ll be the better of the two at Notre Dame.
EJ’s Full Team
QB Tyler Buchner
RB Will Shipley
WR Beaux Collins
TE Michael Mayer
OL Tosh Baker
OL Tommy Brockermeyer
OL Donovan Jackson
DL Korey Foreman
DL Gabriel Rubio
DL Tywone Malone
LB Reid Carrico
DB Jakailin Johnson
DB Lovasea Carroll
DB Derrick Davis
Mike's Full Team
QB Drew Pyne
RB Chris Tyree
WR Jordan Johnson
WR Emeka Egbuka
OL Blake Fisher
OL Landon Tengwall
OL Rocco Spindler
DL Jordan Botelho
DL Rylie Mills
DL JC Latham
LB Barrett Carter
DB Tony Grimes
DB Ga’Quincy McKinstry
DB David Daniel
EJ’s Case For The Better Team
While Mike has a great secondary, I feel like my team is superior in all other areas. The trio of Shipley, Collins and Mayer will give his defense fits. I’m not worried at all about scoring at him. Those are game breaking players. I also love my guys in the trenches. While Mike drafted elite players along both lines, I feel like I got the VERY best. You win games in the trenches, and I’m confident my team will dominate there.
Mike's Case For The Better Team
Obviously these are both star-studded teams, but I think my defensive backfield is the game changer. I’d match up Carter with Mayer, have McKinstry track Shipley, and matchup Grimes against Collins and have Daniel play center field. On the other side of the ball, good luck guarding Tyree, Johnson, and Egbuka! Both teams have solid offensive and defensive linemen, and for the most part, I think that would be a wash. But of course, this is all just fun and pretend. I do think my squad win win though (contingent on if I could get Bryan Driskell to coach the team).
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