The All-American Bowl won’t be as Irish as it was once supposed to be.
Three Notre Dame signees who previously committed to playing in Saturday’s All-American Bowl in San Antonio’s Alamodome (1 p.m. EST on NBC) backed out of participating the game itself.
Four-star quarterback CJ Carr opted to join Notre Dame football early for Sun Bowl preparation rather than play in one more high school event. Four-star offensive tackle Guerby Lambert decided to protect a knee injury from late in his senior season rather than participate. And four-star wide receiver Cam Williams suffered a minor leg injury in practice earlier this week that will keep him sidelined out of precaution.
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Even though that leaves just three Notre Dame signees to play in the game — five-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, four-star defensive end Bryce Young and four-star running back Kedren Young — each one of them has a chance to make an impact in Saturday’s All-America showcase.
Notre Dame could also receive good news from San Antonio via 2025 defensive end Christopher Burgess Jr. He's scheduled to annouce his commitment decision during Saturday's NBC telecast. Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and Alabama are the four finalists in Burgess' recruitment.
Inside ND Sports caught up with Rivals national analyst Adam Friedman for his thoughts on the four Notre Dame signees who made their way to San Antonio for at least a portion of practices earlier this week.
LB Kyngstonn Viliamu Asa
Friedman: “Kyngstonn’s great. Really excited about the way he plays physically. He flows to the ball well. He quickly reads and reacts. He’s an imposing presence guy, too. He’s a big guy at linebacker. I expect him to have a really good game on Saturday.”
DE Bryce Young
Friedman: “Bryce looks the best he’s looked in his career. Really excited about the way he’s developed over the last year-and-a-half. He’s gotten much more aggressive and physical. That has come with his physical development. He’s added mass and added strength. It seems like it’s given him more confidence to play with that aggressiveness and strength that he needs to be effective.
“He’s able to use his hands to quickly shed offensive linemen and get to the ball carrier. He still has the explosiveness off the edge. His hand techniques have come a long way or at least have become more effective with that added strength. So, he’s able to get to the quarterback using those new skills.”
RB Kedren Young
Friedman: “It’s hard to really get a good gauge of what they do during practices, because the running backs don’t do a lot of full-speed drills that translate to the games. He has the look of a back who should see the field relatively early in his career. It seems like he’s physically developed enough to fit the mold that Notre Dame will need at running back.”
WR Cam Williams
Friedman: “He’s a big kid. He’s got a good frame. He has the look of the player who could have excelled in this environment from a physical standpoint.”
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