Tuesday marked the initial release of the 2021 Rivals100 rankings, which featured three Notre Dame commits and several major targets.
Today, Rivals distributed four-star rankings to prospects outside the Rivals100. Once again, Notre Dame was well represented in the individual player rankings.
Irish offensive line commit Greg Crippen (Fla.), who committed to Notre Dame in March, is ranked at the No. 5 guard in the country. Crippen is expected to transition to center once he arrives in South Bend.
While Crippen wasn’t included in the Rivals100, he did receive a 5.9 rating, which is the same as fellow Notre Dame commits Tyler Buchner (No. 52) and Gabriel Rubio (No. 81).
Elite Avon (Ind.) offensive lineman Blake Fisher is the highest rated recruit in Notre Dame’s 2021 class with a 6.0 grade. Notre Dame has the No. 2 overall class in the country following today’s update.
As I wrote in my five takeaways from the Rivals100 rankings release, Notre Dame has a chance to put together a special offensive line class.
Several targets at the position were included in the Rivals100. Meanwhile, Fossil Ridge (Colo.) product Trey Zuhn, who visited over the weekend, received a four-star ranking and is now the No. 20 offensive tackle in the nation
Richmond Foster’s (Texas) Reuben Fatheree checked in as the No. 22 tackle nationally, while Spring Valley’s Wyatt Millum came in at No. 24. Both hold Notre Dame offers, and the Irish hosted Millum earlier this offseason.
Sticking with the trenches, St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.) prospect George Rooks is now the No. 9 strong-side defensive end nationally. Rooks was featured in our ‘Who’s Next In 2021’ piece as the Irish are in a very strong position early on. Rooks made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame over the weekend.
IMG Academy’s (Fla.) JC Latham came in one spot higher than Rooks. He is a high school teammate of the aforementioned Crippen. Latham visited in the fall and told our Mike Singer yesterday that Notre Dame is an ‘amazing school.’
Notre Dame also has an offer out to Hutto’s (Texas) Landyn Watson, who is now ranked as the No. 11 weak-side defensive end in the country.
My aforementioned takeaways piece also mentioned the potential for an elite level wide receivers class. The Rivals100 is littered with Notre Dame targets, and Washington’s (Ohio) Jayden Ballard is an elite level player in his own right. He is now the No. 19 wide receiver nationally.
The Irish have only offered two tight ends in the 2021 class in Hart County’s (Ga.) Cane Berrong and Sam Hart. Berrong is now the No. 6 tight end nationally, while Hart is No. 9. Both visited Notre Dame this month.
A pair of Notre Dame linebacker targets also earned four-star rankings. West Lafayette’s (Ind.) Yanni Karlaftis and Ironton’s (Ohio) Reid Carrico are now the No. 8 and No. 11 outside linebackers in the nation, respectively.
Notre Dame targets were also present in the secondary. Kennedale’s (Texas) JD Coffey is now the No. 4 safety nationally, while Ensworth’s (Tenn.) Andre Turrentine is the No. 12 cornerback nationally.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @Rivals_Singer, and @EJHollandBGI.
• Like us on Facebook.
