Notre Dame Fighting Irish Class Of 2020 Superlatives

Who is the class MVP? Who is the most athletic? Who was the best interview?

Blue & Gold Illustrated recruiting insider Mike Singer dishes out nine superlatives to members of Notre Dame’s 2020 recruiting class.

We are not talking valuable only in the sense of how good the player is. I’m looking at how much the staff valued the recruit, how important he is to the team, how important he is to Notre Dame on a national scope and what he meant to the 2020 class.

Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale running back Chris Tyree is my MVP of Notre Dame’s 2020 class for several reasons:

1. He was Notre Dame’s top offensive target, and you can argue he was the most important recruit to the entire class. Tyree was such an important target for running backs coach Lance Taylor and former offensive coordinator Chip Long.

2. He can help right away. Notre Dame needs some speed at running back and some extra depth, too. Tony Jones Jr. might not come back for his fifth year, and Tyree may get even more carries if he is out of the equation.

3. To the national scope point I mentioned earlier, everyone knows Chris Tyree. Your casual Notre Dame fan knows about the stud Under Armour All-American. All Notre Dame fans are absolutely fired up about him.

4. Tyree is a really cool kid and the recruits in the class have connected with him. He is not the most vocal guy, but he has made it an emphasis to bond with his future teammates and help the Irish recruit in his home city of Richmond.

You might have been thinking of someone maybe smaller and quicker than Notre Dame’s 6-6, 292-pound offensive line signee. But I am absolutely going with Mars (Pa.) High’s Michael Carmody. He is an outstanding athlete.

Carmody is a standout basketball player, and given his size you would imagine that Carmody would just hang out in and around the paint and get boards. But my goodness, does Carmody jump well, throw down some dunks and dive all over the floor.

When I saw Carmody shoot step back threes and drive and swish a fadeaway jumper, my jaw hit the floor. His shot is smooth and he can dribble the length of the floor, too.

Carmody is a darn good athlete, and Notre Dame’s other offensive line signee, Tosh Baker, is a good hooper as well.

There are some three-star prospects who you could certainly discuss here, too, but I’m going with Denver Mullen defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina, a four-star prospect who ranks outside of the Rivals250.

This isn’t just a rankings thing either. Maybe I should call this the most under-appreciated or the signee who isn’t talked about enough instead of underrated.

I think this young man is an absolute stud. His potential is high, and I also think his potential to be a bust is low. Keanaaina trains extremely hard and is getting very good teaching at Six Zero Strength & Fitness.

I wouldn’t rule him out from being able to compete for playing time as a true freshman.

This goes to the prospect who I think if he pans out, he’ll be really, really good, but there’s also a real bust potential. It’s high ceiling, low floor situation.

A part of this also is what position Southaven (Miss.) High’s Caleb Offord will play at the next level. He is long, but I’m not convinced that he is a cornerback at the next level. I think he could be a really good safety, though, with his length and how well he can run.

Offord is a nice player; don’t get me wrong. I went down and visited him in September and watched one of his games. He is a gamer and a good tackler, but he got beat for a touchdown when the opposing quarterback scrambled his way, and Offord just let his man run behind him wide open for a score. I thought he looked like a fine prospect, but needs a lot of work.

If Offord finds a fit in the Notre Dame defense and develops, I think he will end up the best defensive back of the Irish’s four defensive back recruits in the 2020 class.

What can’t Xavier Watts do?

He may not be asked to play on the offensive line, but otherwise, this is a young man who could excel at any skill position offensively or defensively. Put on the film and just watch him make plays all over the field.

The star recruit from Omaha (Neb.) Burke has big-time skills as a wide receiver and is a playmaker in the secondary, too. I love when recruits can play at a high level at multiple positions. Not only because they can move to a different spot if need be, but also knowing how to play other positions makes the prospect a smarter football player.

I certainly could have gone with long snapper Alex Peitsch, who is expected to start right away with John Shannon opting not to return for a fifth year.

The next obvious choice if Isaiah Pryor, a graduate transfer safety from Ohio State. He is already living in South Bend and getting acclimated. He will be practicing with the team in the spring and should be able to make his way into the safety rotation.

Pryor played in 31 games for the Buckeyes over three seasons (2017-19), and recorded 47 tackles, two tackles for loss and an interception. He will have two years of eligibility to play, starting this fall.

Alexander Ehrensberger visited several schools in the fall of 2018 while in the United States. He saw the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Michigan, Temple, Connecticut and — of course — Notre Dame.

The Irish were just one of four schools that ended up offering the 6-7, 239-pounder though. Buffalo, Florida International and Old Dominion were the others. Those certainly are not programs that Notre Dame competes often with, but if Ehrensberger were based in the U.S. and schools could easily see him work out in person, it's easy to imagine he’d hold around 20 Power Five offers.

But whether he has four offers or 20, it doesn’t change how good of a prospect Ehresnberger is. His athleticism, speed and of course length will make him a force in Notre Dame’s defense for years to come.

There were so many good choices here, but I will go with New Canaan (Conn.) High quarterback Drew Pyne.

This was my seventh recruiting class I’ve covered as a recruiting writer, and for the first time a recruit left me a voicemail saying to call him back when I was available. Maybe other reporters have had a recruit leave a voicemail, but that was certainly a first for me.

And it was Pyne, who I probably interviewed a half-dozen times or more in just six months of being on the job here at BGI. He’s always been a willing interview and a great one.

Because he has been doing interviews since he entered high school, Pyne is an savvy veteran. He can talk for five minutes but not really say anything, while also giving great quotes.

Pyne is a great young man and his future is bright.

I felt like I had to mention Notre Dame’s five-star wide receiver Jordan Johnson. So I made up the five-star award superlative.

It goes to Notre Damezs five-star signee in the 2020 class, as you'd imagine. It just felt wrong having eight superlatives and none of them mentioning Johnson.

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