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Notre Dame Recruiting Week In Review: January 15-22

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This is the Notre Dame recruiting week in review, where we'll recap all the happenings from the past week in the world of Irish football recruiting.

We'll go over new offers, official and unofficial visitors and additional news and notes. The recap will be posted every Monday afternoon, and as we dive into the class of 2019, plenty of new offers and visitors should come about.

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OFFICIAL VISITORS 

Keys finally made it to Notre Dame this weekend, and left calling the Irish his leader, despite planned trips to Texas and SMU over the next two weekends.

During the visit, Keys and his mother met with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, and Keys said Kelly is the best coach he's met. Kelly and his staff have been on Keys for a long time, and have made him a priority since they offered him back in February.

Keys has Notre Dame on the top of his list, but maintains he will take his final two visits and announce his decision on National Signing Day on February 7.

Kelly will use his in-home visit with Keys on Thursday.

Ojomo is a relatively new target for Notre Dame, having picked up an offer from the Irish on Dec. 21. The Texas talent expressed initial interest in Notre Dame, but has not said much publicly since.

Notre Dame got Ojomo on campus this weekend, but at this point, not much is known about his recruitment or where the Irish stand with him. Ojomo has visited Texas and Oklahoma recently, and on the hoof seems more likely to stay in that region for his college days.

The Irish coaching staff will likely continue to push for Ojomo down the stretch, but Notre Dame most likely has some work to do to have him end up in the class.

Coming into the visit, Patterson had a top two of UCLA and Michigan, but Notre Dame made a big move with the California talent during his official visit and are definitely a major player in his recruitment.

Patterson said his visit to Notre Dame exceeded his expectations, and the unfortunate situation of the Irish not having an offensive line coach in place actually wound up being a positive for Patterson.

Having taken official visits to all three of his finalists, Patterson will now enter decision mode, and plans on making a commitment announcement on either Feb. 1 or Feb. 2 after staffs from all three schools conduct in-home visits with him over the next week.

NEW 2018 OFFERS 

The Skinny: Notre Dame offered Eason on Jan. 17, and is working to get him on campus for an official visit soon.

Though he remains committed to N.C. State, who he gave his verbal pledge to on July 28, Eason has expressed interest in the Irish since the offer, and is a fan of defensive line coach Mike Elston.

The Virginian listed Maryland, Wake Forest, Rutgers and UCF as other programs still pushing for his services.

As BGI reported first last week, Notre Dame running backs coach Autry Denson conducted an in-home visit with Flemister on Wednesday and put an offer on the table.

The Georgia Tech commit was fired up to get the offer, and will take an official visit to Notre Dame this weekend. Flemister committed to Georgia Tech on Dec. 15, but chose not to sign during the Early Signing Period due to interest from Tennessee.

Flemister visited Tennessee last weekend, will visit Notre Dame this weekend and then enter final decision mode.

Flemister was excited to land the offer, and if he an find what he sees as a fit in South Bend this weekend, the Irish should have a good chance of landing his signature come Feb. 7.

NEW 2019 OFFERS 

The 6-9, 301-pounder also has offers from Wisconsin, Michigan, Duke, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Northwestern and UCLA, among others.

Rivals ranks Benhart as the No. 32 offensive tackle in the 2019 class.

Benhart is the eighth 2019 offensive lineman to add a Notre Dame offer to his list and is the first since Harry Hiestand left to join the Chicago Bears. The complete list of 2019 Irish offers including offensive linemen can be FOUND HERE.

The 6-0, 180-pounder also holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and many others.

The Irish also offered his fellow 2019 teammate Jalyn Phillips today. Phillips is rated as a three-star prospect and No. 20 safety in the class. Archer is also the home of Notre Dame 2018 cornerback target Taiyon Palmer.

The 5-11, 165-pounder also holds early offers from Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan State, UNC, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Penn State, South Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest, among others.

Burrell ranks as the No. 40 player in the Peach State and the No. 39 cornerback in the 2019 class per Rivals. His Hudl page lists a 4.53 40-yard dash time, along with a 4.25 shuttle and 38-inch vertical.

According to MaxPreps, Burrell recorded 26 total tackles (one for loss), five interceptions, 11 passes defended and a fumble recovery this past season as a junior. He returned one of those interceptions for a touchdown.

The 6-foot-2, 193-pound Dixon holds additional offers from schools like Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, NC State, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Syracuse, Wisconsin and several others.

Dixon is familiar with Notre Dame, and took an unofficial visit to South Bend in the 2017 season when the Irish hosted Georgia on Sept. 9.

Dixon is the fifth outside linebacker in the class of 2019 to pick up an offer from Notre Dame.

The 5-11, 188-pounder also holds offers from Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers and Temple, among others, and will visit Notre Dame for Junior Day.

Metchie said he wants to get a feel for how the school and the program operates and work on building relationships with the current Irish players and coaches.

Per his Hudl page, Metchie runs a 4.45 40-yard dash and possesses a 35-inch vertical. According to MaxPreps, he caught 27 passes for 616 yards and 11 touchdowns in seven games this past season.

The 6-0, 178-pounder also holds offers from Oklahoma, Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and others.

Phillips, who ranks as the No. 20 safety in the class, is the third Peach State defensive back to land an Irish offer in the past week or so joining Atlanta Lovett cornerback K.J. Wallace and Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett cornerback Warren Burrell.

Just over a week ago, Phillips told Rivals analyst Chad Simmons that Oklahoma was his leader, so Notre Dame has some work to do now that the offer has been extended.

The 5-10, 182-pounder also holds offers from Auburn, Duke, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Penn State, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wisconsin, among others.

Wallace is ranked as the No. 53 player in Georgia and the No. 48 athlete in the 2019 class per Rivals, and will head to Notre Dame next weekend for the Junior Day on Jan. 27.

According to MaxPreps, Wallace caught 40 passes for 537 yards and six touchdowns this past season. The junior also recorded 63 tackles, one interceptions and 11 passes defended.

NEWS AND NOTES 

***Notre Dame is looking for at least one more offensive lineman in the class of 2018, and have been communicating recently with Houston Alief Taylor defensive end Joseph Ogunbanjo. An offer has not been extended yet, but one could be on the way.

***Notre Dame will hosts its first Junior Day of year on Jan.27 ,and several top 2019 prospects will be in town. Keep up with who is scheduled to attend the even on our MASTER VISIT LIST.

***The latest and final edition of the 2018 Rivals100 was released Monday, and four Notre Dame commits made the list.

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