Signing a full 11-man unit at each position on one side of the football seldom occurs. Yet Notre Dame achieved this on both offense and defense during the 2021 recruiting cycle, and added a kicker to boot (no pun intended).
Last year’s effort on offense measured up as the best on paper in the Brian Kelly era, and the huge impact of tight end Michael Mayer and complementary role of running back Chris Tyree were vital during Notre Dame’s second advancement to the College Football Playoff in three years.
Down the road, this 2021 haul one could even be better collectively in our grading system.
A — College Football Playoff Contention
B — Top-10 Viability
C — Top-25 Viability
D — Trying To Be Bowl Eligible
Quarterback
Signed/Rivals Ranking: Tyler Buchner (No. 111 nationally, 5.9) and Ron Powlus III (three stars, 5.5)
Meeting Needs: Every school wants to sign one signal-caller in each cycle, and the Fighting Irish landed their top target in California native Buchner. His top ranking reached No. 42 last spring, and the main inquiry last then was whether he would become Notre Dame’s first five-star recruit at the position since Gunner Kiel in 2012.
That was prior to issues about his mechanics/accuracy — which sounded similar to 2018 top-100 recruit Phil Jurkovec, now the starter at Boston College — at the Elite 11 camp in Nashville that dropped his rating.
Buchner is now ranked slightly above 2020 recruit Drew Pyne (No. 118), but at 6-2, 205 he possesses more size, and his mobility with 1,610 yards rushing as a junior is highly valued considering that the departing Ian Book’s 1,462 yard rushing in his career so far have been so integral to the program’s success.
