Recruiting Review: Notre Dame's 2015 Class
A popular inquiry among Fighting Irish faithful every signing day has been, “Is Notre Dame closing the gap against the top powers (specifically Alabama)?”
On paper, the realistic answer is not really. Schools such as Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, LSU, Clemson … recruit more consistently at a top 5 level. Notre Dame inks a top 5 class every so often (2008 and 2013 the most recent), but not often enough to be on the same tier.
That’s not to say it can’t be a Playoff contender. Stanford has been a little below Notre Dame’s recruiting level and has become a top-10 program over the past seven years. Michigan State and Oklahoma, who haven’t recruited at the same level on paper as Notre Dame, made it to the 2015 Playoff.
However, the 2015 recruiting haul (the juniors in 2017) is an example of the differences that exist. Notre Dame’s 24-man class was ranked No. 11 by Rivals.com’s, signing zero five stars, 13 four stars and 11 three stars.
In contrast, Alabama signed four five-star players, 15 four stars and five three stars — and USC was just about the same with four, 17 and five, respectively. Florida State among its 20 players inked five who were five stars and 10 who were given four stars.
The last three recruiting classes at Notre Dame all were rated No. 11 (2014 and 2015) or 12 (2016), meaning that the operation can well be in the conversation when it comes to Playoff aspirations. Still, from purely a talent perspective, certain schools remain a cut above.
The 2015 harvest now enters the crucial junior season and has seen its number signed that year reduced from 24 to 21. However, it actually is 22 because former preferred walk-on Chris Finke was awarded a football scholarship last August.
This was the original 24-man group:
Quarterback: Brandon Wimbush
Running Backs: Josh Adams, Dexter Williams
Receivers: Miles Boykin, Jalen Guyton (enrolled at North Texas last year), CJ Sanders, Equanimeous St. Brown
Tight End: Alize Mack
Offensive Line: Tristen Hoge, Trevor Ruhland
Defensive Line: Micah Dew-Treadway, Elijah Taylor, Brandon Tiassum, Jerry Tillery, Bo Wallace (never attended Notre Dame and enrolled at Arizona State)
Linebackers: Josh Barajas, Asmar Bilal, Te’von Coney
Cornerback: Shaun Crawford
Safeties: Nick Coleman, Nicco Fertitta, Mykelti Williams (transferred to Syracuse this year), Ashton White
Kicker: Justin Yoon
Here are the top 3 storylines of this class:
1. This is starting to look like the 2006-08 Charlie Weis classes with the star power on offense but not enough on defense.
• Adams’ 1,768 yards rushing (6.4 yards per carry) are the fourth-most ever by a Notre Dame back entering his junior year.
• St. Brown exploded on to the scene as a sophomore with a team-high 58 catches that averaged 16.6 yards and included nine TDs.
• Mack (formerly Jones) was a freshman standout at tight end in 2015 with crucial, long fourth-quarter grabs to set up the game-winning TDs against USC and Temple. After sitting out 2016 because of academic suspension, Mack was referred to as “uncoverable” at times by Irish head coach Brian Kelly this spring.
• Sanders’ four TD returns on kicks or punts are two short of the school record, with two more years to go.
• Physically, Wimbush might be the most gifted QB in the Kelly era — although “the next” QB always tends to be. He will have an opportunity to prove it over the next two years, but he is both faster and has a stronger arm than recent second-round selection DeShone Kizer.
Furthermore, the 6-4, 225-pound Boykin had as strong a 2017 spring as anyone at receiver (his five catches for 102 yards paced the team in the Blue-Gold Game) while ostensibly coming into his own, and Finke tallied touchdowns in each of his last two games. He likewise could challenge Sanders for the top punt return role. But …
2. …For this class to take a higher step in balance and production, a lot of defensive players must emerge in the next two years.
Tillery is the focal figure here — yet many scouts would have told you his best position would have been left tackle on offense. A two-year starter or co-starter already, Tillery improved his tackle total from 12 as a freshman to 37 as a sophomore. He’s moved into the “solid college football player” arena, but how high will his ceiling reach?
In addition to Tillery preferring defense, another reason he’s on that side of the ball is because the three other tackles signed that season were developmental players who needed time. Unfortunately, Taylor suffered a Lisfranc injury this spring, and Dew-Treadway and Tiassum have yet to see a snap their first two seasons.
At linebacker, Coney finished fourth in tackles (62) for the 4-8 Irish and had a pretty good spring — but senior captain Martini excelled and moved to the top spot at the Buck position.
Crawford has had the potential to be the best cover man on the team, but he’s seen just under five quarters worth of football in his career because of season ending injuries in 2015 (ACL) and 2016 (Achilles). Those were two huge setbacks to the plans in the secondary. He was able to do some work this spring, but getting back into the contact aspect this August and fall is another hurdle he will need to overcome.
Coleman fell to third team at cornerback last fall, but under the new defensive coaches this spring he was one of the top surprises while becoming the top strong safety. How it translates to game production remains to be seen.
3. Depth and health, as always, will help determine this class’ overall impact.
Reserves such as running back Williams, rover Bilal and everyone along the offensive and defensive fronts eventually could take this from an average group by Notre Dame standards to above average.
Adams, St. Brown, Mack and Wimbush can become a powerful nucleus of playmakers on offense. It is probably the best quarterback-running back-receiver-tight end quartet signed at Notre Dame in one class since 2008 under Weis with five-star recruits Dayne Crist, Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph, plus running back Jonas Gray.
However, top recruiting classes cannot be measured solely by a handful of players, but the quality depth and balance provided across the board on offense, defense and special teams. The latter would include Yoon, who converted 28 of his 34 field-goal attempts his first two seasons to rank among the most accurate kickers in Irish annals so far. He was sidelined this spring to rest his foot/leg, but the projection (and hope) is he can return to form by August and during the 2017 campaign.
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