SIGNED: CB Isaiah Rutherford

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Carmichael (Calif.) Jesuit cornerback Isaiah Rutherford has submitted his National Letter of Intent to Notre Dame.

Rivals: 4.0 stars (No. 15 recruit in California, and No. 10 cornerback and No. 101 overall player nationally)
BGI Grade: 4.0 (top-250 player)
Upside Grade: 4.5

Posted a 4.69 40-yard dash, 4.22 shuttle, 34.7-foot power ball toss and 38.0-inch vertical jump at Nike Football’s The Opening San Francisco Regional this spring.

SENIOR SEASON: Compiled 678 yards and 12 touchdowns on 90 carries, and added 185 yards and four scores on 11 receptions. Also made 14 tackles on defense.

JUNIOR SEASON: Rushed for 1,468 yards and 17 touchdowns on 169 attempts, while recording 27 stops and two interceptions on defense.

• 2019 Polynesian Bowl Section.
• 2018 NFF All-Sac-Joaquin Section first-team defense.
• 2017 MaxPreps All Sac-Joaquin Section Team and Junior Player of the Year.
• 2017 MaxPreps All-Northern California Football Team All-Purpose selection.
• 2017 Sacramento Bee All-Metro first-team offense as a running back.

Power Five Offers: Alabama, Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Illinois, LSU, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Purdue, Tennessee, USC, Utah and Washington State

It was quite the recruitment between the Irish and the four-star cornerback. In late July, Rutherford narrowed down his recruitment to Cal, LSU, Oklahoma and Oregon leaving the Irish out, who had offered back in the summer of 2017.

But cornerbacks coach Todd Lyght and special teams coordinator Brian Polian didn’t slow down their pursuit, which eventually led to Rutherford wanting to take an official visit to South Bend. He made that trip during the weekend of Sept. 1 when Notre Dame hosted Michigan. The Irish gave him a lot to think about and was the beginning of the road to his eventual pledge.

Two weeks later, Rutherford made it out to Colorado for an official and came away impressed with their program as well. A trip to Oregon, a program seen as a major threat to land his commitment, was planned for the next week.

However, Rutherford did not take the trip. That seemed to open the door even more when it came to the possibility Notre Dame would land the nation’s No. 9 cornerback and No. 83 overall player.

Rutherford announced his pledge to the Irish Oct. 15 over the Bears, Tigers, Sooners, Ducks and Buffs.

• Son of former Cal and NFL running back Reynard Rutherford.
• First scholarship offer came from Alabama.

Like Noah Boykin and D.J. Brown in 2018, expect Rutherford to preserve a season of eligibility as a true freshman in 2019.

Rutherford is a very long and agile defender that brings a lot of tools to the table. More of a running back early in his career, the 6-2 athlete has really grown his cornerback skills over the last year. He is learning how to use his length as a weapon at the line, but once he gets into the route he already does a great job using it to thrive in coverage.

He is rangy as a runner, which allows him to cover a lot of ground. That allows him to effectively catch up to receivers if he gets beat at the line and it allows him to still make plays on the ball even when receivers have a step on him.

The Jesuit star has loose hips and is a nimble athlete. Once his stance, technique and footwork improves his ability to be a threat at the line of scrimmage will improve. As it stands right now, Rutherford's game projects quite well as an off-coverage defender that can open up and run but also plant and drive down on the football. He'll need to get a lot stronger and really work on his tackling ability in the run game, but he has the range to be a good tackler.

Rutherford is a very good athlete but right now his lack of ideal downfield speed keeps his grade down a bit. The reason his upside grade is so high is because long athletes like him tend to get a boost in explosiveness and speed once they get into a college strength program.

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