SIGNED: OL Andrew Kristofic

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Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland offensive lineman Andrew Kristofic has submitted his National Letter of Intent to Notre Dame.

Rivals: 4.0 stars (No. 5 player in Pennsylvania and No. 27 offensive tackle nationally)
BGI Grade: 4.0 (top-100 player)
Upside Grade: 5.0

• Paved the way for the Rams to average 349.9 yards and 34.6 points per game as a senior. Also recorded 25 tackles and 7.0 sacks on defense.
• Part of a Pine-Richland line that helped the Rams averaged more than 480 yards and 47 points per game in 2017 on the way to the Class 6A state title.
• Registered 41 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks as a junior.
• Helped Pine-Richland averaged more than 450 yards and 34.5 points per game in 2016.

• Selected to play in 2019 All-American Bowl.
• 2018 all-conference selection.
• Selected to ALL-USA Pennsylvania first-team offense by USA Today High School Sports in 2017.
• Pennsylvania Football Writers Class 6A All-State first-team selection on offense.

Power Five Offers: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Northwestern, Boston College, Iowa, West Virginia, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Virginia

Though he had not made a visit to South Bend at the time of the offer, Notre Dame appeared to be a strong contender from the beginning for Kristofic. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was already good friends with his teammate and Irish 2018 quarterback signee Phil Jurkovec.

Though offered while Harry Hiestand was still part of the program, Kristofic quickly hit it off Jeff Quinn, which only helped the Irish’s chances in the long run.

Kristofic made it to Notre Dame in late March and told BGI it was the best trip he had been on to at that point, which sealed the Irish as the team to beat. The Pennsylvanian made trips to Ohio State and Clemson in early April before another unofficial to check out the Irish program later that month. Kristofic left that trip as a Notre Dame commit.

There was no doubting the strength of Kristofic's commitment to head coach Brian Kelly and company. He will be part of what is likely to be considered one of the top offensive line hauls in the 2019 class.

• Kristofic's father, Dave, played offensive line at Pittsburgh.
• Will early enroll at Notre Dame.
• Also played basketball at Pine-Richland, helping the team reach the Class 6A semifinals as a junior.

With four returning starters and all the depth expected to return along the offensive line, expect Kristofic to redshirt as a freshman in 2019.

When you have a discussion about players with the most upside — or the most long-term potential — in the 2019 class it must include Kristofic. He has all the tools you look for in an elite offensive lineman.

Kristofic is a talented player, but there is still a wide gap between what he is and what he can be. He is a two-way player in high school and he played basketball until his senior season, and those two realities mean he hasn’t developed his overall line technique or his body the way he would have if he just played offensive line. There is a lot of technique work needed from him — more than we see from the other three linemen in this class — but all of the physical tools are absolutely there.

Kristofic has a really impressive frame, possessing elite length and a good build. He is listed at 260 pounds, but he seemed bigger than that as a senior, and getting up the 300-plus pounds won’t be difficult. He has relatively strong hands, but building up his frame and weight room strength will be a must for him. Once the weight room strength catches up to the natural tools his ability to dominate in the run game will explode.

Improving his pad level and bending more at the knees than the waist (which he is more than capable of doing) are the first two keys for Kristofic. What I like about his blocking technique already is that he really does a good job using his hands. He understands the importance of keeping defenders off his body and using his hands to keep defenders at bay.

This especially helps him in the pass game. Kristofic is a pure tackle from a size/athleticism standpoint, and he has a good feel for how to handle protection.

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