Notre Dame, as usual, was well represented in the various all star games this year and several Notre Dame commitments improved their stock on recruiting sites with impressive performances.
In all, Davaris Daniels, Ben Councell, Everett Golson, Kyle Brindza, Jarrett Grace, Brad Carrico, Eliar Hardy, Ishaq Williams, George Atkinson, Aaron Lynch, and Ben Koyack played in all stars games such as the Army All American Bowl, Under Armour All America Game, Offense-Defense All American Bowl, and the Shrine Bowl.
Off all of those commitments, three stood out to Rivals when they put together their list of the 10 biggest surprises of the all star game season – Ishaq Williams, Aaron Lynch, and Ben Councell.
Williams was listed as the #10 surprise by Rivals.
He had no strength issues going against offensive tackles, and his speed off the edge was too much for them to handle. What gives Williams that additional boost is that he is relentless in his pursuit of the football and he was the most consistent of the defensive ends in stringing out the run at the Army Bowl as well. He is athletic enough to stand up and play linebacker but also strong enough to play with his hand down.
Lynch came in at #3
Lynch is tough and fearless and, although he sometimes overruns plays, his intensity was unmatched on the East team. His first step was the best throughout the week and his outside move couldn’t be stopped even when everyone knew it was coming.
And the biggest surprise of the all star games, according to Rivals, was Ben Councell.
Councell entered the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas as a guy rumored to be underrated as a mid-level three-star guy. He left it as one of the top prospects in the nation. Playing outside linebacker in the 3-4 set required of the defenses at the game, Councell flourished and likely should have been named the Defensive MVP for his team with 13 tackles.
With the final Rivals rankings for the season coming out soon, Williams and Lynch should get consideration for a 5th star while Councell seems like a lock to get bumped up to 4-stars based on their review. Stephon Tuitt is just outside 5-star status on Rivals now and played well enough in the Army All American Bowl that he could be in line for a 5th star too.
Of the other three star commitments for Notre Dame right now, Everett Golson, Chase Hounshell, and Anthony Rabasa seem the most likely to receive a 4th star from Rivals, but it’s anyone’s guess who, if any three star commits see their star status improve.
Besides Huggins, who else we going after?
If we get Huggins along with everyone else……great things will be on the horizon for us! Go Irish! Congrats to the women’s soccer team!
Too bad about Tuitt, but frankly I can’t imagine Ishaq not outgrowing the LB position and ending up at DE. I think we are strong at DE but it is hard to ever say you won’t miss a last minute 5 star that disappears on you.
Get Diaco and Alford down there QUICK!
wtf
Tuitt just de-committed to GA Tech. I wish him luck, but I think ND is stacked at DE in this class.
WOW that sucks. our future dline just went from elite, BCS worthy to above average….i wonder if this influences ishaq to stay at olb or go to de
He’ll stay there. They have Rabasa and a couple others in this class to step in. They retained enough elite talent for one recruiting session, particularly at that position. Unfortunately, I’m greedy and wanted Tuitt, Drew, and Clowney to commit too! haha, why the hell not!
What a crazy season thats all im going to say. For this team to end up finishing 8-5 considering the low points of this season ie the navy and tulsa games this team rose up and showed a toughness and an ability to play a complete game down the strech which lets be honest this team had not shown that the last 3 years and counting, but they did to end the season. I give coach Kelly and his staff alot of credit esp coach DiAco the D improved so much the second half the season. And to this senior class who had been getting murdered for being part of the worst 4 year streches in school history showed up at the end of there careers. 3 guys who made the most of that were Brian Smith, Harrison Smith and Duval Kamara with his td catches against utah and usc. This class coming in is very impressive with some of the guys that have re-commited and some of the new committs esp on the defensive side of the ball. I am looking forword to this offseason there are going to be some great postion battles in camp esp at QB with all the quaterbacks we have its going to be something to watch. I dont know how the TOMMY GUN Tommy Rees is not the starter next with the way he played love his poise and mentallity to run this spread offence. Two guys to look out for next year Chris Watt #66 at left guard as the season went on he was taking alot of playing time away from Chris Stewart this kid is a BEAST!!!. And on the other side of the ball I think Louis Nix #67 who red-shirted is going to start at nose tackle taking over for one of the most under rated players at the school in the last many years in Ian Williams. Cannot wait for the first game against South Florida next year but im also looking forword to seeing some of these postion battles in camp GO IRISH!!!!!!!
I need to say this about Kelly. I was a huge CW supporter. When many of you were bashing CW during his last season I said BK will get a rude awakening at ND. He did get a rude awakening at ND, but he was able to make adjustments, keep the program together and only have 3 kids transfer out of the program. My biggest concern when ND hired him was recruiting. He is a better recruiter than Weis. He recruits to the needs of the program. He said the Irish were slow on the edge, look at how many players he has recruited on the edge. He runs a tight ship and gets his players to buy into his philosophy. He loves ND and wants to be there for a long time. I am excited about the future and am impressed with his staffs ability to recruit.
You can’t help but be impressed with the recruting class so far. It is amazing and chock full of DL and OL, and some that can play either way. Well done by the coaching staff.