All 10 recruits from the Eastern Timezone have signed their LOI's. As I said it's expected that all 17 will be in the fold by the end of the day. The only one up in the air is the CB from Calif, Ramon Henderson, who has to have the "reveal" at a press conference at his school this afternoon.
Here's what Mike Frank has to say about TE recruit Mike Mayer. He considers Mayer, Tyree, Baker, Bothelo and Johnson as the elite talent in this class. It's a members only article otherwise I'd post a link. I see Mayer as a cross between Kyle Rudolph and Tyler Eifert. He will be bigger like Rudolph, but I think his athleticism eclipses Rudolph. That’s saying quite a bit, but yes, I think he’s that talented. He’s also very advanced as a route-runner, has great hands, knows how to use his body to shield defenders. He’s the most natural and gifted tight end Notre Dame has signed, in my opinion, since I’ve been covering them. I expect him to play right away and often next year.
Yeah, we are getting one of if not THE best TE recruits in the country in this class. I like the Tyree kid at RB too and Bothelo at DE is a scary young man. Small class but a very good class. With what we have at SB already on offense and you add what is coming in this class and the next there would seem to be no reason why a lot of potential really good OCs wouldn't be calling Kelly for the job. Maybe they already have. Actually my interest in the upcoming bowl game has elevated with Chip Long already gone. I'm really curious to see how the offense reacts to Rees as the play caller for at least one game. I didn't realize that a lot of the players really didn't seem to like Long very much.
So all have signed that can sign, only Bothelo who can't sign till later this morning, Noon EST and of course Ramone Henderson who has his event at 4:30 EST, most think he will sign with the Irish but it's not a lock.
This morning I read an article in The Athletic on Chris Tyree. It was well written and informative. I concluded that there's much more to this young man than blinding speed. I look forward to seeing him on the field.
Looks like we finish with 18 total for the day as the Henderson kid from Caly finally signed. Stagflation really seem to like him a lot. Could play CB or safety.
We were at #13 this morning. But OU dropped to #11 and Fla moved up to their slot and ND jumped over Texas in to the #9 slot that the Gators had this morning.
Really I think more important than rankings is that we got several elite players. Especially on offense.
Stanford now has 12 in the transfer portal! Costello was the latest. Now you have Emmitt Smith's son making Stanford his choice today. Talk about jumping aboard a sinking ship!!
Coming from the southern perspective here, as odd as this seems for me, I've read account after account about ND's incoming TE (Mayer). The kid is ranked as a 4 star. Many of the people who have seen him claim that if he isn't a 5 star, there's no such thing. I'll wait until I see him myself, but I have a feeling that in 3 years time, people will be citing him as a '5 star prospect' and people will forget that he was actually a 4 star. Either way, on paper, I'm pretty happy with this class. Like all recruiting classes, we'll see.
Corey, Mayer is suppose to be the real deal and rated about as high a 4 star as you can get without being a five. 1 of the top 2 or three TE in the country and the number 37 player overall. We got a good one.
I saw an article on the NFL grades that some ND players received. Book surprisingly got a grade that indicated he'd be a late round draft choice. I figure he'll be an UDFA. Claypool is projected as a 3rd or 4th rounder Kmet is projected as a high 2nd round or late 1st round. Kareem is projected as a 3rd/4th rounder Okawara is 2nd rounder maybe 1st rounder. Gilman is likely a late rounder or UDFA Unless one of the guys surprises the staff it appears that all hands will be on deck for the Camping World Bowl, no declining to play to protect their NFL draft future. Everybody expects Book to come back, but for some reason he's not made that announcement. Jan 20th is the deadline for declaring for the NFL draft. Sounds like we will have to wait till January after the bowls to find out about the OCoord position and any other staff changes.
SWAG for the Camping World Bowl.. Camping World Bowl Dec. 28, noon, ABC (Orlando): Gift suite includes $400 Best Buy gift card; watch; Herschel backpack with luggage tag