Oct. 6, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back George Atkinson III (4) runs for a touchdown as Miami Hurricanes cornerback Antonio Crawford (39) defends in the third quarter at Soldier Field. Notre Dame won 41-3. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

CBSSports confirmed what Notre Dame fans already know; George Atkinson is one of the most physically impressive players in college football. Atkinson was included on a list of the 20 craziest athletes in college football. The list includes stars like Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel and Marqise Lee.

CBSSports.com Senior Writer Bruce Feldman wrote:

“The reserve Irish running back has good size at 215 pounds to go with blazing speed. Last year, he ran a 10.36 100-meter dash at the Big East track championships. Even though it was a wind-aided time, it wasn’t much over the legal-limit and shows a gear Notre Dame football fans hadn’t seen much of in a few years.”

Feldman definitely hits the nail on the head with his analysis of the Junior Running Back. However, Atkinson has failed to develop as a technician and a student of the game. This year, he will be leaned on heavily as the Starting Running Back. He will be leaned upon even more early on while Freshman Running Backs Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston develop.

Atkinson has always been a 5-star athlete. He has electrified the Fighting Irish with his kickoff returns and his long touchdown runs. But, it is the tough yards that Atkinson has failed to get. If Atkinson has a success season, it will be because he has learned to run inside with power when it counts.

Apr 20, 2013; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Carlo Calabrese (44), defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, and safety Matthias Farley (41) celebrate after an interception by Farley in the second quarter of the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coaching staff extended an offer to 2015 Long Beach Poly Defensive Back Iman Marshall. Marshall adds the University of Notre Dame to an impressive offer list that includes Southern California, Florida State and Washington.

247Sports is the only recruiting service that currently has rankings for the 2015 class. Marshall is ranked as the 50th best recruit in the class. He is the 5th best Cornerback. Marshall is rated as the 8th best player in the state of California.

Marshall checks in at 6’2″ 195. This frame makes it seem like he will eventually play Safety as opposed to Cornerback at the collegiate level. Marshall is only 16 years old. He will probably grow a few more inches before his Freshman year.

Notre Dame historically has not done well at Long Beach Poly High School. Players from this school typically head to USC. However, Notre Dame did land Freddie Parish IV under Tyrone Willingham. Parish eventually transferred to Stephen F. Austin after his Sophomore year.

Marshall appears to be leaning towards selecting the Trojans of Southern California at this point in his recruitment. Based on information available and USC’s history with the high school, Marshall will likely make a commitment before the beginning of his Senior season.

Feb 6, 2013; Auburn, CA, USA; Eddie Vanderdoes signs the scholarship paperwork after he announced he will attend Notre Dame on national signing day at Placer High School. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

According to reports, Eddie Vanderdoes, the 305lb defensive tackle from Placer High School, CA, may be wavering from his commitment to Notre Dame.  Joe Davidson of sacbee.com posted on his blog yesterday that various sources on social media and recruiting services claiming to be close to Vanderdoes have indicated that Vanderdoes may not attend Notre Dame.

The speculation about Vanderdoes’ commitment includes academic/eligibity issues, UCLA recruitment and character flaws.  Vanderdoes father texted Joe Davidson with the following statemetn: “One thing I can tell you is grades or eligibility is not and has never been an issue. . .let people speculate, but you will be the first to know, as always, when it’s time to let people know.” Placer High School head football coach, Joe Montoya, has confirmed Vanderdoes’ father statement and reinforced that Vanderdoes not have any academic or character issues.  But neither mentioned Notre Dame.

I will wait for the truth to come from Eddie Vanderdoes himself and will not speculate on the rumors circulating the internet.  However, one thing I can say without doubt, the loss of Vanderdoes will have huge ramifications on this football team.

If Vanderdoes decides to opt out of his commitment, the team will not feel an immediate effect as Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt will anchor the line in 2013.  But Nix and Tuitt will most likely be gone in 2014 and Notre Dame will have a huge hole in the middle of the defensive line.  Unless someone can fill that void, an area that carried the team for several years will now struggle to compete on the national level.  The underclassmen, Sheldon Day, Jarron Jones and Tony Springman along with new recuits Isaac Rochell(2013), Andrew Trumbetti(2014) and Jay Hayes (2014) will perform admirably but none of these players have the size, strength and athleticism already possessed by Vanderdoes.   In order to compensate for the loss of Vanderdoes, Brian Kelly and Bob Diaco will have to put a full-court press on the major defensive line recruits in the 2014 class.

The Vanderdoes news brings back bad memories of the unexplained decommitment or transfer of high level recruits under Kelly, most notably Aaron Lynch, Tee Shepard, Deontay Greenberry, Davonte Neal and Gunner Kiel. Let’s just hope these are rumors.