Notre Dame made some good strides yesterday. The Irish added 17 players to next year’s roster. Here’s an overview of the talent Notre Dame brought in.
"Four who were selected for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio: DL Jarron Jones, QB Gunner Kiel, RB KeiVarae Russell and DB Elijah Shumate.Five who played in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in Phoenix: DL Sheldon Day, WR Justin Ferguson, OL Mark Harrell, DB Tee Shepardand OL Ronnie Stanley.Nine members of the SuperPrep All-America Team: QB Gunner Kiel, RB KeiVarae Russell, WR Chris Brown, OL Ronnie Stanley, DL Jarron Jones, DL Sheldon Day, DBTee Shepard, DB Elijah Shumate and DB C.J. Prosise.Three members of the SuperPrep Elite 50: QB Gunner Kiel (10th), DB Tee Shepard(22nd) and DB Elijah Shumate (37th).Eight members of the MaxPreps Top 200: QB Gunner Kiel (second), DL Jarron Jones (22nd), DB Tee Shepard (39th), OL Ronnie Stanley (116th), DL Sheldon Day(119th), DB Elijah Shumate (149th), WR Justin Ferguson (175th) and RB KeiVarae Russell (183rd).Five members of the ESPNU 150: QB Gunner Kiel (52nd), WR Justin Ferguson (85th), DB Tee Shepard (90th), DL Jarron Jones (102nd) and DL Sheldon Day(143rd).Eight members of the Rivals.com 250: QB Gunner Kiel (20th), DB Tee Shepard (76th), DB Elijah Shumate (113th), RB KeiVarae Russell (124th), OL Ronnie Stanley (176th), RB Will Mahone (197th), DL Jarron Jones (199th) and DL Sheldon Day(244th).Nine members of the Scout.com Top 300: QB Gunner Kiel (38th), DB Tee Shepard (39th), DL Sheldon Day(50th), DB Elijah Shumate (55th), OL Ronnie Stanley (66th), RB Will Mahone (201st), RB KeiVarae Russell (207th), DL Jarron Jones (229th) and DB CJ Prosise (276th).Seven members of the 247Sports Top 247: QB Gunner Kiel (24th), DB Tee Shepard(50th), DL Sheldon Day(81st), DB Elijah Shumate (103rd), DL Jarron Jones (107th), RB KeiVarae Russell (122nd) and OL Ronnie Stanley (145th).One recipient of their state’s respective Mr. Football player of the year awards: QB Gunner Kiel(Indiana).One Gatorade State Football Player of the Year: QB Gunner Kiel (Indiana). Three members of Tacoma News Tribune Western 100: RB KeiVarae Russell, DB Tee Shepard and OL Ronnie Stanley.–According to Notre Dame’s Official Athletic Site."
As a group, Notre Dame’s class is ranked 10th in the nation by ESPN. There are a few players Notre Dame is glad to see sign. The most important one could be Gunner Kiel. He may be a future starting quarterback for Notre Dame, something they are missing right now (Rees, Hendrix, etc.). I hope he turns out great, that would make this class a very successful one.
One recruit that ND missed out on was wide receiver Deontay Greenberry. He was thought to sign for Notre Dame, but he ended up going to Houston. Usually Notre Dame doesn’t loose players to non-major conference teams like Houston, but Greenberry liked his relationship with the wide receiver’s coach at Houston. Also, Greenberry said he felt he was going to ND because his cousin, Tee Shepard was going there. Hopefully, Notre Dame will find a receiver who can fill the gap Michael Floyd had when he was at South Bend.
My overall grade
B+
All in all, this is a good class for Notre Dame. I would have made it an A if Deontay Greenberry would have signed for Notre Dame, but you can’t always get what you want. Let’s hope this class brings success to Notre Dame for the next 4 years!