Prospect Evaluation: Notre Dame Commitment Justin Brent

Nov. 17, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; A Notre Dame flag waves in the first quarter of the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 38-0. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE

The 4 star recruit committed to Notre Dame this past July. He was the second player of the 2014 class to commit to Notre Dame and now they have 3 total commits after the end of the regular season. As of now he is considered the best player Notre Dame has for the 2014 season. He could be the playmaker at wide receiver that the Irish have been looking for.

Strengths

Standing at 6’3’’ and 193 pounds he is a smaller version of Michael Floyd who was arguably one of the better receivers to play at Notre Dame. I was just comparing size not skill for the record. Rivals.com has Brent running a 4.6 40 yards dash, but he is very quick of the release, which is very important for a receiver. He is not very physical at this time, but I think that will come, since he will be adding muscle weight throughout college. One of his best attributes would be his adjustments to the ball when it is in the air. Brent’s quarterback would pretty much throw it up for grabs and hope he could make a play on the ball, which most of the time he does. There is one specific play when Brent runs a comeback and the quarterback over throws him and puts it high in the air and since he adjusted to the throw he made the catch in front of the defender. This is what makes the elite wide receivers the best, their ability to adjust on the fly. This is normally used in jump ball situations and you watch Eifert do it almost every Saturday. Now depending on how the 2013 class recruits develop will determine where this guy will play, but don’t forget he is only a junior in high school. With one more year left and room for improvement and success, he could easily improve to one of the elite receivers in the class.

Weaknesses

By the time Brent gets to Notre Dame I would like to see him around 200-205, which is very possible with a year or so left before he would attend Notre Dame. This would make him an even better player by helping him with blocking, jump balls, and the overall toll that football takes on the body. His blocking needs to be much better. The thing about Michael Floyd is that he was a great blocker downfield and that is what made him a complete player. For Brent to be a complete player he must be able to block and maintain that block. He could improve his speed a little more, but 4.6 40 yard dash is solid. With a year to improve look for nothing but improvement from this guy.

Overall, a young recruit that needs some work like all of them, but he has a year of high school left to polish his skills. Improve blocking, strength, and some speed and you could see this guy as a top five wide receiver for 2014.