Prospect Evaluation: Notre Dame Commitment Greg Bryant
By Nick Combs
After committing to Oklahoma in March of this year, Bryant had a change of heart and opened his recruiting back up in July and de-committed from the Sooners. Bryant is the 22nd member of the 2013 recruiting class for Notre Dame. He is the second 5 star recruit and rated as the second best player in the class for the Irish. Bryant is coming in rated as the 2nd best running back and 16th overall prospect in his class. This bumps the Irish up to 2nd overall in recruiting for the 2013 class only trailing USC.
Strengths
Standing at 5’11’’ 197 pounds Bryant is a decent size for a running back coming into college. I’m sure that the coaches want him to put on some muscle and weigh about 205 to 210. Still at his height and weight he is a physical back. In high school you would see him do everything to break a tackle, juke, spin, run over, run around, and just use plain speed to avoid defenders. He is a complete back that would remind me of a Cierre Wood, but also has good hands like Theo Riddick. I still cannot believe that he landed with the Irish, which makes me realize that Tony Alford, the running backs coach is one of the best recruiters in the country. When talking about running backs the importance of patience for the play to develop is key, which is what Bryant does very well. He lets his big men lead him to some open field and he does the rest. Will he get a chance to play next season? I think that he will get a chance, especially if Cierre doesn’t opt for another year. It would come down to George Atkinson III, Amir Carlisle, and Greg Bryant.
Weaknesses
When watching some of his film I didn’t notice much wrong with his game. He is a very polished running back that has very good technique and moves his feet well before crossing the line of scrimmage. There is one thing I worry about with high school running backs and that is when they get to college are they going to be able to pick up the blitz on third down? Now in high school Bryant would be split out on many third downs since he is such a great athlete, so he never really had to pick up blitzes. Just imagine as a freshman you have a Manti Te’o for example coming at you on a blitz, what are they odds you will make a block? Not very good and it takes a lot of practice to be able to read defensive fronts to anticipate as well.
Overall, another very good recruit that could end up seeing a good amount of playing time next fall. What many people don’t realize is that Bryant is the best offensive recruit that Notre Dame has landed since Jimmy Clausen in 2007 (who was the best recruit in his class). Expect great things from Bryant once he steps onto the Notre Dame campus.