Prospect Evaluation: Notre Dame Target Eddie Vanderdoes
By Nick Combs
Sep 8, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish nose guard Louis Nix (9) attempts to tackle Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Raheem Mostert (8) as Purdue center Rick Schmeig (76) defends in the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 20-17. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
It has been reported that it will all come down to Alabama and Notre Dame on national signing day on February 6th. Vanderdoes said he will not be talking to anyone from the media until next Wednesday. Coach Kelly does have an in home visit scheduled before national signing day and he will be able to gage where Eddie stands. If you watched any of the Army All-American game you would have seen Vanderdoes just dominating offensive linemen the entire game. Many Notre Dame people compare him to a Louis Nix, even though Eddie stated that the Irish don’t plan to use him at nose tackle, but as a defensive end. He would be a great fit for the nose tackle position and really cause havoc like Nix does, but I’m sure wherever they put him he will have an impact.
Evaluation
At 6’3’’ 310 pounds the man is very hard to move. As the 2nd ranked defensive tackle and the 21st best player in the nation he has a lot of hype to him. There are many defensive tackles that just clog up the middle, but are no real threat as a pass rusher or making plays after getting off blocks. Vanderdoes isn’t the typical defensive tackle, but one that has the skills to make plays when he needs to and hold the offensive linemen off of the linebackers. Most of last year Nix commanded a double team which would leave a linebacker free. Vanderdoes will be the same way, and when sometimes the double teams won’t even work. This guy would give Notre Dame’s recruiting class the boost to number one in the nation, but also one of the best classes in a long time. The Army All-American game is when he showed the nation what he is really about and that is domination. Only 8 days until we find out where Vanderdoes will attend college and hopefully he will be wearing blue and gold coming this fall.
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