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Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Is Jay Bramblett The Next Great Irish Punter?

By Carlee North

EAST LANSING, MI - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches the warm ups prior to the start of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on September 23, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches the warm ups prior to the start of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on September 23, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame football got a commit from a solid special teams weapon.

The shoes are in the process of being filled for one of the best punters to play for Notre Dame football — Tyler Newsome.

Jay Bramblett out of Alabama has committed to the Irish in the Class of 2019. Even though he’s from Tuscaloosa, he wasn’t really all that interested in Alabama. I also don’t believe the Alabama staff ever focused on him and it rubbed him the wrong way.

Bramblett took a visit to South Bend this past weekend and clearly it did wonders.

Special teams coach Brian Polian really likes what this kid is all about both on and off the field and wanted him next in line as an Irish punter. He’s got pretty big shoes to fill though, with Tyler Newsome — a captain — heading into his last year at Notre Dame

Newsome has average around 44 yards per punt with 51 punts being downed inside the 20 yard line.

According to the Chris Sailing kicking, Bramblett was the 2018 GA Fall Camp Punt Champion and 2018 GA Fall Camp Overall Champion.

What will Bramblett bring to South Bend?

The 6’2, 180-pound punter has a big-time leg. To be honest, he should have no issue picking up right where Newsome leaves off after this season. It gets overlooked — especially with how recruiting sites rank the top kickers and punters in the nation — but special teams is a major part of winning football games. That said, Bramblett is a very big get for this position.

He looks already looks like a college-ready Division 1 punter. He has a great stride and seems to have high confidence whenever the ball is snapped in his direction.

The biggest negative I see when I watch punters is that they tend to shy away from the ball coming off their foot or they take too many unnecessary steps. Bramblett, however, seems to always have his step count down and absolutely drives his foot into the ball.

Averaging around 45 yards per punt is pretty darn solid for a high school punter and his strength is only going to get better once he gets into his college workout routine.

With Notre Dame getting its special teams guy, the class now has 11 commits and has a consensus Top 10 class throughout all the recruiting rankings. At this mark, I think the class is half way finished, with a ton of big prospects left for the Irish to land.

June could be a big month, so stay tuned and continue to check out Slap The Sign for more updates on Notre Dame football recruiting.

Next: A Quick Look at Brian Kelly's Numbers

Pictures from Bramblett’s Notre Dame visit:

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