Notre Dame recruiting: Irish land commitment from top DE target

The strong Notre Dame recruiting efforts paid major dividends today when a top defensive end recruiting target, David Abiara, committed to the Irish.

There has been a lot of news on the Notre Dame recruiting front the past few days. That trend continued Friday afternoon, when 2021 defensive end David Abiara, out of Texas, committed to Notre Dame.

Abiara was last on campus for Junior Day and was supposed to return to the South Bend campus this past weekend before everything got shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Junior day couldn’t have been better for him the first go-round!

After that visit, he racked up some big offers from powerhouse SEC schools but the Irish were going to be extremely hard to beat regardless of the education and football combination. In the end, that proved to be true when he pulled the trigger by deciding to commit to Notre Dame.

He did take a step back for a little bit once he received the additional offers but I just think the Irish we’re always going to be his choice when it was all said and done. The staff made it known that he was a top priority along the defensive line and they got the job done and locked up someone who I expect will continue making a big jump in the recruiting ranks. At the moment Abiara is currently a composite four-star prospect (.8900).

Abiara holds 22 offers right now from the likes of Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, and many other top programs. As the year unfolds, I could easily see Abiara ending up as a huge steal out of the state of Texas.

• What will David Abiara bring to South Bend?

The 6’4″ and 230-pound defensive end is what you look for along the D-line. He has great length, is very powerful and is nearly impossible to block because of how athletic he is.  What I really like is that he has the prototypical frame for a strong side defensive end, especially once he adds some weight, but he also could be really good on the weak side because of his explosiveness and ability to work in space.

The biggest thing he must improve upon is his consistency coming off the ball, which will definitely come with more experience. I would say Abiara could be a diamond in the rough for Notre Dame but because it’s still early in this process I’d be shocked if he doesn’t keep moving up the ranks and really becomes a name to know in the recruiting world.

With Abiara’s commitment, the 2021 class has seven commits, with four on the offensive side and Abiara making it three on defense, joining three-star safety Justin Walters and four-star defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio.

Mike Elston continues to show why he’s one of the best defensive line coaches in the country and I don’t expect that to slow down anytime soon. This is a really good get for the Notre Dame recruiting staff.