Notre Dame Football: The five highly ranked players that never panned out
By Ben Belden
Notre Dame football has landed more than its fair share of highly-ranked recruits throughout the years. Which highly-ranked players didn’t pan out in South Bend?
Notre Dame football has boasted some talented players through the expansive history of its program. Jimmy Clausen, Jaylon Smith, Michael Floyd, and Manti Te’o all came to South Bend with major upside. All lived up to the hype.
But not every highly-touted recruit has lived up to the hype in South Bend. Which players came to South Bend with the biggest upside, but never lived up to the hype?
5. Max Redfield, Safety
Max Redfield came to South Bend as a five-start safety after committing to the Irish in 2013. A native of southern California, Redfield chose the Irish over USC and a litany of other west-coast schools.
Redfield had all the physical tools to be a tremendous safety in the Notre Dame defensive backfield. He was even named to the Thorpe watch list prior to the 2015 season.
Off the field issues certainly hindered Redfield’s ability to see develop into the player that Irish fans thought he could be. In the end, Redfield was dismissed from the team prior to the 2016 season and eventually enrolled at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
After college, Redfield was invited to minicamp with the Oakland Raiders, but his NFL dreams never materialized.