Notre Dame football: What does Benjamin Morrison bring to the Irish?
By Carlee North
The Notre Dame football program continues to stack elite talent in their 2022 recruiting class, this time adding Benjamin Morrison from Arizona.
On Thursday evening, Notre Dame football continued to roll in recruiting with the newest addition making his commitment public. 2022 cornerback out of Arizona Benjamin Morrison picked Notre Dame and is a player who was on campus for his official visit back on the weekend on June 11th, and that obviously made a massive impression on him and his family.
He was able to get around the players and the coaches and of course, take in the student-athlete life at Notre Dame. This battle seemed to be between a few west coast schools in Oregon and Washington, where he also took official visits too after his trip to South Bend.
Washington made a huge push, but I think the relationships, opportunity to compete early, and the Notre Dame brand is what really separated the Irish from the pack. The staff will definitely continue recruiting Morrison even though he made a pledge to Notre Dame because west coast school will continue to push here.
With that being said, the Irish did an awesome job of securing his commitment early, and it will be tough to try and get him to change his mind. At the moment, Morrison has 25 offers from the likes of Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, and many others.
What does Morrison bring to the Notre Dame football program?
The 6’0 , 172-pound cornerback is going to bring a prototype corner to the defensive back room. Yes, Morrison would definitely be able to play multiple positions in the secondary because of his skill set and versatility, but he will flourish on the outside at cornerback.
He’s quick, has great feet and balance, and really uses his hips and change of direction exceptionally well. He’s a very smooth defender and really uses his technic to his advantage, while his instincts are second to none.
He reminds me a bit of Julian Love in terms of his smarts and his footwork. Love wasn’t the fastest, and neither is Morrison, but he’s always in the correct position, and that’s huge for cornerback play nowadays. This was another great win for Marcus Freeman and Mike Mickens on the backend.
With Morrison making his pledge there are now 19 commitments in the class, 11 on defense and eight on the offensive side. Morrison will be joining Jaden Mickey, Devin Moore, and Jayden Bellamy in the defensive backfield, and that could all but do it for that group.
If there’s a highly-ranked guy that the staff can get in the fold, they will do it but these four are a very solid group for the secondary. The defensive recruiting has been top-notch, and some of the best in the country, and with defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman in control, I don’t see that changing at all anytime soon.