Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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(Colorado) and Anthony Standifer (likely Boise State or Pitt), and tried to sway Brian Poole (Florida). Wright went out of control on his Twitter page and was expelled from the es- teemed Don Bosco Prep, Standifer could not get admitted because he didn't fulfill the two years of foreign language required to enroll at Notre Dame and Poole remained with the in-state school. Notre Dame didn't land the top The staff went after Yuri Wright FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE The total includes five fifth-year seniors, although others such as safety Dan McCarthy or offensive lineman Lane Clelland could be added because four scholarships are left over for the NCAA limit of 85. Quarterbacks (4) Seniors — None Juniors — Andrew Hendrix and Tommy Rees Sophomore — Everett Golson Freshman — Gunner Kiel Notes: Rees has all the career starts with 16, four as a freshman and 12 as a sophomore. target at safety in Shaq Thompson (Washington), which probably was a reach anyway. Baratti, Prosise and Turner all arrive more as three-star prospects than four, so player devel- opment will be at the forefront. On Paper Grade: B- or C+ This would have gone up a full grade had Darby remained in the fold and at least to a 'B' had one of the other three corner prospects been reeled in. KICKING GAME lieved to be the top long snapper in the country shouldn't be anything but a positive. On Paper Grade: Not Applicable Similar to tight end, this wasn't OVERALL ANALYSIS that had the makings to be much better had five-star players Green- berry and Darby remained in the fold at positions with huge needs. The Irish also could have used one more top lineman on offense or de- fense, and they came up a little short at linebacker. It definitely does not have the same This is the proverbial "solid" class Signed: Scott Daly (long snapper). Need In 2012: With two kickers (senior Nick Tausch and sophomore Kyle Brindza) and two punters (se- nior Ben Turk and Brindza) on schol- arship, this was not a priority. Summary: Adding what is be- Running Backs (8) Seniors — Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick Junior — Cam Roberson Sophomores — George Atkinson III, Amir Carlisle and Cam McDaniel Freshmen — Will Mahone and KeiVarae Russell Notes: Wood is eligible for a fifth season in 2013 … The running backs also will need to line up as receivers on occasion, especially given how green the 2012 corps is. Wide Receivers (9) Fifth-Year Senior — John Goodman Senior — Robby Toma Juniors — TJ Jones, Luke Massa and Daniel Smith Sophomores — DaVaris Daniels and Matthias Farley Freshmen — Chris Brown and Justin Ferguson Notes: Toma does not have a fifth year in 2013 unless he becomes a medical redshirt this year. going to make or break the program, and the Irish weren't after any kick- ers or punters. Tight Ends (4) Seniors — Tyler Eifert and Jake Golic Junior — Alex Welch Sophomore — Ben Koyack Freshmen — None Notes: Both Eifert and Golic are eligible for fifth seasons in 2013, but Eifert is likely to turn pro and Golic has undergone some major surgeries. buzz of last year's harvest, especially the way it closed strongly in 2011 along the defensive front seven (the prime need area) with players such as Lynch, Tuitt, Ishaq Williams and Troy Niklas. Grade-wise, it comes out to about a top-15 to top-25 harvest, which is also how most recruiting services perceive it. ✦ www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Guards/Centers (9) Fifth-Year Seniors — Braxston Cave and Mike Golic Jr. Senior — Chris Watt Junior — None Sophomores — Brad Carrico, Conor Hanratty, Bruce Heggie, Matt Hegarty and Nick Martin Freshman — Mark Harrell Notes: Martin was a backup to older brother Zack at left tackle last season, but his future could be in the interior. Offensive Tackles (5) Senior — Zack Martin Juniors — Christian Lombard and Tate Nichols Sophomore — Jordan Prestwood Freshman — Ronnie Stanley Notes: Martin has a fifth season of eligibility in 2013. Defensive Linemen (10) Fifth-Year Senior — Kapron Lewis-Moore Senior — Tyler Stockton Juniors — Louis Nix III and Kona Schwenke Sophomores — Chase Hounshell, Aaron Lynch, Tony Springmann and Stephon Tuitt Freshmen — Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones Outside Linebackers (6) Seniors — None Juniors — Prince Shembo and Danny Spond Sophomores — Ben Councell, Troy Niklas and Ishaq Williams Freshman — Romeo Okwara Notes: A safety such as Jamoris Slaughter also is often deployed as an outside linebacker in certain defensive schemes. Inside Linebackers (7) Seniors — Carlo Calabrese, Dan Fox and Manti Te'o Juniors — Kendall Moore and Justin Utupo Sophomores — Jarrett Grace and Anthony Rabasa Freshmen — None Notes: Both Calabrese and Fox are eligible for a fifth season in 2013. Safeties (9) Fifth-Year Senior — Jamoris Slaughter Senior — Zeke Motta Junior — Austin Collinsworth Sophomore — Eilar Hardy Freshmen — Chris Badger, Nicky Baratti, C.J. Prosise, Elijah Shumate and John Turner Notes: Badger is expected to re-enroll at Notre Dame this summer after a two-year Mormon mission, and he will have four years of eligibil- ity … Motta is in his final season of eligibility … Hardy, coming off knee surgery, could move to corner. Cornerbacks (5) Seniors — None Juniors — Bennett Jackson and Lo Wood Sophomores — Josh Atkinson and Jalen Brown Freshman — Tee Shepard Notes: This is the lone unit on the team without any career starts entering 2012. Special Teams (5) Seniors — Jordan Cowart (snapper), Nick Tausch (kicker) and Ben Turk (punter) Juniors — none Sophomores — Kyle Brindza (kicker/punter) Freshman — Scott Daly (snapper) Notes: Tausch has a potential fifth year of eligibility in 2013 after not seeing action last season. He is 15 of 18 in his career on field goals. MARCH 2012 21 2012 Scholarship Breakdown By Class Here is a class-by-class breakdown of what Notre Dame's 2012 scholarship roster will probably be.