Brian Kelly and the rest of the Notre Dame Coaching staff picked up four commitments following Junior Day this weekend bringing the total number of verbals in the 2013 cycle to 7. So after some hand wringing over a perceived slow start we suddenly find this class about 1/3 of the way there.
Safe to say we are looking great along the offensive line and have that core group to build the rest of the class around.
With the flurry of verbals this weekend we are updating all of the information in the Recruiting Central widget in our left sidebar. Miesle has been updating you all with posts on each commitment and Murtaugh just published the April update to our Big Board. Miesle will follow up with an updated look at our needs by position later this week.
You all are familiar with our eligibility chart so I will get right to it. The Blue (2 deep) and Red (Injured) players are based on what we have gathered after the first few practices. As you know we treat this as a living document and will continue to update it throughout the year. If you have any questions about that or anything else don't hesitate to bring them up in the comments.
2012 ND Roster Breakdown (25 March)
Details after the jump.
The numbers are now as follows.
17 Freshmen
25 Sophomores
19 Juniors
9 Seniors that will be eligible to apply for a 5th year
70 Total
15 Total scholarships available for new recruits if all 9 of the 5th year options are utilized.
9 Additional spots available as a 1 for 1 replacement of a 5th year option.
24 Absolute max number of schollies available if no 5th year options are exercised.
This obviously doesn't forecast for attrition, so an additional couple of spots could potentially become available between now and next February.
In my opinion we most likely end up with a class of just over 20 a year from now. In my opinion a class of just over 20 puts us right where we should be with a reasonably healthy roster. So with 7 commitments now on board we are right at 1/3 of the way there.
Of the 9 players eligible for a 5th year I think that only a few will actually end up utilizing it.
Tyler Eifert is a lock to leave for the NFL.
Cierre Wood, Chris Watt and Zack Martin are also possibilities to enter the draft. The staff would most likely love to keep these guys but I think they will be winning if they are able to keep 2 of them.
I think Carlo Calabrese and Dan Fox both have a very good chance of coming back.
Jake Golic and Tyler Stockton are most likely gone.
I see Nick Tausch as a total wildcard.
What do you think?