2015 Notre Dame Recruiting Big Board: OLB, CB, S

NOT CUTTING CORNERS IN RECRUITING CORNERS

Welcome back to another edition of the One Foot Down Recruiting Big Board for Irish Football. If you missed last Monday's update we covered the DT, DE, and MLB positions. Today we look at outside linebacker, corner, and safety.

According to the 247 Composite listing the following players have been reclassified to the outside linebacker position: Masina (ATH), Thomas (ATH), and Houston (MLB). Masina has visited Notre Dame before but is taking things slowly. The Irish will hope for an official visit in the fall. Not much is going on with Thomas or Houston.

Since our initial update on the 2015 class in November there have been two new offers at this position. Peat has been in steady contact with Notre Dame since being offered in January. He was scheduled to visit for the Spring game but will not be able to make it because of an ACT test that weekend. He should visit during the summer. The Wallace offer shows the Irish aren't afraid to dip their toes in Louisiana again. He might be a tough pull but has family in Chicago and might visit in the future.

Hilliard remains one of the top targets for the staff. He's camped at Notre Dame last summer, saw a game in South Bend during the fall, and visited for Junior Day a few weeks ago. He has visited Michigan and Ohio State recently but most experts really like where Notre Dame sits.

Holland and Jefferson are non-factors right now.

Sheppard was just offered yesterday by Notre Dame. We should have some more info on him with our next update.

Corner is one of the primary focuses of this cycle where as many as 3 bodies are being targeted early on. Langley, Reid, Lewis, Whitehead, Butler, Mbanasor, and Hill are the new offers since November. Langley has been reclassified to corner. He's in contact with Notre Dame but is taking things slow.

Offers who have committed already include (FL) Tyrek Cole .966 to Florida State, (OH) Shaun Crawford .960 to Michigan, and (FL) Kevin Toliver .998 to LSU.

Xavier Lewis left LSU's class but Notre Dame isn't making progress with him. Mbanasor left TCU's class recently and may visit Notre Dame this spring. He could be someone to watch out for.

Butler was offered earlier this month and there isn't much info on him.

Fitzpatrick is an absurd athlete with some early interest in the Irish. The staff is trying to get him to visit at some point this spring. It's going to be a fight with Ohio State, Alabama, and Florida State here. All the big dogs are after him.

Marshall comes out of Long Beach Poly (same school as '14 safety Ju Ju Smith). Notre Dame is giving him a lot of attention but will need to get him to South Bend. I expect some lip service to ND but it'll be a surprise if he ends up anywhere but USC.

Reid is someone who is very interested in Notre Dame. He'll be visiting South Bend this weekend with another Irish target (DE) Shareef Miller. Another Pennsylvania product in Whitehead might visit this spring as well.

Causey, Hill, and Sheffield are cold right now.

Notre Dame has not been shy about handing out offers at safety, either. Unfortunately, over half of those offers are committed to another program. That list includes: (FL) Calvin Brewton .894 to Florida State, (TX) Justin Dunning .920 to Texas A&M, (FL) Ben Edwards .882 to Ohio State, (FL) Kendrell McFadden .926 to West Virginia, (TX) Larry Pryor .948 to Texas A&M, Deionte Thompson .972 to Alabama, and Deontai Williams .863 to Florida.

Of the remaining 6 non-committed offers everyone is a new offer since November with the exception of McFadden and Tell.

Fertitta is a curious offer due to his size but he visited campus last spring and attends a school (Bishop Gorman) that Notre Dame is consistently trying to develop a relationship with. He will definitely visit South Bend again this spring.

UCLA is believed to be the favorite for Holiday but he's possibly in line to take an official visit to Notre Dame months from now. You can count Locke as one of the many players who says he'll visit the Irish this summer.

McFadden was one of the first offers from the 2015 class and comes from a school (American Heritage) that Kelly & Co. have continued to hit hard. A visit would be huge.

McKinney has named Notre Dame his leader and calls the Irish his childhood favorite. He hasn't visited yet, which is curious, but he should come to South Bend in the coming months.

There hasn't been any progress with Tell.