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2015 Notre Dame Recruiting Big Board: QB, RB, ATH

WHAT IS GOING ON AT QUARTERBACK?

By Eric Murtaugh
Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports

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Welcome back the OFD Recruiting Big Board. We have a lot to talk about.

Quarterback
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.849 Jayru Campbell MI 6-3/190 Cold
.928 Deondre Francis FL 6-1/195 Cold
.962 Travis Waller CA 6-3/190 Mild

Okay, let's recap one heck of an eventful month at this position. The dominoes started to fall on June 4th when 6-month long commit (CA) Blake Barnett .966 left Notre Dame's class. It was believed Barnett was leaving South Bend to commit to childhood favorite Oregon but he took a trip down south and ended up committing to Alabama instead last Wednesday via a Bleacher Report article.

With Barnett out of the picture we wondered on June 5th where the Irish would turn at quarterback and it didn't take the staff long to make some moves.

The prime target has been Travis Waller who was immediately offered and announced a top 4 less than a week after the Barnett decommit with the Irish in his top group.

Waller recently visited Alabama in the middle of last week and was scheduled to see Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Northwestern this week but cancelled those plans. That's because he received an offer from Oregon who looks to have jumped into the favorite position.

The USC Trojans are also sniffing around Waller despite having a pair of quarterbacks already committed in their class. While this was trending Notre Dame's way only a few days ago it is looking like grabbing Waller in this class will be fairly difficult if Oregon continues to press.

Notre Dame also offered a pair of other quarterbacks in the wake of Barnett's departure. First, the Irish have been sending inquiries to (TX) Jarrett Stidham .981 who is a commit to Texas Tech. He appears solid to the Red Raiders for the time being. There is some question whether Notre Dame actually handed out an offer to Deondre Francis but the fact remains that after doing some digging he's not a realistic option for the program.

In other news, Jayru Campbell has officially left Michigan State's class and is set to serve a 60-day jail sentence soon for assaulting a security officer at his high school. It is believed that he is not being recruited anymore by the Fighting Irish.

Texas A&M continued their hot streak in recruiting by getting a verbal from (TX) Kyler Murray .988 who is the nation's top dual-threat quarterback.

Of note, (FL) Torrance Gibson .990 has been reclassified as an athlete. More on him below.

Will Notre Dame continue to search for a quarterback? Most likely, yes. Although, the situation is about as dire as it can be with 7+ months left in the cycle. Other targets have recently committed in (NC) Kendall Hinton .847 (Wake Forest), (CA) Sheriron Jones .918 (Florida), and (WI) James Morgan .874 (Bowling Green) which really shrinks the pool of available prospects.

The top 17 Composite pro-style quarterbacks are all committed while 13 out of the top 16 Composite dual-threat are committed leaving only Waller, Francois, and (FL) Lamar Jackson .881 as the three without a home.

The signs out of South Bend seems to indicate the Irish won't reach on someone just to take a body. However, keep an eye on (MI) Ryan Brand .810 who is looking into a preferred walk-on role for the future. The Detroit native is pretty small (5-10) but is a pretty good athlete and would be a solid addition to the program without burning a scholarship.

Running Back
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.877 Josh Adams PA 6-2/208 Mild
.919 Tyreik Gray TX 5-11/187 Cold
.988 Damien Harris KY 5-11/205 Cold
.930 Nyheim Hines NC 5-9/187 Cold
.971 SoSo Jamabo TX 6-3/210 Mild
.922 Malik Lovette CA 5-11/180 Mild
.890 Paul Lucas AZ 5-10/165 Cold
.931 Kirk Merritt LA 5-11/206 Cold
.978 Jacques Patrick FL 6-1/220 Mild
.873 T.J. Simmons FL 5-11/195 Cold
.863 Aca'Cedric Ware TX 6-0/196 Cold
.903 Ty'Son Williams SC 5-11/200 Mild

There hasn't been a ton of movement at this position over the past month. However, the Irish Invasion and a couple visits did offer some clarity for the future. First up, the Irish offered (FL) Javarius Davis .861 but he recently committed to North Carolina over the weekend while camping in for the Tar Heels. The other new offer is to Aca'Cedric Ware who has long been linked to Iowa and may pick the Hawkeyes sooner rather than later.

Adams, Jamabo, and Patrick all recently visited campus, the latter making it twice in as many weeks.

Patrick might be the longest shot of that group despite a pair of visits, yet it's clear Tony Alford is not going to give up. Jamabo won't be easy, either. Adams glowed about his visit to South Bend and we'll see if he's going to be a priority for the staff. He's mentioned about deciding before his senior season but is also open to taking official visits.

Ty'Son Williams was supposed to come to the Irish Invasion but was unable to make it. He continues to claim Notre Dame as one of his leaders but that doesn't mean a whole lot without visiting.

Athlete
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.979 Jerome Baker OH 6-1/205 Mild
.881 Louis Brown TX 6-6/208 Cold
.990 Torrance Gibson FL 6-4/200 Cold
.876 John Humphrey TX 5-10/165 Cold
.915 Tim Irvin FL 5-9/186 Cold
.917 Donte Jackson LA 5-11/175 Cold
.927 Ray Ray McCloud FL 5-9/175 Mild
.955 Stanley Norman CA 6-0/180 Cold
.888 Cameron Scarlett OR 6-1/195 Cold

Art Briles had a rough go of it recently losing Louis Brown several weeks ago and John Humphrey last night from the Baylor class.

Shortly after our last update at this position (LA) Derrick Dillon .930 committed to Florida.

Jerome Baker was one of the top players invited to the Irish Invasion but couldn't make it due to a death in his family. Widely considered an Ohio State lean the Irish did make his recent top 8 cut and he's adamant about visiting South Bend this summer.

Ray Ray McCloud has already cancelled a visit to Notre Dame but is looking to come back in July. He's recently camped at North Carolina and Clemson.

Now given the athlete designation it looks like Torrance Gibson might not be the top quarterback for a major program but is still a highly sought after playmaker. It appears that Tennessee and Auburn are still actively recruiting him the hardest without several other programs dropping out.

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