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2015 Notre Dame Recruiting Big Board: Defense

We've reached the last Big Board update for the 2015 recruiting cycle.

By Eric Murtaugh
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Recruiting-big-board_large

Welcome back to the OFD Big Board for January 27, 2015, our last for the 2015 recruiting cycle.

Defensive Tackle
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.903 Darrion Daniels TX 6-3/290 Cold
.989 Rasheem Green CA 6-5/275 Cold
.991 Daylon Mack TX 6-0/330 Cold
.957 Joseph Wicker CA 6-2/265 Cold

Notre Dame is set at defensive tackle with Elijah Taylor, Micah Dew-Treadway, and Brandon Tiassum in the fold.

One prospect who came full circle yesterday was (LA) T.D. Moton .872 who gave a verbal to Mississippi State back on November 16, 2013 only to leave the Bulldogs less than two months later. During the summer of 2014 he camped at Alabama and committed to the Tide the next day. Just five days ago, Moton left Alabama's class and then headed back to Mississippi State yesterday.

It looks like Texas Tech and Iowa are the favorites to land Darrion Daniels. He is just coming off a visit this past weekend to Iowa City. Oklahoma and Baylor are also in the mix.

Rasheem Green took his final official visit to Arizona State this past weekend. He's down to the Sun Devils, USC, Miami, and Oregon with the hometown Trojans still considered the major favorite.

Texas wasn't expecting Daylon Mack for an official visit but he surprised them and showed up anyway. TCU and Texas A&M (from where he decommitted in December) are pushing hard along with the Longhorns and LSU.

UCLA still remains the favorite for Joseph Wicker with Texas Tech and Arizona State looking to be the runners-up. He is coming off an official visit to UCLA this past weekend.

Defensive End
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.998 Byron Cowart FL 6-4/250 Cold
.995 CeCe Jefferson FL 6-2/250 Cold
.948 Prince Tega Wanogho Jr. AL 6-8/250 Cold

Re-classified senior Prince Tega Wanogho Jr. was offered by Notre Dame but the Irish do not look to be in the picture. The tall prospect ended up with a clean break of both bones in his leg during a basketball game and was not able to make his trip to Tennessee this past weekend. PTW has said he's down to LSU, Miss State, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. He plans on taking an official to Auburn this weekend.

Rivals final rankings put Byron Cowart as the best recruit in the country. He visited Florida this past weekend but had to leave early due to some family business.

CeCe Jefferson is coming off an unofficial visit to Ole Miss and will be taking an official visit to LSU this weekend. If you recall, Jefferson and Cowart have said they will go the same school. That could be some serious good news for one program if it actually comes to fruition.

Outside Linebacker
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.981 Porter Gustin UT 6-5/240 Cold
.955 Jeffery Holland FL 6-2/230 Cold
.975 John Houston CA 6-3/211 Cold
.887 Cassius Peat AZ 6-4/235 Cold
.868 Arthur McGinnis LA 6-2/226 Cold

Recruiting for USC is coming to a predictable scorching hot end as (UT) Osa Masina .984 committed to the Trojans this past Friday. He's the third Composite 5-star for USC, and they'll probably land one or two more before National Signing Day.

UCLA's class got one player smaller as Cassius Peat left back in December. The Bruins are still in the mix along with Arizona State and Michigan State. Peat plans on deciding on National Signing Day.

Porter Gustin took his official visit to Arizona State last weekend and is going to Ohio State this weekend. He's another player USC is favored to land.

Auburn or Florida have been neck and neck for Jeffery Holland, although he did just take an official visit to Ole Miss. He'll be visiting Florida this weekend.

John Houston is all done with his official visits with the last one being the favorite USC two weekends ago.

Warren Easton's Arthur McGinnis is coming off a visit to Texas Tech and has the Red Raiders in his final five with Boise State, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Ole Miss.

Corner
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.942 Frank Buncom IV CA 6-1/190 Mild
.868 Rashard Causey FL 6-0/185 Cold
.960 Holton Hill TX 6-2/184 Cold
.890 Jaylon Lane TX 6-1/177 Cold
.998 Iman Marshall CA 6-1/190 Mild
.876 Chris Williamson GA 6-1/190 Cold

USC's class opened up some room as (CA) Taeon Mason .888 flipped to Washington State on Sunday night. He now becomes the Cougars' fourth highest rated recruit of their class.

One of the more curious early commits from this cycle was Rashard Causey to Florida Atlantic. Causey transferred from University School to St. Thomas Aquinas when his head coach at University took a job at FAU. However, a week ago he backed away from his pledge to the Owls.

Notre Dame remains in the top four for Frank Buncom and he'll be deciding tomorrow. He's coming off an official visit to California but is expected to pick Stanford over everyone else.

Lamar High School's Holton Hill is coming off recent visits to Texas A&M and Baylor. He's also visited Texas, LSU, and Florida State.

Following an arrest in November which forced him out of Oklahoma State's class, Jaylon Lane may fall out of attending a major conference program. He visited SMU this past weekend.

Iman Marshall crammed in visits to Florida State, Michigan, and LSU over the past week. A tiny amount of doubt may be creeping in but most still expect Marshall to sign with hometown USC when it comes time to pull the trigger.

Notre Dame offered Chris Williamson in early January and has spent the entire month trying to secure an official visit.

He was just at Michigan this past weekend and was at North Carolina before that. He has said he might come to South Bend but he's running out of time.

Safety
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.863 Hunter Dale LA 5-11/195 Cold
.899 Arrington Farrar GA 6-2/195 Mild
.963 DeChaun Holiday CA 6-2/195 Cold
.833 Denzel Johnson SC 6-2/187 Cold
.891 Kendrell McFadden FL 6-3/195 Cold
.885 Justin Reid LA 6-0/193 Mild

In case you missed it the expected loss of (TX) Prentice McKinney .875 became reality as the South Oak Cliff star left Notre Dame's class for North Carolina on January 21st.

The Irish continue their search for an additional safety in this class including offering former Stanford commit Arrington Farrar. He's coming off recent visits to North Carolina and Wisconsin and has not made a decision yet whether he'll be coming to Notre Dame this weekend.

Another prospect is back on the Big Board in Kendrell McFadden after he left West Virginia's class in early January. He is apparently seeking 'better options' which may include Kentucky or Ohio State.

Back in September the Irish offered Hunter Dale but he has yet to visit Notre Dame. Yesterday, his John Curtis teammate and Notre Dame verbal Bo Wallace let his thought be known on the matter.

With 8 days left until National Signing Day it appears as though Justin Reid is the top priority for the Irish coming off his visit to South Bend this past weekend.

reid

Notre Dame, Stanford, and LSU look to be the three finalists for Reid. He'll be visiting LSU this weekend and making a decision on Signing Day.

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