2016 Florida Speedster Commits to the Irish

Fort Lauderdale's Deon McIntosh became the 18th commitment in the 2016 Notre Dame football class today when he offered his pledge to the Irish. McIntosh is listed at 5'11" and 175 pounds; the 247 Composite has him as the #762 overall player, #47 running back, and #109 player in Florida.

McIntosh's brother plays for Miami, but the Hurricanes were never seriously in the race here. His only visit was his official for the USC game, which apparently was enough to seal the deal. He's a fast, shifty back (more on that in a bit) who will be a great complement to power back and fellow Floridian Tony Jones in this class.

From Deon's Twitter feed:

Recruiting Service Rankings

Rivals - 3 star (5.6 rating), NR overall, #14 position (APB), NR in Florida

247 - 3 star (84 rating), #1187 overall, #80 position, #146 in Florida

ESPN - 3 star (79 rating), NR overall, #44 position, #89 in Florida

Scout - 3 star, NR overall, #35 position, #57 in Florida

247 Composite - 3 star (0.8525 rating), #762 overall, #47 position, #109 in Florida

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame, McIntosh holds offers from Duke, Louisville, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee, Washington State, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others.

Highlights

This is a fun video to watch. McIntosh has obviously earned his reputation as a speedster, with a reported 4.47 40, but there's a lot of other stuff to like here too. He shows some phone booth moves in heavy traffic, deceptive toughness for a small guy, soft hands out of the backfield, and great running instincts that should serve him well in our zone running game. In several plays on this reel, I had to rewind to see exactly how he got himself out of a crowd that I assumed would take him down. Like I said, fun to watch.

The main thing that I'd tab as something to work on is physique - it's hard to imagine him holding up in the college game as a 175 pound running back. Thankfully that's something that just takes effort, which I'm sure he's willing to provide. Also, we don't see him pass blocking on here, so we don't know how he is at that; it's reasonable to assume, though, that even if his technique is good he might not be ready for the next physical level until he bulks up.

Junior Year:

Instant Impact

Well, I would say that I can't see him playing in 2016, but then in the spring we expected Dexter Williams to be fourth or fifth on the depth chart and redshirt this year. And he was the #2 back on Saturday. So who knows? But, barring RB-pocalypse 2.0 (no jinx), there's a very good chance that McIntosh will stay behind Prosise, Folston, Adams, Williams, and possibly Brent, and get the chance to redshirt and spend lots of time in the weight room.

Long Term / Career

With his impressive blend of skills, I could see McIntosh getting in the running back rotation in 2017 and staying there. He'll give the Irish yet another home run threat in the backfield; it wasn't so long ago that it seemed like it would forever be impossible to say that, and by next year we might have four guys who fit the description.

Welcome to the family, Deon!