Notre Dame Football Recruiting Big Board: Offense

Welcome back to the OFD recruiting Big Board for Fighting Irish football.

With the Big Board steadily whittling down as 2015 draws to a close, we've condensed all the positions into a single table. There are only a handful of spots left in Notre Dame's 2016 recruiting class, and the Irish staff is still chasing only a few more prospects than that.

Yes, that's really everyone who's left on the offensive board. The Notre Dame staff has done a very good job of getting on guys early and closing out the ones they want - there have been misses, of course, but all in all, this is a very successful cycle on offense.

If you're curious, by the way, the two guys who have been at the top of the ND board throughout are McKinley and Robertson.

In Play

Damian Alloway has scheduled an official visit to UCLA for January 22nd; he's extremely unlikely to announce a commitment before then. The longer his recruitment drags on, the less likely it is that he'll commit to Notre Dame, or have a spot if he tries to. If I had to guess today, I think he'll sign with UCLA, although Oregon could likely make a big move up until the ink is dry if they offer.

Five star Nate Craig-Myers announced a top three of Auburn, Ole Miss, and North Carolina - or, well, no he didn't. Rivals reported via Twitter that he had that top three, and Craig-Myers replied to the tweet as follows: "I don't have any top schools!!" Umm, awkward... While he visited for the USC game, that's the only time we can remember his name in connection with Notre Dame before or since, so don't hold your breath.

Javon McKinley cancelled an official visit to UCLA, with all signs indicating that the Bruins are now out of the picture. Mike Sanford just happened to be recruiting in Texas recently, and just happened to be staying at the same hotel where McKinley's mother attended a conference, and just happened to run into her while she was there. Ninja, man. The guy's a ninja. Washington and Oregon are the other remaining schools for McKinley, but our bet is he picks the Irish at the Army All-America game.

Demetris Robertson didn't make it back to Notre Dame for the football banquet, but could still make it to campus before signing day. The Irish aren't out of this one yet, although it's very hard to tell exactly how in it they are too.

Off the Board:

Erstwhile USC commit Melquise Stovall (no relation) committed to Cal. He had serious interest in Notre Dame but it never quite worked out.

Behemoth lineman Stewart Reese announced a top five of Florida State, LSU, Nebraska, Ole Miss, and South Carolina, and will commit on signing day. Probably to the Noles. Since the Irish missed on Ben Bredeson and landed Parker Boudreaux, the staff has pretty much closed down offensive line recruiting.

Donnie Corley just missed his second self-imposed deadline to announce a commitment, but he did announce a top four since we last checked in - Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Tennessee. The smart money is still on the Spartans.