/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45803582/460920088.0.jpg)
Welcome back to the One Foot Down recruiting Big Board for Fighting Irish Football. Today we're looking at a couple of positions that Notre Dame traditionally falls right out of bed and recruits at a high level.
Tight End | |||||||||
Score | Player | State | Ht/Wt. | Temperature | 1* | 2* | 3* | 4* | 5* |
.917 | Cary Angeline | PA | 6-7/230 | Mild | |||||
A pair of top tight end offers came off the board in recent months. The first to fall was the country's top player at the position in (GA) Isaac Nauta .981 who gave a verbal to Florida State 10 days before Christmas. Per the new Florida State recruiting guidelines (kidding, mostly) Nauta will be leaving Buford High School in Georgia and playing his senior season at Seminole Prep IMG Academy.
Congrats to the 1st TE invited to #TheOpening Finals 2015, @IMGAFootball's Isaac Nauta (@inauta24). #GOTOPEN pic.twitter.com/judLXumxVt
— The Opening (@TheOpening) March 1, 2015
Nauta's family was actually relocating to Jacksonville back in October as his father got a new job but somehow he ended up at IMG Academy 4 hours away to the south of Tampa anyway. Judging by his early visits, Nauta has zero interesting leaving the South so Notre Dame has moved on now.
The second tight end off the board was (OH) Jake Hausmann .961 out of Cincinnati's Moeller High School who joined Ohio State's class on January 25th. By all accounts, he was the top target on Notre Dame's board.
Ohio State just got another 2016 commit, and it's a big in-state fish. http://t.co/rJJ5IiOiRm
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 25, 2015
The Irish have now turned their focus toward Cary Angeline who visited campus a few weeks ago and received his scholarship offer in the process. He's from Exton, Pennsylvania just to the west of Philadelphia. His visit went about as well as you could expect and the Irish are among the favorites moving forward.
Angeline has been receiving loads of offers in recent weeks including South Carolina, Pitt, Cal, Michigan, Alabama, Nebraska, USC, and Auburn. Due to his location it is expected that Penn State will be stiff competition. He's already been to Happy Valley 4 times.
'16 PA TE Cary Angeline (@CaryAngeline) got his golden ticket yesterday from head coach Brian Kelly. #ND #Irish pic.twitter.com/3pWQIkjnJz
— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) February 14, 2015
ICYMI Pennsylvania four-star TE Cary Angeline recaps recent visit to #NotreDame and discusses some local ties http://t.co/Lvts9V1q9G (VIP)
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) February 16, 2015
There is a fairly large list of more tight ends that Notre Dame has scouted including (OH) Luke Farrell .924, (TN) Jordan Wilson .821, (FL) Matt Heuerman N/R, (MO) Brendan Scales N/R, (NY) Ray Marten N/R, and (IN) Drew Schoeberl N/R.
The Irish are also interested in Duke commit (VA) Mark Birmingham .932, Ole Miss commit (TN) Gabe Angel .881, Boston College commit (CT) Scooter Harrington .853.
Matt Heuerman is the younger brother of current Irish tight end Mike Heuerman. Each of Farrell, Angel, and Birmingham have visited South Bend already.
Offensive Line | |||||||||
Score | Player | State | Ht/Wt. | Temperature | 1* | 2* | 3* | 4* | 5* |
.985 | Willie Allen | LA | 6-7/300 | Cold | |||||
.910 | Parker Boudreaux | FL | 6-5/289 | Mild | |||||
.983 | Ben Bredeson | WI | 6-5/270 | Mild | |||||
.957 | Liam Eichenberg | OH | 6-6/290 | Mild | |||||
.926 | Michael Jordan | MI | 6-6/285 | Mild | |||||
.959 | E.J. Price | GA | 6-6/307 | Cold | |||||
There have been no new commits among the Irish offers since our last update back in October. The country's current top prospect (TX) Gregory Little .999 remains committed to Texas A&M, while (IL) Erik Swenson .938 remains with Michigan, and (OH) Tommy Kraemer .988 remains Notre Dame's only commit for the 2016 class.
The Irish have handed out a couple of new offers, though. Coming out of Canton, Michigan just mere miles away from the Wolverines campus (MI) Michael Jordan .926 was given a scholarship offer from Notre Dame back in late January. He's already been to Michigan and Michigan State multiple times, was at Ohio State in January, and is planning on coming to Notre Dame's Junior Day.
#NotreDame in the mix for 2016 four-star OT Michael Jordan after today’s offer. Story: http://t.co/4PjrDfcBX6 via @SWiltfong247 (VIP)
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) January 22, 2015
The Irish have also offered (GA) E.J. Price .959 from Lawrenceville, Georgia just outside of Atlanta. He's looking into possibly visiting Notre Dame within the next few months.
Four-star offensive tackle E.J. Price talks #NotreDame offer and plans to visit South Bend http://t.co/bvXa7xxiad (VIP) via @TomLoy247
— Notre Dame 247 (@NotreDame247) February 12, 2015
Parker Boudreaux is creeping towards 100 offers (not joking) and has always expressed a lot of interest in Notre Dame. He's yet to visit campus though and was back at Clemson (again) recently as the Tigers still remain the expected top choice.
Get in the Film Room with @ParkerBoudreaux, a "ferocious" lineman who plays mean. ($) http://t.co/rmB3Sk4sAz pic.twitter.com/ir6Gc3WCpC
— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) February 25, 2015
Ohio State and Notre Dame continue to battle for Liam Eichenberg. He's coming off a Junior Day visit to Columbus and is expected to get back to Notre Dame at some point during spring practice.
2016 5-star OL Liam Eichenberg @Iggyike17 details #OhioState Junior Day, talks #Buckeyes and #Irish http://t.co/n7zdSFQzuY @TomLoy247
— Alex Gleitman (@alexgleitman) January 26, 2015
Last month, Ben Bredeson offered up a top four that included Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. He's since been offered by Alabama which may shake things up in the future.
#NotreDame assistant Harry Hiestand continues to make 2016 #Scout300 OL Ben Bredeson a priority ($): http://t.co/Bnokh9Uc15
— Jake Brown (@Jake_Brown) February 2, 2015
The Irish expect Bredeson back on campus during the spring or early summer.