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2016 Notre Dame Recruiting Big Board: Defense

A familiar name is on commit watch.

By Eric Murtaugh
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Welcome back to the OFD recruiting Big Board for April 14, 2015.

Defensive Tackle
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.843 Christian Colon NC 6-3/325 Cold
.950 Jordan Elliott TX 6-4/305 Cold
.970 Antwuan Jackson GA 6-2/285 Cold
.990 Dexter Lawrence NC 6-5/310 Cold
.988 Ed Oliver TX 6-2/285 Cold
.999 Rashan Gary NJ 6-4/290 Cold

Only one new offer to report at tackle. Late last month Jordan Elliott out of Westside High School in Houston. At the time Elliott was committed to Baylor but a week ago left the Bears' class. He's since visited Texas A&M.

Visits to Penn State and Rutgers were made recently by Christian Colon. He might be someone to keep an eye on in the future but the Tar Heels remain the favorite.

There's been a promise of a possible summer trip to Notre Dame by Rashan Gary but nothing set in stone yet. I would imagine he'll be a major target for the Irish Invasion. At any rate, Gary has taken several visits this spring including Michigan, Ohio State, South Carolina, Clemson, and Georgia.

There isn't much focus on tackle this cycle for Notre Dame, at least not right now. I wouldn't expect much news here until the summer.

Defensive End
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.946 McTelvin Agim AR 6-2/268 Cold
.898 Patrick Bethel FL 6-3/243 Cold
.950 Oluwole Betiku CA 6-3/240 Cold
.913 Amani Bledsoe KS 6-5/270 Cold
.993 Nick Bosa FL 6-4/265 Cold
.852 Brian Burns FL 6-5/212 Cold
.880 Kyree Campbell VA 6-5/305 Cold
.903 Ron Johnson NJ 6-4/240 Mild
.914 Khalid Kareem MI 6-4/252 Mild
.891 Xavier Kelly KS 6-5/230 Mild
.970 Josh King IL 6-6/250 Mild
.944 Justin Madubuike TX 6-3/255 Cold
.891 Chidi Okonya GA 6-5/216 Cold
.923 Julian Okwara NC 6-4/210 Hot
.945 Auston Robertson IN 6-5/230 Mild
.859 Jordan Smith GA 6-6/222 Cold

Two defensive ends came off the board recently. The first (FL) Rahshaun Smith .972 committed to Clemson. He's yet another major D-1 prospect coming out of IMG Academy and adds to the Tigers' impressive defensive line recruiting haul in recent years.

The other player off the Big Board is (GA) Charles Wiley .922 who gave his verbal to Ole Miss in late March.

A familiar name has been moved from outside linebacker to defense end. Brother of current Irish end Romeo Okwara, Julian Okwara, is coming off a late March visit to Notre Dame. Recently he's let it be known that he'll be committing on April 30th but last night moved up the date to tonight.

It is widely expected that Okwara will be choosing Notre Dame where his Crystal Ball prediction remains at 100% in favor of the Fighting Irish.

A few new offers have gone out to Notre Dame's growing list at this position. The awesomely named (AR) McTelvin Agim .946 is the top player in the state of Arkansas. Not typically your recruiting hot bed for the Irish.

American Heritage's Brian Burns recently picked up an offer and was impressed with his recruiter Autry Denson. For now, it doesn't look like he's planning on checking out Notre Dame.

A second Kansas defensive end picked up a Notre Dame offer in Xavier Kelly who plans on making a big summer tour and stopping by to see South Bend. He recently visited Nebraska.

Ron Johnson, Khalid Kareem, Josh King, and Auston Robertson remain other top targets as we inch closer to summer.

Johnson was part of the crew that was scheduled to come to Notre Dame several weeks ago but was unable to make the trip due to poor weather.

Kareem has taken a ton of visits this month including Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Penn State. He'll be checking out Alabama this weekend, too.

King was expected for Junior Day but later spoke to the media and said he wasn't planning on coming anyway. Not the greatest news but you can expect him to be back in South Bend again soon. King took another Midwest tour in late March to Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State.

Robertson will be announcing this summer at the R.A.S. Camp in Fort Wayne.

Like King, he's expected to stay in the Midwest.

Inside Linebacker
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.959 Brendan Ferns OH 6-3/223 Cold
.930 Tre Lamar GA 6-4/240 Cold
.925 Jaquan Yulee VA 6-2/240 Cold

On March 23rd (CA) Lokeni Toailoa .968 gave a verbal to UCLA. The top inside linebacker in the country that was a big of a set back as the Irish were recruiting him as early as anyone in the class.

Brendan Ferns recently visited Penn State, Tre Lamar visited Alabama, and Jaquan Yulee stated recently that the Tide are on top for his services.

Outside Linebacker
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.943 Daniel Bituli TN 6-3/227 Cold
.874 Cameron Brown MD 6-4/200 Mild
.988 Ben Davis AL 6-4/200 Cold
.990 Caleb Kelly CA 6-3/215 Cold

Yesterday the Stanford Cardinal picked up the commitment of (CA) Curtis Robinson .944 out of Mater Dei High School. Notre Dame was among the finalists following a mid-March visit from Robinson.

In early March, the Irish offered (SC) Brandon Hill .862 but a couple weeks later his committed to Duke.

Notre Dame welcomed Cameron Brown to Junior Day last month. Make sure to keep an eye on him in the coming months.

Caleb Kelly went back to Oklahoma again recently. However, he's set up a visit for the Irish Invasion in June which will be his first trip to Notre Dame.

Corner
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.863 Roderick Campbell MO 5-11/180 Mild
.883 Eric Cuffee TX 6-0/190 Cold
.977 Kristian Fulton LA 6-0/165 Cold
.935 Damar Hamlin PA 6-1/175 Mild
.947 Mecole Hardman GA 5-11/170 Cold
.935 Jared Mayden TX 6-0/190 Cold
.976 Trayvon Mullen FL 6-2/175 Cold
.937 Byron Murphy AZ 5-11/160 Cold
.934 Joejuan Williams TN 6-2/195 Cold

Notre Dame got its defensive back haul going last month with the commitment of (IL) Julian Love .860 out of Nazareth Academy. Love visited campus, picked up his offer, and gave his verbal to the coaching staff.

Florida State added to their class with the commitment of (VA) Levonta Taylor .990 who is among the best defensive backs in the country.

The Ducks dipped into California once again to pick up the verbal of (CA) Troy Warner .888 shortly after he visited Eugene.

Earlier this month Notre Dame offered (KY) Davonte Robinson .838 out of Henry Clay H.S. in Lexington.

Robinson has been committed to Kentucky since October.

Roderick Campbell had to cancel his visit to Notre Dame back in late March. However, it is expect that he'll be back on campus soon and definitely during the summer.

Someone who did make it to campus last month was Damar Hamlin from Pittsburgh. He also visited Pitt, Penn State, and Ohio State after seeing South Bend.

It's expected that the Irish will be among Hamlin's finalists with Notre Dame having a good shot as anyone for a commitment down the road.

Safety
Score Player State Ht/Wt. Temperature 1* 2* 3* 4* 5*
.978 Deontay Anderson TX 6-1/192 Cold
.952 Brandon Burton CA 6-2/195 Cold
.989 Brandon Jones TX 5-11/183 Cold
.987 Eric Monroe TX 6-0/180 Cold
.873 Ikenna Okeke TN 6-2/200 Cold
.863 Devin Studstill FL 6-1/175 Mild
.956 Nigel Warrior GA 6-0/175 Cold
.904 Craig Watts FL 6-0/175 Mild

Another IMG Academy product (FL) Spencer Perry .873 chose his college recently. He's signed up to play ball with the Florida Gators.

Notre Dame offered Washington commit (WA) Taylor Rapp .875 a couple of weeks after joining the Huskies' class.

Devin Studstill has been on Notre Dame's radar for a long time since they saw him at Tevon Coney's high school last year. He's finally lining up a visit to South Bend.

Studstill is planning on coming to Irish Invasion.

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