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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have had great difficulty in recruiting cornerbacks in the last class and this one. For about 100 reasons or so, Notre Dame was unable to complete what was a promising roster of defensive backs in 2016. Things look as if that will change quite a bit.
The Irish got a commitment from 3 star cornerback Joe Wilkins Jr. today. Wilkins chose the Irish over offers from the N.C. State Wolfpack, Michigan State Spartans, Maryland Terrapins, and others.
The 6'2" 180 pound prospect is listed as an ATHLETE by 247 Sports, but will play cornerback for the Irish. His size and quickness is very enticing as a cornerback prospect. He's very agile and can be very physical t the point of attack.
The Irish, despite their lack of cornerback recruiting in this cycle and the last cycle, still should have a nice roster of corners for 2018 - and even in 2019. Wilkins won't be needed right away, and he should have time to continue to develop in Mike Elko's system with cornerback coach, Todd Lyght.
The Irish still have offers out, and are recruiting hard, more than a handful of other cornerbacks such as Tariq Bracy, Alontae Taylor, and Kyler Gordon. Taylor is currently committed to the Tennessee Volunteers, but as their season continues to implode, he is becoming a bigger option. In fact, he isn't the only committed prospect looking around.
As long as the Irish continue to win, and if they really do something as far as the college football playoffs are concerned, their options could start to multiply - but how much room do they really have left?
2018 Notre Dame Football Scholarship Chart
Position/Year | Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | 5th Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position/Year | Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | 5th Year |
Quarterback | Phil Jurkovec | Avery Davis* | Ian Book* | Brandon Wimbush* | |
Running Back | Jahmir Smith, C'Bo Flemister | Jafar Armstrong* | Tony Jones Jr.* | Dexter Williams | |
Tight End | George Takacs, Tommy Tremble | Cole Kmet, Brock Wright | Alize' Mack* | Nic Weishar | |
Wide Receiver | Micah Jones, Kevin Austin, Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys III | Michael Young | Chase Claypool, Javon McKinley* | Chris Finke*, Miles Boykin* | |
Center | Luke Jones | Sam Mustipher | |||
Guard | John Dirksen | Dillan Gibbons* | Tommy Kraemer* | Trevor Ruhland* | Alex Bars |
Tackle | Cole Mabry, Jarrett Patterson | Josh Lugg*, Robert Hainsey, Aaron Banks* | Liam Eichenberg* | ||
Defensive Tackle | Jayson Ademilola, Ja'mion Franklin | Kurt Hinish, Darnell Ewell*, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa | Micah Dew-Treadway*, Jerry Tillery | Jonathan Bonner | |
Defensive End | Justin Ademilola | Kofi Wardlow* | Ade Ogundeji*, Daelin Hayes, Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara | ||
Linebacker | Matt Bauer, Ovio Oghoufo, Jack Lamb | Drew White*, Jordan Genmark Heath | Jonathan Jones*, Jamir Jones, DJ Morgan | Te'von Coney | Drue Tranquill |
Rover | Shayne Simon | Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah*, Isaiah Robertson | Asmar Bilal | ||
Safety | Derrik Allen, Paul Moala, Houston Griffith | Devin Studstill, Jalen Elliott, Alohi Gilman* | Nicco Fertitta, Nick Coleman | ||
Cornerback | Joe Wilkins Jr., Tariq Bracy, D.J. Brown, Noah Boykin | Julian Love, Troy Pride Jr., Donte Vaughn | Shaun Crawford** | ||
Specialists | John Doerer | John Shannon* | Justin Yoon | Tyler Newsome | |
27/85 (27) | 45/85 (18) | 65/85 (20) | 79/85 (14) | 85/85 (6) |