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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish just had a really good early signing period with 20 players signing on Wednesday, and now it gets even better with 4 star Braden Lenzy signing his intent to go play for Brian Kelly.
Four-star recruit @blspeedy21 makes his college decision. https://t.co/2ECVTtg6V7
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) December 22, 2017
Most Irish fans already know about Braden Lenzy. Lenzy was a one-time Irish commit, but the Oregon native felt pulled to the Oregon Ducks because of coach Willie Taggert and because of one of the best track programs in the country. Lenzy is a phenomenal sprinter and he thought he wanted more of that at Oregon.
Well... Taggert took off to be the head coach of the Florida State Seminoles, and Notre Dame assured him that he can run track in South Bend as well. The ball started rolling... and here we are with a FANTASTIC pick-up at wide receiver.
✍️ @blspeedy21!
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 22, 2017
SPEED. ELUSIVE. DYNAMIC.
A dual-sport athlete who will compete collegiately on the field and the track and will give % to everything he does.#GoIrish ☘ #IrishBouND18 pic.twitter.com/IlmCVXrCuz
It's not just Lenzy's receiving skills that Notre Dame is after. In fact, as a freshman, Lenzy could be competing as a return man on kicks and punts as well. While his speed is remarkable, I noticed on his film that he is much more physical than most "track guys" coming out of high school.
While there was some concern that Lenzy might end up with the UCLA Bruins, Notre Dame did a great job recruiting him from start to finish and there is a lesson here that recruiting never ends until the they sign on the dotted line.
This makes 21 for the class so far, and Notre Dame is still trying to get 3-4 more before the end of National Signing Day in February.
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) |