The Triple Option: 5-Star ATH Samuel M’Pemba moves Notre Dame official visit to the fall

Today’s triple option is pretty meaty, so let’s get into the top Notre Dame news of the day.

HELLO VISITOR

The Irish Players Club co-hosted a Twitter Spaces event on Tuesday night with Malik Zaire ans interviewed Notre Dame 5-Star ATH prospect, Samuel M’Pemba. During this interview, M’Pemba stated that he moved his official visit to Notre Dame from June 17th to November 5th when the Irish take on the Clemson Tigers. The talented prospect from Florida stated that he will still visit the Irish in June in an unofficial capacity.

This is really good news for Notre Dame. M’Pemba has been seen as a recruit that will likely stay in the south with notable offers from the Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Auburn Tigers. He’s also a guy that will wait until late in the process to announce his decision. The fact that the Irish will get an official visit later in the game means they have time to really work on him — and then WOW him in November. It’s still going to be a very tough hill to climb, but these are positive moves and positive signs for Notre Dame.

THE HAIR SPEAKS

With the 2022 NFL Draft in the rearview mirror, ESPN’s Mel Kiper released his player rankings for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Notre Dame makes a strong showing in Mel’s top 25 overall with TE Michael Mayer at #7 and EDGE Isaiah Foskey at #19.

Notre Dame’s 2022 opponents in the top 25 are:

• #3 QB C.J. Stroud / Ohio State Buckeyes
• #5 WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba / Ohio State Buckeyes
• #6 DT Byan Bresee / Clemson Tigers
• #15 OT Paris Johnson Jr. / Ohio State Buckeyes
• #17 DE Myles Murphy / Clemson Tigers
• #18 WR Jordan Addison / USC Trojans
• #25 LB Trenton Simpson / USC Trojans

Kiper also gave his top 10 positional rankings. Here are where Notre Dame and its opponents were ranked:

Quarterback

#2 C.J. Stroud — Ohio State Buckeyes
#6 Jaren Hall — BYU Cougars
#7 Tanner McKee — Stanford Cardinal
#9 Phil Jurkovec — Boston College Eagles

Running Back

#8 Sean Tucker — Syracuse Orange
#10 Travis Dye — USC Trojans

Wide Receiver

#1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba — Ohio State Buckeyes
#3 Jordan Addison — USC Trojans
#4 Josh Downs — North Carolina Tar Heels
#8 Zay Flowers — Boston College Eagles

Tight End

#1 Michael Mayer — Notre Dame
#4 Benjamin Yurosek — Stanford Cardinal
#10 Isaac Rex — BYU Cougars

Tackles

#2 Paris Johnson Jr. — Ohio State Buckeyes
#3 Blake Freeland — BYU Cougars

Guards

#2 Christian Mahogany — Boston College Eagles
#3 Andrew Vorhees — USC Trojans
#6 Clark Barrington — BYU Cougars

Centers

#2 Jarrett Patterson — Notre Dame
#8 Brett Neilon — USC Trojans

Defensive Ends

#2 Myles Murphy — Clemson Tigers

Defensive Tackles

#2 Bryan Bresee — Clemson Tigers
#9 Tuli Tuipulotu — USC Trojans
#10 Tyler Davis — Clemsin Tigers

Outside Linebackers

#1 Andre Carter II — Army Black Knights (Not ND opponent but notable)
#2 Isaiah Foskey — Notre Dame
#3 Trenton Simpson — Clemson Tigers

Cornerbacks

#5 Kyu Blu Kelly — Stanford Cardinal
#9 Garrett Williams — Syracuse Orange
#10 Tony Grimes — North Carolina Tar Heels

Safeties

#2 Brandon Joseph — Notre Dame

Kickers/Punters

#10 Daniel Gutierrez — UNLV Rebels

THE MISSING LINK?

If you’re mad about the disrespect shown to Notre Dame Baseball in the tournament pairings... you may not want to know this right now, but Link Jarrett has become a name in Clemson’s search for a new head baseball coach. The last time Notre Dame made back to back appearances in the NCAA Tournament it was with Paul Mainieri at the helm — and then the LSU Tigers swept him away.

USC IS A FINE AMERICAN INSTITUTION

Then again... probably not.