(UHND.com) – Notre Dame’s fourth commitment of the year is a big one – literally – for Charlie Weis and Notre Dame. Sean Cwynar, a 6’3”, 285 pound defensive lineman from Illinois, committed to Weis and the Irish on Tuesday marking the third commitment to come out this past weekend’s junior day.
Sunday was the second Junior Day that Cwynar had attended at Notre Dame, and it was all he needed to know that Notre Dame is where he wanted to play his college ball. On his way back to his Woodstock, Illinois home; he called up Charlie Weis to let him know that he would be committing to the Irish in the very near future.
Tuesday Cwynar made it official when drove back to South Bend to commit to Weis in person.
While he is listed as a defensive tackle by most recruiting services, Cwynar projects as a defensive end in Notre Dame’s new 3-4 defense – a position that suits his talents almost perfectly. Cwynar may already be 285 pounds, but he is very quick off the snap and has a great first step – much like Derek Landri.
Where Cwynar differs from Landri is that he is already as big as a junior in high school as Landri is as a 5th year senior at Notre Dame. That size, combined with his quickness makes him an ideal fit in a 3-4 alignment lining up at one of the end positions.
This past season Cwynar collected 102 tackles and registered 17 sacks on the defensive side of the ball while also playing tackle on the offensive side of the ball.
If you watch any footage of Cwynar you’ll also notice that he has very good closing speed for someone his size. He’ll get a lot of comparisons to Landri because of his quickness off the snap, but there’s another former Notre Dame defensive lineman that he may be more similar to – Anthony Weaver.
Weaver was big enough to step in as a freshman and play right away when he started 10 games as a true freshman in 1998 at defensive end. Cwynar has the size and ability to be able to play early as a defensive end in a 3-4 just as Weaver played in the NFL with the Ravens.
That’s not to say that Cwynar will start from day one as Weaver basically did. Weaver was pushed into a starting role because of injuries, and it might take a similar situation for Cwynar to start as a true freshman if for no other reason than he will have to learn an entirely new defensive system once he gets to Notre Dame.
Cwynar’s Marian Catholic team plays a traditional 4-3 where he did play primarily at defensive end, but he’ll need to adjust to Corwin Brown’s 3-4 alignment once he gets to Notre Dame. Still, he has the kind of potential to be able to make an impact very early in his career if called upon by Weis and Brown.
This was a very big commitment for the Irish especially considering the troubles Notre Dame has had recruiting defensive linemen over the last several seasons. Cwynar is a big time talent, a near perfect fit for Brown’s 3-4 defense and is a perfect start to recruiting on the defensive side of the ball this year.
