A month ago Notre Dame wasn’t considered much of a player for 5-star athlete Demetris Robertson. The Irish, however, have been trending positively for the elite Georgia prospect and have just picked up a 237Sports “Crystal Ball” prediction from Kipp Adams, a well respected recruiting analyst in the Southeast.
Now, Notre Dame has a long way to go before they can really feel good about where they stand with Robertson – and they probably won’t until the see a signed LOI of with the ink dried, but as a fan it’s hard not to get excited about the way things are trending for Notre Dame with Robertson.
In November Notre Dame fans thought that Will Fuller would be back for his senior season after he made the impromptu announcement that he would in fact return, but things changed quickly and now Fuller is preparing to be a potential first round draft pick in April’s NFL Draft. And that is one big reason why landing Robertson would be a huge coup for the Notre Dame coaching staff.
While Notre Dame has a deep depth chart at each of the wide receiver positions, there is a void at the deep threat, big play wide receiver role that Fuller filled perfectly the last two seasons. Enter Demetris Robertson. Potentially. Robertson has elite speed and big play ability that was on full display in the US Army All-American Bowl and while big contributions from freshman wide receivers have been rare under Brian Kelly, they aren’t unprecedented.
The Irish also haven’t landed a wide receiver of Robertson’s pedigree since Michael Floyd seven years ago. Robertson is ranked as the #1 wide receiver in the 247 Sports rankings and 16th overall prospect. Floyd was the last 5-star wide receiver the Irish have landed and before Floyd, Rhema McKnight was the last 5-star receiver before him. In short, 5-star receivers have been few and far between for Notre Dame.
In Brian Kelly’s first year at Notre Dame, true freshman TJ Jones started the season opener and ended up catching 23 passes for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns including scores in the first two games of his collegiate career. Should Notre Dame land Robertson, it is not a stretch to think that they could receive that type of production – if not more out of the Georgia native.
Brian Kelly and his staff still have a lot of work left to do with Robertson before they can even think about penciling him into the depth chart though. Kelly still has his in-home visit left with Robertson which he will have to hit out of the park, but that is a situation Kelly thrives in. Alabama, Stanford, and Georgia remain the biggest threats for Notre Dame in the race to land Robertson.
There’s still a few weeks to go until National Signing Day and a lot can change between now and then, but as of today things look a lot more promising for the Irish than they did a month ago.
