Notre Dame commitments Kyle Hamilton and Andrew Kristofic have long been considered vastly underrated by Notre Dame fans and recruiting reporters. Those feelings were validated last week when 247Sports released their latest recruit rankings for the class of 2018. The pair both skyrocketed more than 200 spots in the rankings placing themselves among the biggest movers in the country.
Before last week Hamilton and Kristofic were both 3-star prospects on 247 Sports but both earned a 4th star with their huge jumps. Kyle Hamilton jumped 203 spots in the rankings all the way up to #156 in the country. Kristofic on the other hand shot up 212 spots and now sits at #137 overall the country.
After Kyle Hamilton’s performance at The Opening, it was only a matter of time until a rankings boost came. Hamilton turned a lot of heads at the event earlier this month and proved he was much more than a 3-star recruit. His offer list prior to The Opening alone was proof of that with offers from Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, LSU, and Ohio State. That is the kind of offer list that screams elite talent.
Ever since committing to Notre Dame it was clear that the Irish got a “steal” in the then 3-star recruit. Back in May already, Greg wrote that while Hamilton was Notre Dame’s lowest rated recruit at the time, he could very well be the best player in the class at the time.
At some point the rankings have to stop mattering and the eyes can tell the story. And if anyone needed confirmation that something may be amiss with where he is rated, in the month prior to his Notre Dame commitment, he unofficially visited Georgia (his home state school), Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State, and Stanford. All of whom had offered him scholarships. It also happens that Hamilton earned an invite to the The Opening Finals in Oregon this year, so my guess is he won’t be Brian Kelly’s lowest rated recruit much longer.
And nor should he be. He has the physical tools, he has the game, and he has the instincts. And in my opinion, in a class with some very good players, Hamilton just might be the best one.
Props to Greg for being one of the first ones onboard the Kyle Hamilton hype train. That train has now left the station and is charging full steam ahead. 247 was the first to update their rankings on Hamilton, but Rivals will likely not be far behind.
Notre Dame now has three 4-star defensive backs in the class of 2019 with Hamilton joining Litchfield Ajavon and KJ Wallace.
Kristofic Stepping Out of the Shadows
Andrew Kristofic, a high school teammate of freshman QB Phil Jurkovec, has an offer list similar to Hamilton’s. Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oregon, and Wisconsin have all offered the now 4-star OT. Again, that kind of offer list screams 4-star or better talent.
Kristofic was a key factor in Pine Richland’s state championship this past fall along with Jurkovec. With Jurkovec now at Notre Dame, the spotlight will turn to the offensive tackle who now ranks among the nation’s best.
With Kristofic earning a 4th star, all four of Notre Dame’s offensive line commits for 2019 are rated as 4-star recruits on 247Sports now. That is some pretty damn impressive recruiting from new offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.
Like Hamilton, Kristofic is still a 3-star prospect on Rivals but it seems as though it’s only a matter of time until Rivals awards him with a 4th star as well.
How can you say Kyle was a “steal?” He was always a RKG for ND or he wouldn’t have been offered.
Because he was originally ranked as a 3-star recruit whose profile has continued to skyrocket. I put “steal” in quotes because he never really was a steal.
I know this is a hypothetical question but let’s say Wimbush is really good this year in all aspects running passing decision making does Notre dame have enough talent to beat Ohio State Alabama Clemson Oklahoma Georgia?
YES
YES
Yes, but we will only need to beat two of two of those, at the most. There is, however, no evidence at this time that Wimbush will be “really good” in all those areas…only a reasonable hope. We’ll know by halftime of the Michigan game. If Wimbush needs another half season (or longer) to “improve his accuracy” we’ll never even see any of those 5 teams. He needs to be rip roaring and ready to go on September 1, 2018. If he is ready to execute the offense against Michigan’s “D” there isn’t a defensive coordinator in the country that will be a happy man Sunday morning, including Michigan’s. If Wimbush is “still on his learning curve” September 1, 2018, the wolverinas will eat us alive, our potential AA punter’s leg will be sore on Sunday, and unless IAN pulls our asses out of the fire again, which ain’t gonna happen unless IAN has a hell of a lot of reps in August, we can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Basically, Wimbush has to be ready to go…and he might be…this post is not meant to be a knock on Brandon Wimbush by any stretch. I’m just stating the facts as they are when you open against Michigan. Personally, I think we’ll beat them in a game we never trail in. But that’s based on Wimbush’s deep, deep well of potential…not on direct observational evidence. You can only bet on two things for certain: 1) I’ll be at the game (with some other Curmes) and (2) Michigan’s “D” is from Missouri…we are going to have to “show them.”
BGC ’77 ’82
Yes to Ohio State Clemson and Oklahoma. No to Alabama and Georgia
Jeff, I hear you on Alabama…I get that message. Since they kicked our ass so badly the last time we played, I wouldn’t argue with you there.
But how does Georgia rate a “No”…they had to make two huge plays (one by their receiver in the end zone, and one by their defensive end on the last series) just to beat us by one point when Brandon was playing MEDIOCRE football. How the hell do they have any chance to win against a Wimbush led team who is, to paraphrase Pete’s hypothetical, “really good in all aspects of his game?” Don’t be silly. We’re getting the entire defense back that held them to 20 points and stuffed their running game + more experienced depth at some positions + some outstanding new “D” backs. If we get another shot at them, our entire team will be licking their chops.
By the way: I just spoke to an Ohio State “insider” who recently moved to Indiana after working for OSU’s athletic department. He said he’s seen the 2018 Ohio State team (during the spring) and “it is Urban’s best team ever” and “it’s a team with no weaknesses.” He seemed quite confident, even about the QB position, which I asked him about specifically. IMO the Big Ten this year will be tougher from top to bottom than the SEC…a real murderer’s row. You know, if Michigan had not choked in the fourth quarter against South Carolina, the Big Ten would have been PERFECT in Bowl games last year! PERFECT! And most of those were YOUNG teams!
PS to Frank – isn’t it about time for a “Now or Never” article on Brandon? He’s the key to the “next step” upward…or not…isn’t he?
BGC ’77 ’82
Bruce, Georgia is a much better team now than what they were when they last played ND in South Bend. A true Freshman QB made his first collegiate start against ND. Yes they got lucky with a couple of plays to win that game. Georgia was playing much better at the end of last season than ND. Not even debatable. Lets see what happens in 2019 when they meet again in Georgia. Ill be there rooting for the Irish but im not very optimistic.
Jeff, It is true that Georgia’s offense got a lot better as the season progressed, and our offense had a bad dropoff after the USC game…to the point where we just plain stunk. And I find that annoying and worrisome. But the fact remains that GEORGIA just did not match up very well against our defense…not at the beginning of the year, and I did not see anything from them at the end of the year that made me think that would change much at all. Our defense stuffed LSU iterum, iterum, iterumque in the Citrus Bowl…we played one of the finest games I’ve seen an ND defense play. Yes, LSU is not Georgia, but I submit to you that NOBODY is going to make a living running against our “D”, nobody in the SEC, or anywhere else in 2018. Watch and see. You can say MIAMI scored on our defense a lot, and that’s true…but most of that can be attributed to our atrocious offense, which punted from inside our twenty every time we had the ball in the first half (except for the TWO times we turned it over in the red zone – the WRONG red zone) and didn’t even get a chance to punt! That’s how low our offense had sunk. For some reason, very few people seem to see Notre Dame’s defense coming in 2018, and that’s OK with me. What we need is simple and clear: Offensive execution. Special Teams will be very good to excellent, and the defense will be National Champion caliber. Remember the original axiom of Pete’s post…hypothetical as it was… “what happens if Wimbush is playing good football in all aspects of his game”…ANSWER: we beat GEORGIA.
BGC ’77 ’82
Hope Irish win the Kyle and Andrew sweepstakes
Greg,
I think we already have. I don’t think these two committed early to us just to “kite their stock” like some guys do. I think they’ll show up on signing day, and in every game they play for us.
BGC ’77 ’82
Mr. Curme, I like Brandon. We need his teammates to step up all around Him and our backs need to fight, fight to get that yard to the chains. Our receiver corps needs to extend their catches like Boykin did to win the Bowl game. I think we have the ingredients for a very successful season. You’re right a lot of questions will be answered early on. Our first notch on our way to BCS.