Notre Dame’s recent success has yielded enough momentum to land them a Rivals top ten class for 2020, and it appears the 2021 class has a chance to be even better. On Tuesday Rivals released its updated player rankings for the 2021 class, and all 5 of the current players made the list including 3 in the top 100.
- 17. Blake Fisher (OT)
- 65. Tyler Buchner (QB)
- 86. Gabriel Rubio (DT)
- 118. Greg Crippen (OT)
- 178 Cane Berrong (TE)
Notre Dame players have been pretty celebrated all offseason and rightfully so. The team returns a lot of players who were critical to a magical 2018 season. It seems every day that Ian Book, Julian Okwara, or Alohi Gillman are being nominated for a preseason award watch list.
The 2018 season provided plenty to talk about in regards to current Irish players, but it also sparked one of the more exciting recruiting cycles in recent memory.
It’s to be expected that a team who went to the college football playoff would receive a bump in interest in high-level recruits, but I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted the excitement that ensued
Day in and day out news was coming out about high-level recruits being interested in Notre Dame and even committing. Notre Dame had been struggling to land elite athletes like Chris Tyree and Jordan Johnson as they were all going to Alabama and Ohio State. The tide is starting to turn.
Blake Fisher of Avon High school in Indiana was the highest Irish commit on the list. Rivals original top 100 list from June had Fisher slotted at #14. He now resides at #17. Fisher is the number four ranked OL in his class.
It’s never a shocker to see Notre Dame land a big OL recruit. Who wouldn’t want to play for a school cranks out NFL talent at their position? Either way, Fisher is a great foundational piece to this class and has been active in pitching ND to others.
Quarterback commit Tyler Buchner out of La Jolla California was slotted initially at 52 but fell to 65 in the most recent ranking. It’s quite impressive that he’s on it at all considering his circumstances.
Buchner suffered a nasty leg injury in the first game of his sophomore season. Most school question offering scholarships to kids with injury in high school, but Buchner’s potential is so highly considered that Alabama, Michigan, and USC came after him anyway.
Buchner is playing again and is fully committed to the Irish. So things could have been worse than slipping a few spots in the top 100.
Gabriel Rubio of St. Peters, MO was also apart of the top 100 at #86. Rubio is firm in his pledge to ND due to his relationship with Mike Elston.
These three were all apart of Rivals original 100 list, but it was nice to see the two other ND 2021 pledges make the updated top 250 list as well.
Greg Crippen of the well-known IMG Academy comes in at #118 Nationally and the 5th highest ranked guard recruit.
It’s never a shocker to see Notre Dame land a highly ranked tight end considering the amount they’ve put in the NFL. Cane Berrong out of Hartwell Georgia could be the next in line for Notre Dame. He makes the list at #178 and is seen as the 7th best TE in the 2021 class.
The Irish 2021 class is currently ranked number 3 in the team rankings. There’s a long way to go, but the Irish are off to a great start.
Offensive and defensive lines are certainly off to a good start in this class, but the Irish need to add a few athletes on both sides of the ball. Tyree and Johnson were enormous gets for the 2020 class, and if they can a couple more athletes, then they are on to something special.
Continuing the momentum will also primarily have to do with what the Irish do on the field in 2019. The two best recruiting cycles under Brian Kelly have followed undefeated seasons. Recruits want to go somewhere that wins.
Shocker, I know right?
There are over 30 #NotreDame targets featured in the updated class of 2021 #Rivals100. See where the prospects are ranked in the link below!https://t.co/pBMF2s2OCV pic.twitter.com/UZJRowvNmY
— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) August 20, 2019
Notre Dame is currently targeting a lot more prospects in the top 100, and barring a complete meltdown/2016ish season, they should be able to get a few. It might be optimistic to think they will finish with a third-ranked class, but no reason they shouldn’t finish with back to back top 10 classes.
