Irish Sports Daily

If the national signing period began today, Notre Dame would bring in seventeen football players.  Combined with last year's recruiting class and the transfers of a highly touted offensive tackle and tailback, plus the addition of a player coming off of a Mormon Mission, that would make a grand total of forty-three players for the classes of 2011 and 2012 combined.

So, would Notre Dame be where it needed to be to contend with the nation's elite?  Let's take a look position by position.

Quarterback (2)

Hard to argue with the players already on campus -- Everett Golson and Gunner Kiel -- two players that bring quite a bit of experience from the high school ranks and highly touted to boot.  Grade: A

Running Back (5)

Cam McDaniel and George Atkinson III earned game action as freshmen, and Southern California transfer Amir Carlisle will technically be a part of their class although he will not be able to participate in game action until 2013.  These three players alone make a formidable group, but Notre Dame plucked another two talented running backs for the class of 2012.  Will Mahone and KeiVarae Russell add to the versatility and athleticism at the running back position.  The great thing about this group derives from all of them being capable pass receivers as well as runners.  Each player can make a big impact for the Irish in a myriad of ways.  Grade: A-

Wide Receiver (5)

Davaris Daniels and Matthias Farley signed in 2011, with Chris Brown, Justin Ferguson, and Deontay Greenberry in the fold for 2011.  At least one more wide receiver should be added to this group for the class of 2012 to truly meet position needs, and of course Atkinson III could move to wide receiver and add an instant boost in big play ability.  Grade: A-

Tight End (1)

Notre Dame signed the tight end it wanted for the class of 2011 with Ben Koyack coming to to South Bend.  Notre Dame appears to be content with not signing a tight end for the class of 2012.  Grade: B (Koyack should be a great player, but recent seasons proved that tight ends often incur injury problems.  Depth should always be a concern.)

Offensive Line (8)

Irish fans should smile with the additions of Brad Carrico, Connor Hanratty, Matt Hegarty, Nick Martin and Florida State transfer Jordan Prestwood all being a part of the class of 2011.  That's an athletic group of offensive linemen.  Adding Mark Harrell and Ronnie Stanley to the two-class group provides Notre Dame will excellent options along the offensive line.  Long snapper Scott Daly will also be a special teams contributor. Grade: A- (The only thing missing is a bona fide road grader at right tackle.  That's being picky, however.)

Defensive Line (6)

Notre Dame signed one of the best four-man defensive line groups in school history with the addition of Chase Hounsehell, Aaron Lynch, Tony Springmann, and Stephon Tuitt.  Size, strength, speed, and athleticism came to South Bend with that quartet.  2012 proved to be a good group as well, with Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones being added to the group.  At least one more defensive lineman would be needed to balance the 2012 defensive line recruiting class, and hopefully that player comes from the greater Sacramento, CA area (an older brother would be nice, too).  Grade: A- (Quality is fantastic, but need at least one more defensive lineman for much the same reason another tight end would help the program: injuries are very common with defensive lineman; never truly sign enough defensive linemen.)

Linebacker (6)

With the signatures of Ben Councell, Jarrett Grace, Troy Niklas, Anthony Rabasa, and Ishaq Williams, the linebacker class from 2011 rivals the defensive line class from 2011 in terms of talent.  Notre Dame landed Romeo Okwara for the class of 2012.  The numbers are light due to just one signee for the class of 2012.  Talent, however, cannot be denied.  Notre Dame did quite well. Grade: B+

Cornerback (3)

Josh Atkinson and Jalen Brown provided two long cornerbacks to the roster.  Adding Tee Shepard for the class of 2012 brings even more length and athleticism.  The problem stems from numbers.  Honestly, Notre Dame could use at least another two cornerbacks from the two classes combined.  If Notre Dame suffers injuries at cornerback, it could be a huge problem during years to come.  Still, the talent is very good, especially when one considers that Shepard might be the most talented defensive back Notre Dame signed since Bobby Taylor signed with the Irish in February of 1992 from Longview, TX.  Grade: B

Safety (6)

Eilar Hardy signed as the only safety recruit in the class of 2011.  Thus, Notre Dame set out to add talent and numbers for the class of 2012.  With the addition of Chris Badger (originally from the class of 2010) after a two-year Mormon Mission, Nick Baratti, CJ Prosise, Elijah Shumate, and John Turner, Notre Dame will bring in several players with size and length.  Another truly elite safety recruit would be nice, however, and numbers alone do not guarantee success.  Grade: B-

Kicker (1)

Kyle Brindza did a good job as a freshman after being one of the more highly touted kickers for the class of 2011.  There's no reason to believe he will not be a very good player for the Irish.  The only question to be answered is whether or not he will be a good place kicker?  Time will tell.  Grade: A-

Analysis

Notre Dame positioned itself to be a BCS contender each and every year from 2013 forward (too many concerns at quarterback for 2012 to be a BCS season), but being a true national title contender, at least on paper, that means finishing this recruiting class with a couple more dominant players.  To finish off the 2012 recruiting class Notre Dame needs at least one more cornerback and/or safety and more help along the front seven to finalize the depth that helped Alabama and Louisiana State reach the national title game this season (both teams continually load up with front seven recruits each year).  Each scenario seems possible.  Adding another playmaker on offense would also be great, and certainly a realistic goal.  Two weeks until national signing day, and several top-notch recruits could sign with Notre Dame that did not yet make their college selections.  It should be a very interesting final two weeks...

Overall Grade: B+