Class Impact: Safety Taebron Bennie-Powell Commits To Notre Dame

Notre Dame added to its 2024 class by landing West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West safety Taebron Bennie-Powell. The Irish beat out Duke, Kentucky, Pittsburgh and West Virginia to land the 6-1, 170-pound safety.

NOTRE DAME CLASS IMPACT

Bennie-Powell is the 20th player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2024 class. He is the 10th defensive player to commit to the class and he joins Arizona safety Kennedy Urlacher as the other safety in the class.

Notre Dame struck out completely at safety in the 2022 class, and despite landing two quality players in the 2023 class - including Ben Minich, a high school teammate of Bennie-Powell - the Irish fell short of their numbers need in the class. That meant landing three safeties in the 2024 class was an imperative for the Notre Dame coaching staff.

With Bennie-Powell now in the class and the Irish tending in a great direction for Indiana safety Brauntae Johnson, the Irish are very close to reaching their numbers needs. Bennie-Powell grades out as a 3.0-star recruit on the Irish Breakdown board, so he'll need to show improvement as a senior in order to meet the need Notre Dame has for safeties that can challenge for early playing time and be an impact player.

NOTRE DAME FIT - ANALYSIS

Bennie-Powell spent his junior season playing more as an outside linebacker than he did a defensive back due to the presence of Minich and Ohio State 2023 safety signee Malik Hartford. His game was all about playing downhill and being an effective run defender and blitzer, and that downhill part of his game is where he will fit into the Notre Dame defense. Bennie-Powell will be making a transition to a deep safety position in 2023 for Lakota West, but I could see him being a rover type of player down the road.

Right now the best part of his game is his ability to come downhill make plays on the ball. Bennie-Powell will need to work at taking better angles to the football, but he's a strong tackler. He can deliver good punishment on the ball, showing good lower body explosiveness for an athlete that right now isn't very big. When he's under control he shows the ability to go low and explode through ball carriers. Bennie-Powell also showed good timing and effectiveness as a blitzer.

From a coverage standpoint, right now Bennie-Powell is at his best when he can keep things in front of him. He has tight hips, so opening up and getting vertical isn't as smooth for him as you'd like. He does shows the ability to be clean with his pedal and then plant and drive downhill, or quickly redirect in order to run with a cross or over route that is crossing his face. Bennie-Powell ran a solid 40-yard dash time at the Notre Dame camp (4.58), but he doesn't show that on film yet.

That could be due to his overall lack of quality technique for the safety position. As he gets more comfortable playing on the third level and cleans up his technique he should be able to play to his speed potential. That is something that could help overcome his overall lack of top-level athleticism.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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