Notre Dame Must Now Push All The Chips In For Dont'e Thornton
Notre Dame added two talented four-star wide receivers to the 2021 class this week, as Georgia natives Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas both pledged to the Irish. It gives Notre Dame three talented four-star wideouts, as Colzie and Thomas combine with fellow four-star Lorenzo Styles Jr.
It should be noted that all three wideouts are also talented defensive backs for their prep teams.
Colzie ranks as the nation’s No. 84 overall player on the 247Sports composite ranking, Styles ranks No. 114 and Thomas ranks No. 260.
It’s a strong class, and a complementary class with diverse skills. When you combine the group with the 2020 haul of Jordan Johnson, Xavier Watts and Jay Brunelle the Irish are certainly loading up at the position.
Notre Dame is one of five programs that have three Top 300 wide receivers on the composite 247Sports list. The Irish join Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU and Clemson. All four have an average ranking higher than Notre Dame’s, but the Irish stack up well with those groups.
There is still one more wide receiver on the board for Notre Dame, and it would be wise for the Irish staff to continue making a hard, hard push for that player. Landing him would not only give the Irish arguably the best wide receiver class in the 2021 class, it would give Notre Dame its best wide receiver haul in over a decade.
The prospect I’m referring to here is Baltimore (Md.) Mount St. Joseph star Dont’e Thornton.
Thornton is the No. 32 overall player in the country on the SI99, and he ranks No. 52 on the composite ranking. He has a combination of size (6-5, 185), speed and dynamic playmaking ability that is rare. It’s the kind of skillset that can completely change the fortunes of an offense. His raw tools and upside are as good - or better - than any receiver to sign with Notre Dame since Michael Floyd back in 2008.
When you consider Notre Dame would be able to combine that kind of skill with the quarterback talent, running back talent, tight end talent, offensive line talent and wide receiver talent that Notre Dame has added in the 2020 and 2021 classes, landing Thornton would give Notre Dame an opportunity to put a truly elite offensive football team on the field for years to come.
Thornton plus what's already on campus and in the 2021 class is the kind of talent you can compete for championships with.
Notre Dame has now found its quarterback, running back, tight ends and offensive linemen it the 2021 class. With Colzie and Thomas now on board the Irish staff has no more 2021 prospects it needs to focus on.
That means head coach Brian Kelly, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, running backs coach Lance Taylor, wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander, tight ends coach John McNulty and recruiting coordinator Brian Polian can and must devote A LOT of attention to Thornton.
Landing him won’t be easy, but this is exactly the kind of player that Notre Dame needs to push all its chips into the center of the table for. This is a program changing recruit that fits the program; he’s the kind of player you go all in for.
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