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Commitment Preview: 2021 OT Landon Tengwall

Previewing the commitment announcement of OT Landon Tengwall, who will decide between Notre Dame and Penn State.

Landon Tengwall is one of the top offensive linemen on the board for Notre Dame, and the Olney (Md.) Good Counsel standout is set to announce his commitment tomorrow.

Tengwall is expected to choose between Notre Dame and Penn State when he mades his announcement at 12:00 PM (Eastern) on March 26.

RECRUITMENT

Tengwall is a consensus Top 100 recruit. Rivals ranks him as the No. 27 overall player in the country and the No. 5 offensive tackle. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 77 overall player and ESPN ranks him No. 84, but Tengwall is No. 45 on the 247Sports composite ranking.

The 6-6, 315-pound big man visited the South Bend campus last March, and coming out of that visit Notre Dame was his clear leader. Offensive line coach Jeff Quinn and the staff kept trying to get Tengwall back on campus over the next several months but it never materialized.

Over the next several months, Penn State and other programs made a hard charge for Tengwall. Former Penn State line coach Matt Limegrover got the Nittany Lions in great position with the Good Counsel tackle, but he was replaced by former Boston College coach Phil Trautwein in January.

Notre Dame was not able to take advantage of the coaching change, but the Irish did make it into the final group for Tengwall. He was supposed to visit Notre Dame during the big March 22 recruiting weekend, but obviously plans changed when the NCAA suspended all visits and placed a dead period for recruiting in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

PREDICTION

My prediction is Tengwall will commit to the Nittany Lions, and that would be a huge blow to Notre Dame’s 2021 offensive line class.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Irish were in a strong early position but could never get Tengwall back on campus, but he made multiple visits to Penn State. Notre Dame tried to get back on top over the last couple of months, putting out a number of social media posts that talked about a “dream team” offensive line haul of current commit Blake Fisher, Tengwall and Clarkston (Mich.) guard Rocco Spindler.

Should Tengwall pick Penn State it would deliver a serious blow to the dream class, but more important its a major blow to the overall line class. I wrote about Spindler in a recent article predicting the next five commits for Notre Dame, which you can read HERE. Notre Dame is in great position with Spindler, but the Irish needed more than just Fisher and Spindler to meet its needs from a numbers and talent standpoint.

Not getting Tengwall would put Notre Dame in a very tough spot when it comes to adding a third and fourth offensive lineman that are on the same level as Fisher and Spindler.

Notre Dame is still pushing for Lititz (Pa.) Warwick offensive tackle Nolan Rucci, who is one of the top blockers in the country, but the Irish have a lot of work to do and a lot of teams they would have to surpass to get Rucci. Notre Dame is a long shot for Fairfax (Va.) Robinson five-star tackle Tristan Leigh.

The Irish staff could start pushing harder for Clarkston (Mich.) offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger, which is something they should have done months ago if we are being honest. 

Should it ultimately lose on Tengwall tomorrow the staff will have to re-shuffle the board, reprioritize other players, possibly expand its board (new offers) and figure out how it’s going to regroup and still finish with the elite offensive line haul it needs in the 2021 class.

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