A Look At Notre Dame Safety Target Ben Minich
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With the recent offer of West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West safety Ben Minich, a lot of Notre Dame fans and faithful were left to quickly hit the recruiting profiles and Hudl highlight tape to see what has drawn the Irish staff to Minich. When blindly looking up recruiting rankings, some fans were underwhelmed by the recent offer and began speculating due to the timing of things.
Make no mistake about it, this is a player who was offered because the staff was impressed by what they saw athletically when he camped this summer. As you get to know Minich, there are a variety of positives that you can take from his profile. Sometimes we lose sight of the whole package of a student-athlete in the world of recruiting rankings.
RECRUITING RANKINGS
The rankings rarely ever tell the full story. With that in mind, when you dig into Ben Minich, there is a lot of background that could potentially make him and outstanding fit with the Notre Dame program.
Minich recently moved up to four-star status according to 247Sports. He is currently pegged as the No. 23 safety in the 2023 recruiting class, as well as the sixth rated player in the state of Ohio. Notre Dame hopes to close on Minich, making him the second member of the Buckeye state in the class, joining star defensive end recruit Brenan Vernon.
As expected, Minich is also a fantastic student in the classroom. He has a reported 4.0 GPA and has also scored a 33 on his ACT test. That is on a 1-36 just to showcase how impressive that score truly is. That is why he has offers from Harvard, Princeton and Yale, three Ivy League schools.
Despite only being a junior on a really good Lakota West program that finished the 2021 season with an 11-2 record, Minich was named a team captain. His leadership qualities are at a high level, something that this staff values a great deal.
He is also a two-way star who posted 45 total tackles and two interceptions on the defensive side of the football. Minich also makes an impact as a wide receiver for the Firebirds, collecting 15 receptions for 260 receiving yards and five touchdowns. To add onto his impact, he is also a valuable member of the coverage units on special teams.
The 6-0, 185-pound safety is a well accomplished track and field athlete for the Lakota West program, posting a personal best time of 10.47 seconds (wind aided) in the 100 meter dash and a 21.91 personal best in the 200 meter. His regular non-wind aided times are usually in the 10.77 to 10.98 range.
His offer list has been steadily expanded. Some of his notable suitors include Oklahoma, Stanford, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Iowa State, Indiana, Duke, and Vanderbilt.
From the full scope, Minich is an impressive young man who has impressed the staff recently, leading to the scholarship offer. Keeping an open mind is needed when evaluating potential fits.
FILM ANALYSIS
Playing safety for Lakota West, Minich is a versatile piece on the backend who is used to working from depth, in short zone and a slot defender. The best aspects of his game is his short area quickness and change of direction. That shows up with Munich’s ability to close quickly on underneath routes and do nice work in man to man coverage.
He is also a tenacious player who shows up in the run game, with adequate ability to work in pursuit. His ball skills are also plus, making sense with his impact on the offensive side of the football.
The biggest questions for Minich are going to be his range in deep zone coverage and his overall size profile. Minich range is a whole lot better working towards the line of scrimmage than opening deep in coverage. While he has no issue throwing around his weight, Minich also doesn’t boast much hit power right now. He will have to fill out his frame to become an asset as a run defender and alley runner.
Minich’s impact on special teams is also a huge bonus. He makes a ton of plays in coverage units, quickly accelerating down field and showing sure tackling on returners. Overall, he boasts a solid all around athletic profile with some nice proactiveness with his ability to diagnose quickly.
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