Notre Dame Is On The Verge Of A Gap Closing Cornerback Class
Cornerback recruiting has continued to be a hot topic in the 2023 recruiting cycle. Since the decommitment of Justyn Rhett, there has been a fair bit of concern about how the corner class would fill out. Cornerback has been a spot that has been in the need of an upgrade.
Notre Dame's cornerback play has had some strong moments (the 2018 tandem of Julian Love and Troy Pride), and there have been individual standouts (Cam Hart), but the Irish must continue improving the depth chart. There is a gap from where Notre Dame has been at cornerback for much of the last decade and where it needs to be to have it at a championship level.
Cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens landed a quality group in 2021 and an outstanding two-man group in 2022. What he needed in the 2023 class was another gap closing infusion of talent. Notre Dame has a chance to make that happen over the next month.
THE UPSIDE PLAY
Two of the three cornerbacks on the board have already set commitment dates, and the first is Houston (Texas) Kinkaid star Micah Bell. Notre Dame didn't get in on Bell until this winter, but the Irish quickly vaulted up his list of schools. When he released his Top 10 schools you got an understanding of why, as Bell included Notre Dame, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke and Harvard along with Texas, Tennessee, Houston, Baylor and Michigan State.
This is a high academic young man. That, however, isn't the reason he's ranked as the nation's No. 55 overall player by 247Sports. Bell is a 5-11, 165-pound speedster with truly game-changing speed. He has a personal best of 10.41 in the 100-meter dash this spring, and a 20.89 in the 200-meter dash. Both are absolutely blazing times, and that speed translates very well to the football field as both a game breaking running back and standout cover man.
His upside on defense is through the roof. Bell is set to make his commitment on July 1st. He set his list of Top 10 schools in early June, and since that time he has only visited Notre Dame.
MR. DEPENDABILITY
There hasn’t been a cornerback on the board longer than St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet star Christian Gray. The 6-0, 175-pound cover man brings an outstanding baseline as an impact defender if he were to pick the Irish. This recruitment has been trending in Notre Dame’s favor over the last couple of months after LSU and Ohio State took control earlier in the spring.
Gray is a very disciplined defensive back who had a tremendous feel for the position. He brings a playmaking style to DeSmet, bringing a nice combination of long speed, length and ball skills to the field. He is arguably the most college ready player on the board and could very well push for playing time early on the next level.
The DeSmet standout is ranked as the nation's No. 55 overall player according to Rivals, and he's the No. 78 overall player on the On3 consensus rankings. Gray is set to make his college decision on July 4, when he'll choose between the Irish, LSU, Ohio State and USC.
FAR FROM PLAN B
Spanaway (Wash.) Lake cornerback Jasiah Wagoner is a player who hasn’t been on the board for very long, but Notre Dame just left a big impact on him during his official visit this past weekend. It was his first visit to campus. Don’t let Wagoner’s recency on the board fool you. He is absolutely a take for the Irish according to our sources.
The 5-11, 170-pound cornerback brings an outstanding feel to the position. Wagoner plays a smooth and consistent brand of football, making a variety of plays in both man and zone coverage. Physically, he has no problem making plays in the run game. He also brings some inside-outside versatility potentially to the defense if Notre Dame is able to close.
Unlike both Gray and Bell, Wagoner has yet to announce a timeline for his decision, and he's still taking more visits. Wagoner will be on campus at Cal this weekend.
FITTING TOGETHER
The reason Notre Dame would take all three of Gray, Bell and Wagoner is because they potentially fit together so well. These aren’t three players who project to the same position. No, their fit is really good if the Irish landed the trio.
Gray is the type of versatile cornerback who could potentially play on the outside either in the boundary or to the field. He has enough athleticism and size/physicality to work from either position.
Bell is the most natural fit as an outside cornerback to the field. He has the type of quick twitch explosiveness and long speed to cover a ton of ground on the back end. There is superstar potential here if he can unlock his physical traits.
Wagoner also fits best to the field, although he also could potentially fit inside at either nickel back or safety. Stylistically, there is a lot of Julian Love and Byron Murphy to Wagoner’s game. He could become a moving chess piece in the secondary.
Despite them all technically being labeled as cornerbacks, each brings something extremely unique to the field. The trio will have the ability to see the field at once, assuming Notre Dame is able to hit a home run over the next several weeks.
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