Notre Dame Lands Cornerback Ramon Henderson
Notre Dame has added to its already impressive 2020 recruiting class by picking up a National Signing Day commitment from Bakersfield (Calif.) Liberty athlete Ramon Henderson.
Henderson signing grows the Irish class to 18, with the track standout becoming the fourth defensive back to choose Notre Dame. The 6-2, 185-pound two-way standout was an even better wide receiver as a prep player, but Notre Dame views his best future spot on defense. After watching his senior film it's easy to see why.
Henderson is long for a cornerback, but he showed loose hips and suddenness as a senior, and his feel for the nuances of the cornerback position improved in his final prep season. ESPN and Rivals rank him as a three-star recruit, but 247Sports graded Henderson as a four-star player and ranked him as the No. 266 player in the entire country.
The Liberty standout has borderline elite speed, running a personal best of 10.59 in the 100-meter dash as a junior and 21.67 in the 200-meter dash. Consider that current Irish sophomore speedster Braden Lenzy had a personal best of 10.82 in the 40-meter dash, although Lenzy's best 200-meter time (21.49) was better than Henderson's.
When I saw Henderson's junior film I was adamantly opposed to taking him and passing on other top players. I saw a track athlete and not a football player. But Clark Lea and Brian Polian clearly didn't care what I had to say, and they kept pressing on. After watching his senior film I wish I could go back and erase all my posts about Henderson, or steal a neuralyzer from Will Smith and use it on everyone that read my analysis of Henderson.
As a senior Henderson looked far more comfortable playing football, and as his footwork improved you saw the fluid hips and elite acceleration that wasn't evident on junior clips. While there is still plenty of technique work needed and Henderson is likely not a day one player, there is legitimate upside and talent to work with.
Henderson had offers from Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, Tennessee, UCLA, Washington State and California.
Prior to Henderson picking Notre Dame the Irish did not land a single player from the “Big 3” states of Florida, Texas or California. But with Henderson now in the fold, Notre Dame has signed a cornerback from California in each of the last two classes, with Carmichael (Calif.) Jesuit defensive back Isaiah Rutherford picking the Irish last December.
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