Class Of 2022 Standout Offensive Tackle Has Early Interest In Notre Dame
While many national recruits have seen their recruitment slow down with COVID-19, camp circuits and on campus visits put on hold, a Class of 2022 offensive tackle has experienced the exact opposite since the shutdown.
Downingtown (Penn.) West Offensive Tackle Drew Shelton received his first offer on March 27 from Kansas State, and the offers have been rolling in ever since.
In the last three months, Shelton’s offer list has expanded to fourteen. Penn State, Michigan, Oregon, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Maryland, Rutgers, Cincinnati and Notre Dame have all entered the picture since that original offer, with the Fighting Irish offering on June 5.
Shelton is really just trying to soak it all in and enjoy the process ahead.
“Three months ago, I was just a regular kid,” Shelton explained. “Out playing ball and just trying to have fun; just trying to get my first offer. And now here they all come. It has been exciting, it’s been hectic, it’s been crazy, it’s been surreal, honestly. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”
Shelton played a lot of sports growing up, and was actually a very good baseball player prior to focusing on basketball and football in high school. He knows football is the sport he will play at the collegiate level, but he takes pride in how baseball and basketball have helped him grow as an athlete.
“It is really important for an offensive lineman to have good footwork, good mobility, and good athleticism too,” stated Shelton. “Basketball has helped me a lot in football, playing on the line. It has specifically helped me a lot in my pass pro and pass sets.”
Shelton is young, and he still has a lot of growing into his body to do. On film he looks thin, appearing more like a tight end than a future star offensive tackle. That is actually where he started out for his high school team, but he quickly realized that offensive line would be his best spot.
At 6-5, 270-pounds, he wears his weight well and looks the part of a future athletic offensive tackle.
“I have put on about 15 pounds since the season ended, and that is right about where coaches wanted to be at,” Shelton said. “My goal for junior season is to play at 275, so I wanna get to that weight and just be the best athlete I can be”
Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn offered Shelton, and while he knew there was some interest, the offer still took him a moment to process.
“My position coach told me he reached out and heard back from Notre Dame, and that they were interested,” Shelton said. “My head coach called me yesterday, and told me I needed to set a time to talk with Coach Quinn … and my initial reaction was, oh wow, this is really happening.”
Quinn and the Shelton family hit it off in their first reaction and that has left a nice impression on Drew and his mom.
“My conversation with him was pretty cool. My mom and I were on the phone with him, and he just told me a lot about what they look for in a recruit,” said the 2022 standout. “He really made a lasting impression on me because he knew a lot about my mom’s hometown, and he and my mom really hit it off. That really made an impression on me.”
Notre Dame’s history of recruiting linemen from the Northeast - and especially Pennsylvania - stood out to the young tackle. Current offensive linemen Robert Hainsey, Josh Lugg, Andrew Kristofic and Michael Carmody are all from the region, as was former Irish star and first round pick Mike McGlinchey.
“They have a lot of guys from around where I live, and even though I haven’t given that too much thought yet, I think we should be able to connect well; easily I would think,” Shelton mentioned.
As for which programs are sticking out for Shelton early on, three teams have developed the best bond so far. However, it is early on he has goals for what he wants in a program at the next level.
“Penn State, Kansas State and Rutgers are all recruiting me really hard,” explained Shelton. “I really like their coaches, and we’ve developed a great relationship so far. I am really just trying to find the best of both worlds right now. At a football level, obviously, I want to be developed to play in the NFL, but I also want to get a college degree. That will be a main thing for me as well, from a prestigious school.”
Expect for Shelton to continue gaining momentum on the recruiting trail. He has a lot of room to grow into his fantastic tackle frame, and with still two more years of high school football left he will likely look like a completely different player by the time his prep career is over.
With that said, if the Irish make him a priority, the initial interest is there for them to be a big time player in his recruitment. Football and academics are equally important to him, and in his limited interaction with Coach Quinn, he is really impressed.
The 2021 class has not been friendly to Notre Dame for offensive line recruiting so far, and many of their realistic targets are better suited inside in college. Shelton would bring the Irish coaching staff a true offensive tackle prospect to help supplement the misses in 2021.
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