How Rocco Spindler Stacks Up Against Top Notre Dame OL Recruits
Landing Clarkston (Mich.) High School offensive lineman Rocco Spindler was big for Notre Dame. You pop in the film and you see a talented, physical and versatile blocker, and he's a great fit in the Notre Dame offense.
Looking at his recruiting rankings, the 6-5, 290-pound standout is one of the best offensive linemen to sign with Notre Dame in the last decade. Beginning with the 2011 class, Notre Dame has landed four offensive linemen that ranked as a Top 100 recruit by three different services. Spindler is one of those players, and he's joined by Liam Eichenberg, Tommy Kraemer and Matt Hegarty.
Let's take a look at just how well he stacks up against the best offensive line recruits of the Brian Kelly era.
Note: The ranking is based off the 247Sports composite rankings.
#26 - Tommy Kraemer - Class of 2016
Kraemer ranked as a Top 100 recruit by all four services, checking in as the only OL in the last decade to accomplish that feat. He was ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 8 player in the country according to 247Sports. Scout (#37) and Rivals (#41) also ranked him as a Top 50 player.
#48 - Rocco Spindler - Class of 2021
Spindler's composite ranking is actually higher than any of this individual rankings by the three services. What this means is that other linemen have a wider range in the rankings, but all three services are quite high on the Irish blocker, which boosts his composite ranking.
#50 - Blake Fisher - Class of 2021
Fisher is ranked #22 overall by Rivals, making him a borderline five-star recruit. 247Sports also ranks him in the Top 100 (#84), but he's just outside the Top 100 according to Rivals (#102). If Rivals comes around and puts Fisher in the Top 100 it would become just the second time in the Kelly tenure that Notre Dame signed a pair of OL in one class that ranked in the Top 100 by three services.
#56 - Matt Hegarty - Class of 2011
Hegarty is the only other blocker to come close to being ranked in the Top 100 by all four services. He's a Top 100 recruit by ESPN (#36), Rivals (#70) and 247Sports (#84), but he was just outside the Scout rankings (#105).
#61 - Quenton Nelson - Class of 2014
Looking back it seems a bit absurd that Nelson ranked this low, but you can thank ESPN for that. Rivals ranked Nelson as a 5-star and the #29 player in the country. Scout (#46) and 247Sports (#75) also ranked him in the Top 100, but ESPN had Nelson ranked as the #175 player in the country. Him playing in the Army game played a role in that, but it was a big miss by the world wide leader.
#80 - Liam Eichenberg - Class of 2016
Eichenberg is one of just four blockers to rank as a Top 100 recruit by three different services. Rivals stubbornly ranked Eichenberg as a three-star for much of his recruitment, only begrudgingly putting him at #194 after he dominated at the Under Armour All-American game. 247Sports ranked him #60, ESPN had him at #67 and Scout him at #79, and they were clearly right on him.
#84 - Robert Hainsey - Class of 2017
Hainsey went to a lot of camps and events, performing well at each event, and he was a tremendous player at IMG Academy. He was the team's only captain as a senior. ESPN ranked him as the nation's #31 overall player, and other three services had him as a Top 150 caliber player, ranking between #108 (Rivals) and #135 (247Sports) by the others.
#89 - Tristan Hoge - Class of 2015
Scout ranked Hoge as the nation's #48 overall player, and they were the only network to have him that high. Their ranking of him bumped him into the Top 100. None of the other services had him in the Top 100, but he was a consensus Top 150 recruit, ranking between #110 (247Sports) and #150 (Rivals).
#95 - Zeke Correll - Class of 2019
Correll was a consensus Top 150 recruit, but 247Sports was the highest on the Ohio native. He ranked #81 by that network, and he was just outside the Top 100 with Rivals, checking in at #114. ESPN ranked him at #148, which almost knocked him out of the Top 100 despite a dominant senior season of high school.
#97 - Hunter Bivin - Class of 2013
Bivin had a wide range in the rankings, ranking as high as #43 by 247Sports and as low as #184 by Scout. He was also a Top 100 recruit according to ESPN, who had the Under Armour All-American ranked as the #82 player in the country. Rivals ranked the Kentucky native at #162 in the country.
#100 - Tosh Baker - Class of 2020
Baker was considered a Top 100 recruit by two of the three services. 247Sports ranked him as the nation's 57th best player, and Rivals had the Arizona native ranked #82 in the land. ESPN had him all the way down at #175, which is why Baker barely made it into the Top 100. Their ranking of Baker was a head scratcher for sure.
One note to keep in mind is the current composite ranking is based on just three services: Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN. From the 2011 to 2017 classes there were four services considered, with Scout also being part of the rankings.
Scout no longer exists, and this must be considered when looking at the rankings for 2018-21 classes. With one less service to be considered the current composite ranking can be skewed a bit more by one high or low ranking.
Alex Bars (#76, ESPN; #98, Rivals), Steve Elmer (#60, Rivals; #74, Scout), John Montelus (#51, Scout; #74, Rivals), Ronnie Stanley (#66, Scout), Quinn Carroll (#68, Rivals) and Mike McGlinchey (#90, Scout) all ranked in the Top 100 by at least one recruiting service but were not Top 100 composite players.
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