“It’s like deja vu all over again” – Yogi Berra
A little over a year ago Notre Dame landed it’s first commitment to the 2021 recruiting class when in-state target, four-star offensive tackle Blake Fisher chose to stay close to home and attend Notre Dame.
Fast forward a little over a year and the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Saturday saw Brian Kelly and Notre Dame land their first commitment to the 2022 recruiting class in, get this, a four-star offensive tackle who happens to be ranked as the top player in the state of Indiana.
Joey Tanona, a 6-5, 280 pound offensive tackle from Zionsville, Indiana picked the Fighting Irish over the likes of Arizona State, Iowa, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and more.
Just how well is Tanona viewed?
ESPN ranks him as a top 100 player in the 2022 class (86 overall) while the two main recruiting outlets (247Sports and Rivals) rank him as a four-star player.
Fisher is a nice piece and offensive guard Rocco Splinder would be a great addition if he ends up choosing Notre Dame, but the ceiling for the impact of the entire offensive line in the ’21 class doesn’t appear as high as first hoped.
Tanona gets Notre Dame off to a nice start with a four-star player on board, something they’ll have to do a bunch of if things start to return to normal in the recruiting world and official visits can actually again be done in homes and on campuses.