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247Sports compares Notre Dame QB signee Buchner to former USC star

The experts at 247Sports give Notre Dame signee Tyler Buchner a very interesting comparison to a former USC quarterback.

Today, one of the major recruiting services, 247Sports made their final rankings of the 2021 cycle. Unfortunately no Notre Dame signee or commit was named a 5-Star, although that doesn’t mean there aren’t talented players that will matriculate to South Bend.

With their penultimate rankings out, Andrew Ivins went over each of the quarterbacks ranked inside their top 247 players and Irish signee Tyler Buchner was included in that group as the 90th overall player in the class. His player comparison was to former USC star Sam Darnold, who if you don’t remember went third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

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Their evaluation went to Greg Biggins, who gave a glowing scouting report of what to expect out of the Californian. Buchner “has always been a dynamic athlete and was a nationally known lacrosse player in middle school. Physically, has an athletic frame and looks like a running back when he gets out in the open field. Has tremendous escape-ability and a unique sense for making a defender miss and extending plays.”

Sounds like someone we know who just finished his career as the all-time winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history? Ian Book ring a bell?

Biggins went on to then explain what we expect out of Buchner throwing the ball as he “has a live arm and can throw outside the pocket rolling to his right or his left equally well. Has tightened his release over the last year and improved mechanically. Shows accuracy on the deep ball and will continue to improve as a pure pocket passer with more game experience.”

This is where the difference between the two quarterbacks is made. Buchner’s ceiling as a passer is much higher than Book’s, although the outgoing senior was no slouch at slinging the ball around.

Like Darnold, Biggins sees Buchner to “project as a impact upper tier Power 5 starter and future high round NFL draft pick.” If he lives up to this scouting report, Notre Dame fans will surely be happy with Buchner’s career when it’s all said and done.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Hayes is turning heads at Senior Bowl practices

Former Notre Dame defensive end Daelin Hayes has been making a very good impression to NFL teams.

With the Senior Bowl practices underway, plenty of information is flying out of Mobile, Alabama. If you didn’t see Ian Book making very good throw to an ACC counterpart, check it out here. What about Notre Dame defenders you ask, well Daelin Hayes has been putting on a show and is impressing NFL brass.

Regardless of rust for his opponent, Hayes still needed to complete the rep and it seems like he did. Dane Brugler went on to note that Hayes is really taking this opportunity to make an impression as he “notice(d) that every time Hayes came off the field, he went directly over to one of the assistant coaches to discuss various techniques and get feedback. That is a player who understands the opportunity in front of him this week.”

Want a bit more proof of Hayes being a monster during practice? Here it is:

This is great news for the former Notre Dame defensive lineman. Aside from when the Irish will host a pro-day, this may be the only time they’ll get a chance to impress NFL teams. Hayes looks like he has been doing plenty to  entice a team to make him as their selection.

Pro Football Focus ranks two Notre Dame draft eligible players in their top 100

Although it’s very early, Pro Football Focus has ranked two Notre Dame stars inside their top 100 draft prospects.

For many players, the NFL Draft signifies years of hard work and a chance to finally reach many of their dream to play at the highest level. This years, draft will be much different, a virtual combine but the date stays the same, April 29th begins three days of selections for NFL teams.

There is plenty of jostling of players ranking from now until the end of April, but right now Pro Football Focus has two Notre Dame players ranked inside their top 100 draft-eligible prospects.

It should come to no one’s surprise who the top former Irish star is, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

The Butkus Award winner is ranked as the 19th best player and said he “has elite short-area quicks for a linebacker, and while 215 pounds may seem tiny, it’s the same weight that Darius Leonard played at this season for the Colts.”

Liam Eichenberg checked in at 49th but PFF didn’t see as much upside as they did with JOK. Michael Renner was impressed with Eichenberg being “technically sound at the position,” but “not wow with his perceived ‘upside.”

Either way, both of these former Irish stars should be hearing their names being called early in the NFL Draft.

Does a certain stat validate Notre Dame’s status as O-Line U?

A stat brought to light by Pro Football Focus shows why Notre Dame should be at the top of the O-Line U rankings.

Plenty of schools argue back and forth which team has sent the best talent from their universities off to the NFL. There was an interesting stat that Pro Football Focus brought to light recently that should give Notre Dame fans plenty of ammo to fight off those other schools as to who produces the best offensive line talent into the NFL.

The number of snaps played is a great indicator of talent, especially along the O-Line where there aren’t many stats to back-up performance. Multiple former Notre Dame linemen stars including Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Mike McGlinchey and Zach Martin are huge forces for their NFL teams.

Not only that, we should see each of the four NFL Draft eligible (Liam Eichenberg, Robert Hainsey, Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks) ultimately hear their names being called in late April.

Jarrett Patterson will also hear his name getting called when he leaves South Bend and surely some of the younger players like Tosh Baker, Blake Fisher, Rocco Spindler and Zeke Correll should make it to the next level as well.

It’s safe to say that for the time being, Notre Dame holds the mantle of O-Line U.

Thank you Fighting Irish Wire family

A thank you to all of you loyal readers and the fantastic staff at Fighting Irish Wire.

Today is my one year anniversary with Fighting Irish Wire and I just wanted to thank all of you, the readers, for allowing this Buckeye to be part of the Notre Dame family. I also wanted to thank Patrick Sturgeon and Nick Shepkowski for bringing me in to be a part of this fantastic organization and my fellow contributors Geoffrey Clark and Jeff Feyerer.

Over the course of the last year, I have written almost 700 articles and you have read them over for more than 1 million views. I don’t do it for that at all, I do it for my love of college football, to bring you the latest news surrounding Notre Dame athletics.

So, I just wanted to again, thank you the readers for making my time with Fighting Irish Wire so enjoyable. I look forward to bringing you more of the best Notre Dame content out there.

Play (write) like a champion today.

-Michael Chen

Breaking: Griffith has change of heart, will stay at Notre Dame

A veteran in the Notre Dame program, defensive back Houston Griffith, has changed his mind and won’t transfer after all.

It was big surprise when defensive back Houston Griffith put his name into the transfer portal and was looking to finish his career somewhere other than South Bend. According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Griffith had a change of heart and will finish his career with Notre Dame.

Recruiting isn’t just about the high school athletes, often coaching staffs have to convince players to stay in the programs when the NFL or other opportunities arise. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and it seems like Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman did a great job at rerecruiting Griffith.

The transfer portal doesn’t always yield great results for every prospect who enters. By getting Griffith to return to South Bend, it makes Freeman’s job that much easier. He will have a player who has plenty of experience and should be able to quickly grasp the new defensive scheme. Griffith was surely welcomed back with open arms.

Five-star Fisher shows he’s ready to make waves for Notre Dame football

The highest rated incoming Notre Dame football recruit, offensive tackle Blake Fisher, is working hard to make an early impact for the Irish.

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The highest-rated 2021 Notre Dame commit isn’t taking it easy right now, as offensive tackle Blake Fisher is showing he is ready to make an impact when he arrives to South Bend.

Fisher surely seen a prime opportunity for himself and along with fellow ‘21 signee guard Rocco Spindler to to make an impact early and often for the Irish. With just one returning offensive lineman, center Jarrett Patterson, four spots will up for grabs this coming season.

The Indiana native has everything that you are looking for in a tackle prospect, elite size at six-foot-six-inches and 336-pounds, fantastic footwork, a nasty streak and a hard-workers mentality. One could argue that his current reported weight is incorrect, as the video above makes Fisher look much leaner than he did during his final high school season.

The expectations are high for Fisher, but I feel like he has the capability to meet them. Everyone should be excited about the prospect of Fisher’s career while he dons the Blue and Gold.

Does Notre Dame have a Heisman sleeper on their team in 2021?

Could Notre Dame have a player who could contend for the Heisman Trophy in 2021?

Part of winning the Heisman trophy is having some social media hype, or really hype of any kind heading into a season. After finishing in the top 10 nationally in rushing, Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams should be getting said hype heading into next season. Fox Sports RJ Young is firmly on the hype train, naming Williams one of his Heisman sleepers entering next year.

What Williams has going for him this coming season is the fact that the Irish will be breaking in a new quarterback and will have to lean on Williams in order for the new signal caller to get comfortable. The bad news is that his vaunted offensive line has been gutted, with just center Jarrett Patterson as a returning starter.

If the offensive line acclimates themselves quickly, which is entirely possible due to the talent the room possesses, Williams will surely be in the Heisman conversation. Building on the 1,125 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns is what you expect from Williams.

He also caught 35 balls for 313-yards and a score, so the goal is to get over 1,500 all-purpose yards. If Williams can get over that mark next year, he will firmly be in the Heisman conversation.

Notre Dame football loses a strength coach to a rival school

The offseason for Notre Dame sees an important piece of the program move on to a west coast rival.

A set of coaches that don’t get enough credit are always the strength and conditioning coaches. Notre Dame has a great one in Matt Balis, but he is losing one of his assistants. Robert Stiner, the now former assistant director of football strength and conditioning will be moving on the become the head of USC’s strength and conditioning program.

Although Stiner is not someone most fans recognize the loss is significant. Balis along with Stiner have made major strides in the Irish program for Brian Kelly, a move that after the 2016 season became a focus for Notre Dame.

It’s safe to say that Stiner will be missed, and this one stings a bit more due to the fact that he’s going to a rival in USC. Although we wish him the best, those sentiments won’t be echoed when the Irish face off against the Trojans in mid-October during this season and beyond.

Reload or rebuild for Notre Dame in 2021?

Will Notre Dame have a season where they struggle like in 2016 or will it be a prosperous season like this past season?

The list keeps growing with Notre Dame players making their intentions for next year known, many of them opting to move on instead of come back. Quarterback Ian Book, tackles Liam Eichenberg and Robert Hainsey, guards Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, tight end Tommy Tremble, defensive lineman Ade Ogundeji, cornerback Houston Griffith transferring are just a few of the players on the move.

Recently, ESPN took a look at which schools have recruited the best (insider) to have success in 2021 due to their recruiting. Although Brian Kelly’s efforts have been great, they didn’t make the main portion of the article, the Irish were mentioned in the second group of teams.

Being on the list alone is a good omen for Notre Dame, as the list of players moving on that were major contributors from this past season is significant. Luckily, Kelly has done a great job accumulating talent in South Bend, giving hope that 2021 won’t have a similar result as the 2016 season did.

Per the ESPN article, the Irish will have 38 players returning to the 2021 roster at the current moment that were ranked inside their top 300. So what does that mean for the ‘21 season?

There will be some bumps in the road with many of the younger players getting their first significant amount of playing time, but that doesn’t mean it will be all bad. This past year saw multiple freshman (cornerback Clarence Lewis, tight end Michael Mayer, running back Chris Tyree, defensive end Rylie Mills and linebacker Jordan Botelho) each show flashes of their futures. The first three really shined and you can add Jordan Johnson to the list as well.

Second-year players like safety Kyle Hamilton, interior lineman Zeke Correll, defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey, running back Kyren Williams, linebacker Marist Liufau, and punter Jay Bramblett were major contributors. This group will need to continue to grow.

As for the 2018 class which was ranked in as the 10th best class nationally, they have struggled to make a significant mark. Griffith transferring along with quarterback Phil Jurkovec already leaving and wide receiver Kevin Austin unable to stay healthy has hurt the classes outlook. Those three were the top ranked players in the class. There, however, have been contributors from that class, with include linebacker Jack Lamb, wide receiver Braden Lenzy and tight end George Takacs, linebacker Bo Bauer and center Jarrett Patterson. This class needs to step up in a big way for the Irish to be successful this coming season.

I haven’t even touched on the potential incoming-freshman contributors, which include tackle Blake Fisher, wide receiver Deion Colzie, guard Rocco Spindler, quarterback Tyler Buchner, linebacker Prince Kollie and other talented players.

The schedule isn’t quite daunting, the first three games should give Kelly plenty of time to get the pups feet wet before their big contest against Wisconsin in Chicago.

In my opinion the Irish are not rebuilding, but they aren’t quite reloading. Having a regular spring schedule will be extremely important for this team. The reps and practice time will further develop the players who don’t have as much experience. We should not see another year like 2016.