It is still very early for many in the class of 2022 recruiting cycle, Notre Dame currently has just two commits in the class. Yes, one of them is from in-state offensive tackle Joey Tanona, the second ranked player in the state, but they have yet to offer the best player in the state, defensive tackle Caden Curry.
😤4⭐️ Defensive Tackle, Class of 22’ Offers🚨@CadenCurry14 pic.twitter.com/5YEo9v7p9g
— Spadeditz (@spadeditz) June 27, 2020
Curry resides in Greenwood, a suburb of Indianapolis, has been offered by Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Purdue and others. What’s missing is an offer from the Irish and Brian Kelly seems to be falling behind the ball on Curry’s recruitment. His current perceived leaders are Ohio State and Alabama, but the Irish haven’t even joined the party. You might wonder what the holdup is to offering Curry and that’s a great question. The 10th ranked defensive tackle according to the 247Sports composite rankings should hold an Irish offer at this moment, but alas, he does not.
Another question is why hasn’t Kelly offered rising offensive tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin? The massive tackle has seen his recruitment explode over the last few days, adding a big offer from Ohio State yesterday while he already had offers from USC, Alabama and LSU. Goodwin is further down the state in Charleston, a suburb of Louisville, but on the Indiana side. The Irish have yet to offer him as well. Goodwin is unranked in the 247Sports composite, but his offer list tells me that is going to change soon.
Incredible transformation for Charlestown (Ind.) High 2022 OT Kiyaunta Goodwin who's gone from 425 pounds to 315 pounds. Approaching 20 offers, more on the bonafide blue-chipper here: https://t.co/Lmwl1nZuGQ pic.twitter.com/pmtX9RsImj
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) August 13, 2020
It is a bit confusing that the Notre Dame coaching staff has yet to offer either of these big-time prospects, but it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. In 2015, the Irish signed 3 of the top 5 in-state players, but since then until this year’s recruiting cycle, Kelly hasn’t signed one top 5 in-state player. Offensive tackle Blake Fisher will break that streak when he signs later this year, but this is still very concerning.
There are high level players in Notre Dame’s back yard that they are allowing to leave. Clearly there are some hurdles with academics, but this is definitely something to monitor. Seeing Indiana’s finest players on other teams rosters just doesn’t sit well with me.