*Steve Filer: 6'3" 220 lbs. Chicago, Il

 

*David Posluzny: 6' 206 lbs. Aliquippa, PA (4.62 40)

 

Eric LeGrand: 6'3" 240 lbs. Colonia, NJ (150 tackles Jr year)

 

Marcus Witherspoon: 6'2" 215 lbs. Absecon, NJ (4.5 40 and 18 sacks as a Jr)

 

Brendan Beal: 6'3" 228 lbs. Roxbury, NJ (4.3 GPA!! 4.65 40, 350 lb. bench, 151 tackles/11 sacks as a Jr)

 

Nigel Bradham: 6'2" 220 lbs. (the kid is a stud, but like most have said, he's an FSU lock)

 

JB Fitzgerald: 6' 3" 220 lbs. Princeton, NJ (4.7 40, 93 tackles as a junior and loves ND)

 

Shayne Hale: 6'3" 220 lbs. Monroeville, PA (4.5 40, 105 tackles, offers from everywhere but he doesn't even have us listed in his Rivals profile?)

 

Jon Major: 6'4" 220 lbs. Parker, CO (4.5 40, 3.65 GPA, 107 tackles in 8 games as a junior)

 

Next year we need to get at least 4-5 quality LBs who can come in and play in our 3-4 defense. Lucky for us, 08 is a very deep year at LB, and all of the above kids who have interest in us all have an excellent cominbation of size and speed. As far as I can tell the guys above are the prospects that we have the best shot at getting, and they're all potential STUDS!!! There's 9 up there, and if they all qualify then I see no reason not to pass out offers to the remaining 7 who have not yet been offered...to get our target we will need to pass out at least that many LB offers.

LeGrand, Fitzgerald and Major are guys I think should definitely get offers

*Steve Filer: 6'3" 220 lbs. Chicago, Il

 

*David Posluzny: 6' 206 lbs. Aliquippa, PA (4.62 40)

 

Shayne Hale: 6'3" 220 lbs. Monroeville, PA (4.5 40, 105 tackles, offers from everywhere but he doesn't even have us listed in his Rivals profile?)

 

Jon Major: 6'4" 220 lbs. Parker, CO (4.5 40, 3.65 GPA, 107 tackles in 8 games as a junior)

I'd say this my wishlist/kids we have realistic shots @.

Brett Nagel?

Posluzny is going to have to gain some weight to play in a 3-4.

 

I also want to pose this question; Is he that good or are we getting our hopes up because of his brother?

Brett Nagel?

 

Yes, he's interested and we're lookin at him as OLB-

Brett Nagel?

Ya we're looking at him and he's suppose to be better than Aaron, however I don't know if he's at the same level as those other guys on the list above. Obviously if he's close and would be a lock you think we'd offer sooner than later....would want to avoid a Brian Smith repeat.

Ok so add Brett Nagel and

Brandon Beachum: 6'1" 220 lbs.(4.62 40, 4.4 shuttle and already has offers from Oklahoma and Nebraska)

Mike Zordich: 6'1" 220 lbs. (4.7 40, 340 bench, 3.65 GPA)

 

Both are Cardinal Moony guys...

 

So 12 guys appear to make up our LB recruiting at this point. How does the staff play this out, offer all the qualified kids at once, or slow play hang in there with a couple of the very top guys until the very end? We got screwed this year by doing the latter, so I would hope to see more offers go out to these guys early in the process.

So i just watched a rivals video of John Major and I was wondering why we hadn't offered him yet. He looks really fast and is a very sound tackler. we need to be offering this kid early. He is going to be a difference maker.

Over on Notredamefans.com I have been doing a series the last 3 years called names to remember. It is just a brief overview of names ND fans can remember as the year wears on. I do it on every position but here is my LB version. Hope you all enjoy it.

 

This is probably my favorite group of players right now that ND is on. This is a really good group and ND seems to be in on a lot of good ones, which is good because in a 3-4 they are really important. ND's depth here is not so great but with a class of 4 here it could go along way. Some of these guys will have a chance to make a day one impact on ND's roster and start to upgrade talent level from day one.

 

LB

*Steve Filer 6'3 220 from Illinois

*David Posluszny 6'0 205 4.6 from Pennsylvania

*Anthony McDonald 6'3 220 4.5 from California

*Shanyne Hale 6'4 220 4.5 from Pennsylvania

Jon Major 6'4 220 4.5 from Colorado

Maurice Simmons 6'1 205 4.5 from California

Brandon Beal 6'4 235 4.65 from New Jersey

Eric Legrand 6'3 240 from New Jersey

Nick Schneider 6'3 225 4.7 from Ohio

Brett Nagel 6'4 225 from Illinois

Andrew Sweat 6'2 225 4.55 from Pennsylvania

Davoe Torrence 6'2 210 4.55 from Ohio

Mike Zordich 6'1 220 4.7 from Ohio

Brandon Beachum 6'1 220 4.62 from Ohio

Nick Clancy 6'3 220 From Illinois

Marcus Witherspoon 6'2 215 4.5 from New Jersey

Darius Fleming 6'3 230 4.75 from Illinois

Nate Palmer 6'3 230 from Illinois

Arthur Brown 6'3 225 from Kansas

 

First off it's encouraging that there is already 4 offers out there right now. What's more encouraging is 3 of the 4 could very easily have ND in the lead right now. Filer the prospect probably highest on alot of fans and probably the defensive staff's list likes ND alot and is from Chicago which ND does well in usually. Poz and McDonald have family ties to other schools but both have ND near or on top right now, McDonald has said he will visit ND in April and if all goes well he could commit but the team you have to watch here is USC as his dad played FB at USC. Poz you all probaby know is the younger brother of 2 time AA at Penn St, Paul who is likley to be a 1st or 2nd round pick in the NFL draft. Poz really likes ND and it would seem it will be between ND and PSU in the end. The 4th offer out right now is Shane Hale who is a heck of a player and athlete, Right now ND has some making up to do but with a great recruiting job and the need at LB maybe ND can make up some ground on the favorites (OSU, PSU and Michigan). 2 of my favorites in this class regardless of position is Arthur Brown and Jon Major. Brown I feel is a top 5 national player and a beast at LB. It would seem ND is on the outside for him now but I think Weis should atleast go after him. Major on the other hand is a talented athlete with a ton of offers and a national recruit really likes ND and if offered would defently look hard at ND. Then you have the next tier in my mind and that would be Beachum, Simmons, Torrence and Sweat. All have early of early offers and ND would probably be trailing for all Beachum likes ND but if OSU offers I think that would be hard for him to turn down, Sweat really likes PSU, and OSU right now. Torrence also is likley a OSU lock if offered (Brother signed this year with OSU), and Simmons might be hard to get out of socal but he did say alot of nice things about ND in a interview. New Jersey has 3 outstanding LB's and all have a genuine intrest, Beal who said he thinks will get an offer mentioned it might be hard to turn down, Legrand is strong as an ox but might be moved to DL if he keeps growing really likes ND and Weis has visited his school, Witherspoon really likes ND but not sure how far down on the radar he his for the ND staff. Then there are the ILL boys. Probably a deep year in Chicago and Illinois. Fleming and Palmer are from Chicago Public league and both have intrest in ND early especially Fleming who said he grew up a ND fan. Then you have Nagel and Clancy who both would most likley commit if offered but not sure if they will anytime soon. Nick Schneider also really likes ND. I personally would like to see about 4 more offered here soon and see if we can get some to commit early. Maybe Major, Brown (longshot probably), Beal and possibly Simmons or Legrand.

Wow, nice work Robdog. I enjoyed it.

if we do offer 4 more I would like to see Major, LeGrand, Beal, and Nagel get offers. I think LeGrand will grow into a DE seeing that he is already 240. Overall, I am very excited to see so many offers to quality defensive players.

Man Rob, pretty detailed evaluation. Shows how much you follow recruiting and how much you care about it. keep up the good work!

great job rob, nice read

Really, really nice rob

Nice post rob...it's very comforting to see how many LBs we're interested in, and how big they all are!!!

 

Heli, I agree with you. I'd to see all of those guys offered soon as well, but I'd also really like to see the other NJ guys like Witherspoon and Fitzgerald see offers as well. If we offered all 10 of those guys we would have NO problem filling our LB class.

 

Also, IMO LeGrand is the definition of the DE/LB tweener that you want in the 3-4. His strength and size are unreal.

Posluzny is going to have to gain some weight to play in a 3-4.

 

I also want to pose this question; Is he that good or are we getting our hopes up because of his brother?

 

From what ive heard, he is for real, and may even be better than his brother...I think his older brother Paul said he has the potential to be better than he was

According to the stickied prospect thread, Hale has already been offered. I agree with you that Coach Wise would be weis to offer a couple more of these guys asap before someone else wraps them up.

Freebie article on Jon Major at http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=2&c=621137

really disappointed we aren't showing him more love

With Major's size, speed and GPA -- what's not to love. In the 3-4, we're looking for these 'tweeners (between a Linebacker and Def End) to play OLB. This guy looks like the perfect candidate AND he has expressed interest in us.

 

Coach Weis, if you're listening, please offer this guy before he stops "showing interest in us."