Some of college football’s elite prospects are soaking up life in Beaverton, Oregon, hosted by Nike and taking part in The Opening. Never heard of it? It’s the now-annual training combine and 7-on-7 tournament that serves as a mecca to the college football recruiting industry.
(Where else is it acceptable to have team names like “Alpha Pro,” “Fly Rush,” and “Lunar Beast?”)
With the Elite 11 quarterback camp taking place at the same time on Nike’s campus, it’s a very good time to be an elite high school athlete—with Nike swag and recruiting analysts doing their best to woo you as you do your best to look excellent in shorts and Dri-FIT. But it’s also a very good chance to get an apples-to-apples look at some of the top prospects in the country, with SPARQ testing all but taking a hammer to the self-reported 40 times and vertical leaps that come along with the YouTube highlights.
Last year, we saw Notre Dame commit C.J. Sanders stand out during the competition, running a blazing sub-4.4 forty time as he made it to the SPARQ Finals. The Irish have three commitments taking place in the festivities at Nikeville, and the early reports all seem to be positive.
A week after pulling a bus in his commitment music video, Irish commitment Parker Boudreaux is backing up that chutzpah with a nice performance in Oregon. Boudreaux was the top-testing offensive lineman at the camp, running a legit 5.1 forty, while also doing very good things in the strength categories.
At 6'4.5" and 289 pounds, Boudreaux also silenced the questions about his size and length. And his quickness—his 20-yard shuttle time was the best of any lineman in Oregon and would’ve been the best last year as well—gives Harry Hiestand a nice piece of clay to mold moving forward.
ND OL commit @ParkerBoudreaux had highest NIKE Football Testing score of all OL at The Opening. Link to all scores - http://t.co/dPWPFNmRbx
— Anna Adams (@AnnaH247) July 9, 2015
If Boudreaux looked the part of a mauler, offensive tackle commit Tommy Kraemer continues to solidify his reputation as one of the country’s best players. Irish 247 published a glowing review of Kraemer’s first day, and at 6'5.5" and 308 pounds, it sure looks like Notre Dame landed the tackle they needed to add in this recruiting class.
The third Notre Dame commitment at The Opening is running back Tony Jones Jr. Checking in at 5'11" and 210 pounds, Jones has the physique you want out of a power runner, and there’s definitely room to put on 15-20 more pounds once he gets to South Bend.
Jones ran in the high 4.6s—about what you’d expect—and looked good catching the football, per multiple reports. With 5-star Ohio State commitment Kareem Walker missing his flight and nursing a tweaked ankle, there wasn’t a chance to measure Jones against the elite of the elite, but only the freakish 258-pound Devin White ran better among the big backs, so the IMG Academy product had a good opening day.
The Irish are in the hunt for several other prospects. Most look at Canadian receiver/freak athlete Chase Claypool as a possibility to be the next commitment in Notre Dame’s 2016 recruiting class.
Claypool will announce his intentions on Friday, but on Wednesday he showed off a unique skill-set that should have Irish fans very excited if he indeed decides to head to South Bend. At 6'5.5" and 214 pounds, Claypool ran a 4.66, while also vertical leaping 35-inches.
While those numbers could make staying at receiver a possibility, Notre Dame’s looked at Claypool with the potential to play safety. He’s also basically a slightly taller, slightly faster, slightly better built version of last year’s 5-star defensive end Keisean Lucier-South, who the Irish chased but he ended up at UCLA, so the possibilities seem endless. There’s been no better coach at just getting a great athlete to campus and then figuring out what to do with him than Brian Kelly, so if the Irish do reel in Claypool, they’ll be getting a very intriguing gem in their recruiting class.
The Irish are also after a pair of elite linebackers. Once again, Notre Dame is back in Fresno, this time chasing after 5-star prospect Caleb Kelly. While most only remember the ones that got away (Deontay Greenberry, Tee Shepard, Michiah Quick), credit Kelly for acknowledging the past and also saying it won’t effect his decision.
“Fresno isn’t some blackhole,” Kelly told Blue & Gold’s Andrew Ivins. “It has just been that everybody has been close. Everybody in Fresno has liked Notre Dame, I mean Tee Shepard he had a chance to go there, and Michiah Quick he was choosing between Notre Dame and Oklahoma, so I mean Notre Dame has been it, but we just haven’t ended up there.”
At 6'4" and 219 pounds, Kelly has the length and size you want in a linebacker. While he didn’t run the 40, he tested well in other drills and seemed to reinforce his 5-star ranking. He’s trying to get to campus later this month and will also use an official visit to get a look at Notre Dame.
5-star LB Caleb Kelly says Fresno isn’t some blackhole for Notre Dame .. Story: http://t.co/pKkCTExEcR pic.twitter.com/21APtVtSog
— Andrew Ivins (@Andrew_Ivins) July 9, 2015
Lastly, Houston linebacker Jeffrey McColloch opened some eyes when he made the SPARQ testing finals. With a 38-inch vertical and a 4.0 agility time, the 4-star linebacker showed some serious explosiveness along with a 230-pound frame. He also revealed that head coach Brian Kelly has taken on some of the recruiting duties with him.
“I talk to the head coach pretty much every day,” McCulloch told Rivals.
He’ll also make a trip to South Bend later this month, family in tow.
#Rivals250 linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch will visit Notre Dame in July .. $ http://t.co/MbVpPmk78d pic.twitter.com/0KzgcPAgjm
— BlueandGold.com (@BGInews) July 8, 2015