After a long battle that included many West Coast powers, Notre Dame landed talented wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown just before Signing Day, the end of a long recruitment by Notre Dame’s associate head coach Mike Denbrock. A long, fast, intriguing athlete, St. Brown now joins one of the most talented position groups on campus.
Looking like a young Corey Robinson, St. Brown adds another physical mismatch to a depth chart that’s diversifying quickly. Paired with Miles Boykin, the Irish have freshmen twin towers, and both have already earned positive reviews in their short time on campus.
Let’s dig into one of the more interesting athletes on campus.
EQUANIMEOUS ST. BROWN
6'4", 205 lbs.
Freshman, No. 86, WR
RECRUITING PROFILE
St. Brown was a Top 250 player, an Under Armour All-American and had offers from many of the Pac-12’s elite programs, not to mention more than a few national offers.
Even as he put up modest numbers in an injury-plagued senior season, St. Brown picked the Irish over Utah, LSU, Miami, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA and USC (and a few dozen more).
FUTURE POTENTIAL
If you’re looking for interesting young talent, ESB fits the bill. The son of a world-class body builder and a German-born mother, St. Brown speaks three languages, has studied internationally as a child and feels like a perfect prototype for a football recruit—he’s been weight training with his father since he was five years old. More importantly? Notre Dame has already offered one of his younger brothers and has the other on their radar, and there are two additional St. Brown’s coming through the Orange County football scene that the Irish plan on pursuing.
St. Brown looked the part on the camp circuit but didn’t get much of an opportunity to show those skills at Servite. But from the sounds of it, he’s blessed with velcro hands and speed that’s close to elite. Again, we’ll see how he looks when it’s finally time to take the field, but if you’re looking for upside, it’s hard to look past a guy who was essentially the Dos Equis Man of recruits.
CRYSTAL BALL
I don’t really see a world where St. Brown plays this season. It doesn’t make a ton of sense, especially with the depth in front of him. That said, if he’s able to push his way onto the field, he’s got the length and the jumping ability to be a candidate for the “freshman designated deep ball target.” That’s been a promising sign.
Otherwise, St. Brown can spend the season getting used to a college offense that’s far more complex than the one he ran in high school. That shouldn’t be much of a challenge for a guy who speaks German at home with his mother and has AP credits falling out of his pockets, so however 2015 plays out for St. Brown, the future is bright.
THE 2015 IRISH A-to-Z
Josh Adams, RB
Josh Barajas, OLB
Nicky Baratti, S
Alex Bars, OL
Asmar Bilal, OLB
Hunter Bivin, OL
Grant Blankenship, DE
Jonathan Bonner, DE
Miles Boykin, WR
Justin Brent, WR
Greg Bryant, RB
Devin Butler, CB
Jimmy Byrne, OL
Daniel Cage, DL
Amir Carlisle, RB
Nick Coleman, DB
Te’von Coney, LB
Shaun Crawford, DB
Scott Daly, LS
Sheldon Day, DL
Michael Deeb, LB
Micah Dew-Treadway, DL
Steve Elmer, RG
Matthias Farley, DB
Nicco Fertitta, DB
Tarean Folston, RB
Will Fuller, WR
Jarrett Grace, LB
Jalen Guyton, WR
Mark Harrell, OL
Jay Hayes, DL
Mike Heuerman, TE
Kolin Hill, DE
Tristen Hoge, C
Corey Holmes, WR
Chase Hounshell, TE
Torii Hunter, Jr. WR
Alizé Jones, TE
Jarron Jones, DL
DeShone Kizer, QB
Tyler Luatua, TE
Cole Luke, CB
Nick Martin, C
Greer Martini, LB
Jacob Matuska, DL
Mike McGlinchey, OT
Colin McGovern, OL
Peter Mokwuah, DL
John Montelus, OL
Nyles Morgan, LB
Sam Mustipher, OL
Quenton Nelson, OL
Tyler Newsome, P
Romeo Okwara, DE
James Onwualu, LB
C.J. Prosise, WR/RB
Doug Randolph, LB/DE
Max Redfield, S
Corey Robinson, WR
Trevor Ruhland, OL
CJ Sanders, WR
Joe Schmidt, LB
Avery Sebastian, S
Elijah Shumate, S
Jaylon Smith, LB
Durham Smythe, TE