As part of Notre Dame’s two running back recruiting haul, freshman Deon McIntosh arrives on campus with a skill-set fairly unique to the runners in Autry Denson’s backfield. A prolific junior in Florida football hotbed Broward County, McIntosh is the closest thing to a scatback Brian Kelly has recruited.
Dubbed the “lightning” to classmate Tony Jones’s “thunder,” now McIntosh needs to find a role in the Irish offense, capable of playing in the slot or being utilized on special teams. While we won’t see what the Irish have in McIntosh until he’s given a shot to compete with Tarean Folston, Josh Adams and a very talented position group, McIntosh is another skill player brought in by this coaching staff with zero intention of waiting his turn.
DEON MCINTOSH
5'11", 180 lbs.
Freshman, RB
RECRUITING PROFILE
A three-star recruit, McIntosh was the second all-time leading scorer at Cardinal Gibbons. He was ranked the No. 18 player in Broward County by the Miami Herald and had offers from Miami, Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
FUTURE POTENTIAL
A 180-pound running back needs to do a few things that are extraordinary to survive at that size and we’ll find out if that’s what McIntosh can do when we finally see him in action at the college level. But until then, you can probably put his ceiling somewhere below elite, unless the Irish have pulled in another hidden gem.
Versatility will also be key for McIntosh. If he’s able to play in the slot, there’s less of a backup there than behind a very competitive three-deep at running back.
CRYSTAL BALL
I’m struggling to find a way for McIntosh to see the field this season unless he turns some heads during fall camp. Finding carries for Dexter Williams is hard enough. How someone behind Williams, Folston and Adams gets touches is beyond me.
That said, McIntosh’s time at Notre Dame will be defined by his patience and what he does when he finally gets a chance. Pulling talented football players out of Fort Lauderdale isn’t easy. Neither is keeping them in South Bend if they aren’t seeing the field.
Denson raved about McIntosh’s game on and off the field during Signing Day festivities. We’ll see how the young coach’s first crop of backs perform once they’re on campus.
2016’s Irish A-to-Z
Josh Adams
Josh Barajas
Alex Bars
Asmar Bilal
Hunter Bivin
Grant Blankenship
Jonathan Bonner
Ian Book
Parker Boudreaux
Miles Boykin
Justin Brent
Devin Butler
Jimmy Byrne
Daniel Cage
Chase Claypool
Nick Coleman
Te’von Coney
Shaun Crawford
Scott Daly
Micah Dew-Treadway
Liam Eichenberg
Jalen Elliott
Nicco Feritta
Tarean Folston
Mark Harrell
Daelin Hayes
Jay Hayes
Tristen Hoge
Corey Holmes
Torii Hunter Jr.
Alizé Jones
Jamir Jones
Jarron Jones
Jonathan Jones
Tony Jones Jr.
Khalid Kareem
DeShone Kizer
Julian Love
Tyler Luatua
Cole Luke
Greer Martini
Jacob Matuska
Mike McGlinchey
Colin McGovern