The five best players from the Notre Dame recruiting class of 2019
This story appears in the Blue & Gold Illustrated 2024 Notre Dame Football Preview. To order your copy of the 160-page, full-color, glossy magazine, which includes opponent previews, Fighting Irish position previews and exclusive features like this one, click here.
This week at BlueandGold.com, we’re recapping the Notre Dame recruiting class of 2019. These are the five best players from that cycle.
5. Defensive Tackle Howard Cross III
Cross’ story isn’t finished yet. He’s still at Notre Dame and will be an integral piece for a Notre Dame defense that finished fifth nationally in yards allowed per game in 2023. Cross had a lot to do with that in totaling 66 tackles, which ranked second among all Power Five defensive linemen.
In five seasons so far, Cross has 141 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 7 sacks. He led the Irish with 39 quarterback pressures in 2023 according to Pro Football Focus, a phenomenal feat for an interior lineman. More to come in 2024.
4. Linebacker JD Bertrand
Bertrand is one of four players to ever lead Notre Dame in tackles in three straight seasons. He had 101, 82 and 76 as a junior, senior and graduate student. He’s also the 27th two-time team captain in Notre Dame history.
Bertrand didn’t seem to ever get his full due during his time as a Notre Dame standout, so perhaps it’s fitting a player with those accolades is behind three others on this list. But nobody can deny what he meant to the Irish defense as a three-year starter.
3. Defensive End Isaiah Foskey
The NCAA did not begin to acknowledge sacks as an official statistic until 2000. Still, in the last decade and a half nobody has had more of them in a Notre Dame uniform than Isaiah Foskey. He finished his career with 26.5, breaking Justin Tuck’s previous record of 24.5 set from 2002-04.
It was a bit of a slow burn for Foskey. He only had 4.5 sacks in his first three seasons. But when he came into his own as a junior, he was unstoppable at times in posting consecutive seasons of 11 sacks. He earned his 2022 team captaincy and ran with it.
2. Running Back Kyren Williams
Speaking of players whose numbers could have been higher. Imagine if Williams played more as a freshman — he only totaled 4 carries — or if he stayed for a senior season. The fact of the matter, though, is that Williams was so good in his two seasons as RB1 that it didn’t matter.
He left Notre Dame with the 15th-most rushing yards in Notre Dame history with 2,153. He logged the first back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons for a Notre Dame back since Darius Walker in 2005-06. You knew what you were going to get from him in most games, and more times than not it was greatness.
1. Safety Kyle Hamilton
It doesn’t always work out where the top-rated signee ends up being the top player in the class by the end of his career. Defensive back Houston Griffith, for instance, was Notre Dame’s best recruit at the time of signing in 2018. He didn’t make Blue & Gold Illustrated’s top five in last year’s football preview magazine.
Hamilton bucked the trend.
A two-year starter, Hamilton was a three-year contributor who made his first career start against USC as a true freshman and never looked back. He probably should have started much sooner; he was one of four freshmen in the country to record 4 or more interceptions in 2019. He was also named a Freshman All-American by The Athletic.
In the end, Hamilton finished his career with 8 interceptions, 138 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 16 passes defended. Those numbers would have been higher if not for a knee injury that held him out for half the year in 2021.
The post The five best players from the Notre Dame recruiting class of 2019 appeared first on On3.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings