Notre Dame Football: What Aliz'e Jones Brings to Irish Offense

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — While it’s still unclear exactly what shape Notre Dame football’s offense will take next season and who will be throwing the passes, the Irish landed a top offensive playmaker with the commitment of class of 2015 tight end Aliz’e Jones on Thursday.

The 4-star prospect from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas is the No. 1 tight end in the country, per 247Sports’ composite rankings, and the No. 56 overall player. Jones had been committed to UCLA since November 2013, but he flipped to Notre Dame on Thursday.

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I am officially decommitting from UCLA. Thank you to the coaches and all the fans for your love and support! God has another plan for me!

— ALIZE JONES (@AlizeJones8) January 15, 2015"

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pic.twitter.com/BT6cDd2i7U

— ALIZE JONES (@AlizeJones8) January 15, 2015"

“It’s huge. You don’t get a commitment much bigger than this,” said Tom Loy of Irish247. “He’s an outstanding, extremely skilled offensive player.”

Loy described Jones as a hybrid tight end with the ability to split out wide or play as an inline tight end and compared the 6’4.5”, 218-pounder to former Irish great Tyler Eifert, now of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Eifert, by the way, won the 2012 John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end, and boasts school records for career receptions (140) and career receiving yards (1,840) by an Irish tight end. Eifert, a first-round draft pick in 2013, is one of 12 Irish tight ends to be selected in the first or second round.

While that's a lofty comparison for Jones, it's worth considering that, despite Notre Dame's unending line of solid tight ends, the Irish haven't ever inked the nation's top tight end, per 247Sports, in recent years. Kyle Rudolph (class of 2008) and Ben Koyack (class of 2011) both ranked second in the country.

Credit: 247Sports

“[Jones has] got plus speed, outstanding hands and great size, and he has a very good understanding of route running,” Loy said. “He ran the entire route tree while he was in high school, so that will help him easily translate to the college game. He is very instinctive. There’s just so much to like about him.”

Notre Dame realized that early and stayed connected to Jones throughout the entire recruiting process, Loy said. Jones first visited South Bend the summer before his junior season. The tight end returned for the Oklahoma game in 2013 and took another unofficial visit this September for Notre Dame’s 31-0 shellacking of Michigan.

“He has a great relationship with [Irish tight ends coach] Scott Booker,” Loy said. “When he committed to UCLA a long, long time ago, pretty much the only school to stay on him the entire time was Notre Dame and Scott Booker. They pursued him like he was uncommitted and kept things warm with him, just let him know whenever he’s ready, they have a spot for him.”

Jones remained committed to UCLA, but did line up a final visit for Notre Dame’s banquet weekend in December.

“This final trip for the banquet weekend was what solidified it for him,” Loy said.

Jones will step into a young room of tight ends in South Bend. With the graduation of Ben Koyack, Notre Dame’s crop of tight ends in 2015 will include two redshirt sophomores (Durham Smythe and Mike Heuerman), one sophomore (Tyler Luatua), one redshirt freshman (Nic Weishar) and Jones.

Player	Career Games Played	Career Receptions	Career Yards
Durham Smythe	13	1	7
Mike Heuerman	0	0	0
Tyler Luatua	10	0	0
Nic Weishar	0	0	0

“He’s gonna have to work on his overall blocking and the physicality that comes with the college game,” Loy said. “He’s not asked to do a lot of blocking at the high school level. So that’ll take a little bit of time. But he will step in and play right away for Notre Dame.”

Loy praised Smythe’s size and speed and said the soon-to-be redshirt sophomore is probably Notre Dame’s most polished overall tight end at this point. Luatua, who checks in at 6’2.5”, 260 pounds, made his biggest contributions as a physical blocking presence in Notre Dame’s rushing attack in 2014.

“They all have different aspects where they can impact the game for Notre Dame,” Loy said.

Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting stats and information courtesy of 247Sports.com and all quotes obtained firsthand. Star ratings reflect 247Sports' composite rankings.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.