Troy Niklas Announcement: Recruit Chooses Notre Dame

As National Signing Day rages on, the Fighting Irish welcome in new recruit Troy Niklas to the Notre Dame Football program in their 2011 recruiting class.

With the signing of Niklas, Notre Dame’s top 10 recruiting class of new players has grown to 22 for head coach Brian Kelly in his second year at South Bend.

With that being said, let’s get to the breakdown of the new tight end that will be wearing the golden helmet for the Irish this fall.

Follow all the action from Bleacher Report's National Signing Day coverage here.

Background

bleacherreport.com

Height: 6'6"

Weight: 245 pounds

Hometown: Anaheim, CA

High School: Servite HS

Recruiting Grades

espn.go.com

Position Rank: 19th

National Rank: 221st

State Rank: 26th

Other Schools Considered

scplaybook.com

California Golden Bears

Florida Gators

USC Trojans (Visited)

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Oklahoma Sooners

Stanford Cardinals (Visited)

Player Evaluation

ocvarsity.com

As this California kid comes to South Bend, Brian Kelly could definitely use this talented tight end in his spread offense, as he is both a bit of a receiving threat in addition to being a blocking tight end.

Niklas has the size to be a force on offense with his 6'6" frame to make plays in games, as he has shown with his tough play when he was playing both offense and defense in his playing career at Servite High School.

To the downside of Niklas, he is a bit on the lean side to be an effective tight end at a major college program but with time, the addition of more muscle and weight will make this player a key part for Notre Dame in the seasons ahead.