Is It a Big Deal for Notre Dame If the Irish Don't Land Arik Armstead?

With just one week left until National Signing Day on Feb. 1, the college football recruiting chatter is about to hit its high point of the year, as the country’s top high school football prospects all prepare to sign on the dotted line with the school of their choice. 

At this point in the process, when trying to forecast where some of the top uncommitted recruits will ultimately end up, it becomes tough to decipher all of the rumors you hear from so many different sources, whether it be on legitimate recruiting websites, message boards or Twitter.

During the final few days before National Signing Day is when the craziness really commences, and the rumors really begin to fly.

One uncommitted recruit who has been one of the true mysteries of the 2012 class is Arik Armstead, who played for California’s Pleasant Grove high school.

Armstead’s recruiting journey has certainly been a wild one to follow these past few months, especially after he de-committed from USC, the same school his brother Armond plays for, back in October.

The versatile lineman, who has the type of diverse skill-set to play either offensive tackle or defensive end at the next level, started off the year as one of the biggest names in the 2012 class, but his momentum has wavered a bit in recent months.

Still, that hasn’t stopped schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Cal, Notre Dame, Oregon, USC and Washington from heavily pursuing the 4-star prospect.

Armstead has yet to give any true indication as to which school he’s favoring at this point, as he continues to visit with coaches and try to make up his mind. But one school that is definitely still in the running is Notre Dame.

Armstead paid a visit to South Bend back in October for the USC game, and he’s shown considerable interest in the Irish ever since.

A fair question to ask, though, is do to the Irish really even need him?

After landing two talented defensive ends, Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt, in last year’s class, it looks like the Irish are set at the position for the foreseeable future with the two potential star freshman. Plus, Sheldon Day, a highly touted defensive line prospect who is one of the gems of Notre Dame’s 2012 class, also has the perfect makeup to develop into an impact player as a 3-4 defensive end.

Sure, adding depth with Arik and possibly his brother Armond, who is reportedly looking to transfer out of USC, would certainly help strengthen the depth at the position, but with Tuitt and Lynch already entrenched there, it’s not exactly a dire need.

Notre Dame would benefit much more from landing a receiver like Nelson Agholor or a cornerback like former commit Ronald Darby than it would from landing Arik Armstead.

Now that's not to say that it wouldn't be a great pickup, as any time you have the chance to land a recruit of that caliber, you always hope that things fall into place, but if Armstead spurns Notre Dame fot a school like Auburn or Washington, it's not exactly going to destroy Notre Dame's 2012 recruiting class. 

Brian Kelly has assembled another top-notch group of recruits this year, with what is shaping up to be one of the deepest and most decorated classes in the country. Kelly's got plenty of future impact players headed to South Bend this year, and losing out on one blue-chip prospect, who doesn't play a position of need, wouldn't exactly hurt all that much.