Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Davonte Neal Would Push Irish Class over the Top

Notre Dame could be on the verge of ending their recruiting season on a huge upswing. It has been an up and down road for the Irish season with commitments coming and going. It has been a proverbial revolving door. 

They lost out on a verbal commit in big-time CB Ronald Darby, and then gained a stud QB, Gunner Kiel, after he had previously committed to Indiana and LSU. 

Now they may be on the verge of pulling off yet another coup. Five star two-way player Davonte Neal is set to make his announcement, and there is reason to believe he will choose Notre Dame. 

The Latest on Neal

Anthony Gimino of the Tuscon Citizen reports:

"

Neal, who is ranked the eighth-best prospect in the nation by ESPNU, has been considering four finalists—Notre Dame, Arkansas, North Carolina and Arizona—and he doesn’t plan on paring that list, at least publicly, before next Tuesday’s announcement.

"

And there is the mounting possibility that Neal will be headed to the Irish. This tweet comes to us from Dion Caputi of NFL Draft Update. 

What This Means for Notre Dame

The beauty of Neal for Notre Dame lies in the fact that he has the goods to dominate on either side of the ball. He is 5'10" and 175 pounds. He has the potential to be a big-time WR or a shutdown corner. 

If he ends up enrolling at Notre Dame he would be of more value immediately at the corner position, and would make up for the defection of Darby. This also wouldn't prohibit him from playing some offense. 

This will turn an already solid Irish recruiting class into a very good and complete one. Rivals currently has Notre Dame ranked 22nd in the nation for their recruiting class. An addition of another 5-star stud would certainly push them into the top 20, and more importantly Neal would help them address a need on both sides of the ball.