Notre Dame Football: 5 Recruits Who Could Help the Irish the Most in 2012

Notre Dame’s 2011 season certainly hasn’t gone as well as originally planned.

After starting off the year with 17 returning starters and a top-20 ranking, the Irish once again failed to live up to expectations, dropping their first two games of the season and quickly plummeting out of the polls.

The slow start didn’t sit well with many Notre Dame fans, and it left some questioning whether head coach Brian Kelly was really the right man to lead the prestigious program.

Kelly’s team has since rebounded and brought its record up to 6-3, but that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been a few more bumps along the way.

Even if the Irish can finish with another respectable eight- or nine-win season this year, 2012 is setting up to be a big make-or-break year for the coach.

Luckily for Kelly, he’s been having tremendous success on the recruiting trail, and after hauling in a top-10 class this year, the 2012 group is shaping up to be another stellar haul.

We’ve seen this year’s highly touted freshman like defensive linemen Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt and running back George Atkinson make an early impact; and next year, the Irish are definitely going to need to rely on a few freshmen to help out early in their careers.

Here’s a look at five potential recruits that could help out Notre Dame the most next year.

Cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Tee Shepard

Notre Dame will lose both of its starting senior cornerbacks—Gary Gray and Robert Blanton—after this season and the Irish will definitely have room for freshmen like Ronald Darby and Tee Shepard to come in and get some early playing time.

Darby, who plays for Potomac High School in Maryland, is rated as a four-star recruit by both Rivals and Scout and is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the country.

Shepard, a native of Fresno, California, who has been ruled ineligible this season, is also a four-star recruit and also considered one of the premier corners in the country.

If Darby and Shepard both ultimately decide to head to South Bend, it will really bolster Notre Dame’s cornerback depth, and both of them have the type of talent to see the field early.

Defensive Tackles Jarron Jones and Sheldon Day

If your team plays a 3-4 defense, you need to have a strong nose tackle to really solidify the front-seven, and Notre Dame might be about to pick up two future studs in Jarron Jones and Sheldon Day, two four-star recruits who have the potential to dominate at the collegiate level.

Both the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Jones and the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Day have the type of size and strength to eat up blockers in the middle of a defense.

Jones, who plays for Aquinas Institute in New York, and Day, who plays for Warren Day down the road in Indianapolis, are considered two of the top defensive tackles in the country. Both of them have the potential to become difference-making defenders over the next few years.

Wide Receiver Deontay Greenberry

With star senior wideout Michael Floyd set to move on to the NFL after this season, Notre Dame is going to need some of its other receivers like Theo Riddick and tight end Tyler Eifert to step up and become go-to targets in the passing game, but there’s also room for freshman standout Deontay Greenberry, another Fresno, California native, to come in and make his presence felt.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Greenberry has the type of size-speed-hands combination that you look for in a top-notch receiving prospect, and he definitely has the kind of skill-set to flourish in Brian Kelly’s high-powered spread offensive attack.