A talented eight-man group of Notre Dame signees are ready to make their mark in the All-American Bowl.
With the new year right around the corner, the next couple of weeks will be occupied by the high school all-star circuit to showcase the skills of several top 2023 recruits. The All-American Bowl is scheduled for January 7 at 1:00 PM eastern time.
Notre Dame will be extremely well represented in the game, having eight members of their 2023 recruiting class set to show off their skills in San Antonio, Texas. Both the east and west teams will feature four Irish recruits respectively.
On the East squad, defensive ends Brenan Vernon and Boubacar Traore will hope to torment quarterbacks and opposing offensive lineman all week. They will be joined on the East defense by linebacker Drayk Bowen who is fresh of winning the Butkus Award and Mr. Football in the state of Indiana. New Jersey safety Adon Shuler will be working on the back end, fresh off of a 103-tackle season for Irvington High School.
On the West squad, Notre Dame fans will get their first full look at quarterback Kenny Minchey, who the team was able to flip from his commitment from the University of Pittsburgh late in the process. Minchey will be joined by star California pass catcher Rico Flores Jr., who will unfortunately not be able to participate during the event due to a late season foot injury. He will be protected by five-star caliber offensive tackle Charles Jagusah out of the state of Illinois.
WR RICO FLORES JR.
Unfortunately, Flores will not be able to participate due to a late season foot injury. He will be enrolling early at Notre Dame and hopes to be available for spring practice after a dynamic career at Folsom High School. He will be protected by five-star caliber offensive tackle Charles Jagusah out of the state of Illinois.
CB MICAH BELL
On defense, Texas cornerback Micah Bell will be showcasing his cover skills all week. He will be arguably the fastest player in attendance.
Bell was asked to do a little bit of everything for Kinkaid School over the last two seasons. On top of playing cornerback, he was also the team’s main running back. That was on top of being a dynamic performer as a kick and punt returner as well. This week will give the Texas speedster the opportunity to just play cornerback and focus on his craft. It will be fun to watch just how much more comfortable he gets during the week.
QB KENNY MINCHEY
Minchey will be facing off against a talented crop of quarterbacks in San Antonio. On his own squad, the West squad will also have Austin Novosad (Oregon) and Pierce Clarkson (Louisville). On the other side, Dante Moore (UCLA), Christopher Vizzina (Clemson) and Eli Holstein (Alabama) will be taking snaps behind center.
This will be a great opportunity to see his skills compared to several signal callers that Notre Dame fans are very familiar with. He has a chance to show that while he was underrated throughout most of the process, his talents stack up against players like Moore, Vizzina and Novosad. The future of Notre Dame football will be on full display.
OT CHARLES JAGUSAH
Quietly Jagusah made a tremendous jump as a senior, matching his preseason recruiting rankings. He will now have an opportunity to match up against some of the most talented pass rushers during the event. The 6-6, 300-pound offensive tackle has all the tools to be the next great offensive tackle for Notre Dame. He has a chance to showcase his skills during the event.
DE BRENAN VERNON
If you watched Mentor play this season, you know that the team did not ask much of Vernon from a pass rush perspective. This all star event will give the Ohio native a chance to pin his ears back and attack. What is his pass rush upside? I am not sure we quite know yet. This week of practices will be a big opportunity to find out.
DE BOUBACAR TRAORE
Like Vernon, this is an opportunity to see what Traore can do in one-on-one pass rush opportunities. Traore missed some time during his senior season while dealing with a nagging injury. He is expected to be a participant in the event, with an opportunity to show off his talent and upside. There are some who believe that Traore has some of the best upside of any pass rusher in the 2023 recruiting class and he will have a chance to show it.
LB DRAYK BOWEN
In the modern space game, linebackers are asked to do so much in pursuit and in pass coverage today. Somehow Bowen has managed to see his recruiting ranking drop despite having a fantastic senior campaign. There is a stigma around him based on where he plays football but now has the chance to show that he belongs mentioned among the elite linebackers in the 2023 class.
S ADON SHULER
Like Bowen, Shuler has had an odd and unfair down trend in the recruiting rankings. Everyone knows that the New Jersey standout is an impact performer in the running game. He consistently comes to balance as a tackler and delivers big strikes. Shuler has the chance to show his impact in the passing game. There is a false sense that he doesn’t offer a ton of upside in pass coverage and has a chance to prove that narrative wrong.
Each Notre Dame commit has a massive opportunity to showcase their talents during the practice week, with the chance to cement their standings amongst the talented 2023 recruiting class.
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Saw him play many times over the course of his HS career. The pride and joy of Andrean HS. Once a Niner, always a Niner.