Which Irish recruits will play in Saturday's All-American Bowl? Here they are
The annual All-American Bowl featuring the top high school seniors in the country will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and broadcast live on NBC.
Of Notre Dame's 21 Class of 2022 commitments, 11 are expected to participate in the game. Here's a look at incoming Irish commits who plan to play:
► More:Meet the Notre Dame Football 2022 recruiting class
LB Joshua Burnham
► Basics: 6-4, 225; Traverse City (Mich.) Central
► Hometown: Traverse City, Mich.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 4 ILB, No. 163 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 5 LB, No. 68 overall.
► Notable numbers: Michigan High School Player of the Year by both Gatorade and the MLive Media Group. Burnham led Traverse City Central to a 12-1 record and Division 2 state runner-up finish while standing out on both sides of the ball. As a linebacker, Burnham recorded 76 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and two interceptions. As Central’s quarterback, Burnham rushed for 1,515 yards and 29 TDs and threw for 963 yards and 14 touchdowns with four interceptions.
► Enrolling early? Yes.
OL Ashton Craig
► Basics: 6-4, 274; Lawrenceburg (Ind.) High
► Hometown: Lawrenceburg, Ind.
► Rivals ranking: Three stars, No. 63 OT.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 26 OT.
► Notable numbers: Led Lawrenceburg to an 11-2 record and a regional championship appearance. Earned all-state honors and was named 2021 Mr. Football Offensive Line in Indiana.
► Enrolling early? Yes.
DE Tyson Ford
► Basics: 6-4, 269; St. Louis John Burroughs School
► Hometown: St. Louis
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 9 SDE, No. 105 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 25 DL, No. 198 overall.
► Notable numbers: Played in eight of John Burroughs’ 10 games, and totaled 58 tackles, 19 tackles for loss with 11 sacks. Two-team all-state selection and first-team academic all-state.
► Enrolling early? Yes.
► Quotable: Defensive line coach Mike Elston said of Ford, "Built a great connection with him. Coach (Marcus) Freeman helped closed the deal with that one. Tyson’s just a big, athletic, physical player.
"He’s going to take some development. He’s not at a big school where there’s a bunch of coaches there that are helping him daily of the little things that make a great defensive lineman. It’s great that he’s coming in midyear, because he’s going to learn a lot of that. He’s going to get a lot of development very early. It will be exciting to see him go down to the All-American Game and stack up against those guys.
"You know what I love about Tyson? I didn’t know this prior to him coming on an official visit. He’s really a sponge in football. He wants to know football. He wants to sit there, sit next to you, watch film. What should I be doing here? What should I be looking at? What should I be thinking about? That’s going to be huge.
"Sometimes when a young man’s that talented, it comes easy to him and he doesn’t learn how to study the game. The fact that he loves the game and he wants to study it, that’s going to be big.”
DE Aiden Gobaira
► Basics: 6-5, 230; Chantilly (Va.) High
► Hometown: Fairfax, Va.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 11 WDE, No. 207 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 21 DL, No. 180 overall.
► Notable numbers: Finished the 2021 spring season with 16 sacks in eight games. 2021 Maxwell Football Club’s National High School Defensive Player of the Year Award semifinalist.
► Enrolling early? No.
► Quotable: Defensive line coach Mike Elston said of Gobaira, "We got on him early. We watched him do some drill work when coach Freeman first got on campus and we were deciding who we wanted to target. We targeted two major defensive ends and it was Tyson Ford and Aiden.
"We watched a combine that Aiden had gone to. We watched his junior film and some workouts. We knew exactly what we’d be getting: a big, tall, athletic, high-motor player that has great athleticism that’s going to be an elite pass rusher. He’s exciting for that vyper position."
P Bryce McFerson
► Basics: 6-1, 175; Indian Trail (N.C.) Metrolina Christian
► Hometown: Indian Trail, N.C.
► Rivals ranking: Two stars.
► 247Sports ranking: Two stars, No. 5 P.
► Notable numbers: The No. 1 punter nationally in his class, per Chris Sailer Kicking, McFerson averaged 46.0 yards per punt on 24 punts in 2021 for Metrolina (10-2). He added nearly seven yards to his average over his junior season. He was 6-of-12 on field goals, with a long of 47 yards, and connected on all 43 of his PAT attempts. McFerson also kicked off for Metrolina, with 63 touchbacks on 67 kickoffs.
► Enrolling early? No.
WR Tobias Merriweather
► Basics: 6-4,188; Camas (Wash.) Union
► Hometown: West Camas, Wash.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 25 WR, No. 167 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 11 WR, No. 79 overall.
► Notable numbers: Played in seven of nine games for Union (6-3). Caught 31 passes for 478 yards and three TDs and rushed for 22 yards on five carries and a score. On defense, Merriweather amassed four interceptions, seven pass breakups, and 18 tackles, with a tackle for loss.
► Enrolling early? No.
► Quotable: Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said of Merriweather, "Here’s a kid that’s looking to run sub-10.6 (in the 100-meter dash). You walk up on him and he’s probably close to 6-5. High character. You watch his film, he’s not just a one-trick pony, which sometimes long guys are. You see him return kicks, change of direction. You see him get in and out of breaks for a long guy. He’s somebody that we’re extremely excited about and have extremely high hopes for moving forward. Given he’s length, given his maturity, given his ability to run, he’s a guy that you can put outside and expect to slowly make an impact here early in his career.”
OG Billy Schrauth
► Basics: 6-4, 272; Fond du Lac (Wis.) St. Mary’s Springs
► Hometown: Campbellsport, Wisc.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 3 OG, No. 125 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 9 IOL, No. 204 overall.
► Notable numbers: The all-state selection blocked for an offense that averaged 248.4 rushing yards per game as a senior at St. Mary’s Springs (11-3), the WIAA Division 6 state runner-up. Defensively, Schrauth totaled 59 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss and three fumble recoveries.
► Enrolling early? Yes.
OG Joey Tanona
► Basics: 6-6, 284; Zionsville (Ind.) High
► Hometown: Zionsville, Ind.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 8 OG, No. 172 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 16 OT, No. 156 overall.
► Notable numbers: The all-state selection blocked for an offense that averaged 33.1 points per game as a senior at Zionsville (9-6), the state runner-up in Indiana Class 5A.
► Enrolling early? Yes.
LB Niuafe Tuihalamaka
► Basics: 6-2, 229; Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany
► Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 8 ILB, No. 197 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 13 LB, No. 169 overall.
► Notable numbers: Recorded 84 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, four sacks and three forced fumbles as a senior.
► Enrolling early? Yes.
OT Aamil Wagner
► Basics: 6-6, 280; Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne
► Hometown: Yellow Springs, Ohio
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 21 OT, No. 196 overall.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 11 OT, No. 118 overall.
► Notable numbers: From the same high school that produced Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Irish cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, Wagner led Wayne to an 8-3 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Greater Western Ohio Conference. Wagner was given an 88% blocking grade for an offense that averaged 242.7 rushing yards, 120.8 passing yards and 26.8 points per game. Wagner's a two-time, first-team all-state selection (2020, 2021).
► Enrolling early? No.
LB Nolan Ziegler
► Basics: 6-3, 215; Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central
► Hometown: Caledonia, Mich.
► Rivals ranking: Four stars, No. 16 ATH.
► 247Sports ranking: Four stars, No. 19 LB, No. 219 overall.
► Notable numbers: Made 120 tackles, nine sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown as a senior for the unbeaten Michigan Division 5 state champs. It's the third state title campaign that Ziegler has been a part of. Ziegler also forced six fumbles. After catching just four passes as a sophomore and junior, Ziegler recorded 67 receptions for 1,343 yards and 25 touchdowns in 14 games.
► Enrolling early? Yes.