Take Two: Can Notre Dame land up-and-comer Jordan Johnson?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or regional analyst.
MORE TAKE TWO: Are Rahim Jarrett and Mekhail Sherman a package deal? | Will Emmitt's Smith's son continue tradition at Florida?
THE STORYLINE
Jordan Johnson has been impressive this offseason and he was one of the best receivers at the recent adidas West Coast Invitational - where the four-star from St. Louis (Mo.) De Smet also broke down his recruitment.
Johnson spoke highly about Notre Dame, his relationship with the coaching staff and what the Irish could provide from an academic standpoint as well. Coach Brian Kelly and his staff have also made St. Louis a priority in recruiting especially with more elite talent coming out of that city.
But other programs are not giving up. Missouri has been heavily involved, Johnson has shown a lot of interest in USC and Texas A&M seems to be emerging as well. Another school recently mentioned by the four-star receiver is Florida as the Gators try to crack into his top schools.
Has Notre Dame done enough to land Johnson? Or will the in-state Tigers, one of the powerhouse Texas programs or possibly USC be able to land the De Smet recruit who has arguably emerged as one of the top receivers in this class?
FIRST TAKE: JOSH HELMHOLDT, MIDWEST RECRUITING ANALYST
“Notre Dame has done a great job in the St. Louis area as the St. Louis area has improved, but there are a lot of schools that are recognizing that there is talent in that area and making it a priority. Notre Dame is going to have a lot of competition for him as things continue to develop.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“Notre Dame can get him. I’m not saying the Irish are going to, but they certainly have that opportunity. Miles Boykin and his performance at the combine doesn’t hurt. Other schools can sell even more wide receivers, so it all depends on how far he wants to go from home.
“The way Notre Dame is recruiting, the number of unofficial visitors that have been high-profile, they seem to have a lot of recruiting momentum for 2020. It wouldn’t shock me. Some of those Texas schools are really hitting Missouri hard as well, so it would be interesting to see how much interest he has in them, along with Oklahoma, because they always recruit well there.”