(The Rock Report | Notre Dame Football News) – After recruiting just one cornerback over two years and failing to land a top ranked cornerback last year, the Irish had to land a player who could play as a freshman at cornerback in this class and it appears they have in Tee Shepard.
At this signing day press conference, Coach Brian Kelly said, “I think we have to get some depth at the back end of our defense. We have to continue to build depth there. That’s absolutely crucial.”
The 6’1″ 180 pound Shepard is a consensus top 20 player in California and will be one of the highest rated cornerbacks in the nation in 2012. Notre Dame beat out the last two National Champions, USC and every school in the Pac 10 for Shepard. His coach has said that Tee will probably be the best corner he has coached and that includes Oregon’s Cliff Harris who is already one of the top players in the country.
Tee Shepard | CB
ESPN Grade ___ | Scout: **** | Rivals:
Hometown: Fresno, CA | Central High East
Height 6’1″ | Weight 180 lbs.
Here’s what Scout had to say about him:
A long, rangy defensive back, Shepard has safety size and plays corner and safety for his Central team. He is excellent in coverage and has great hands. He has a fluid hip turn and does a good job of looking back for the ball. He appears to prefer to play on the perimeter rather than mixing it up near the line of scrimmage which could lead him to stick at corner on the next level. He is outstanding against the pass – Scott Kennedy, Scout.com
And an over the top assessment from some site called Cali-High Sports:
Tee Shepard has been anointed as a superstar cornerback since he was just a freshman. Back then, Shepard was voted the best underclassman at the 2009 San Francisco Scout.com Combine and was able to go toe to toe with now USC receiver Markeith Ambles. At that time, Ambles was a junior, a superstar, with an incredibly developed body. Yet the tiny Tee was able to match-up with Markeith and slow him down because of his incredible skill and superior instincts. Tee has freshmen All-American potential and his coaches often call him the best cornerback they’ve ever seen. Tee Shepard is a star and will be a massive recruiting pull
The Piper says:
What we learned yesterday is simple…
If ND wins a lot of games in ’11, then Tee Shepard (and many other high profile recruits) will be ours on February 2nd. If we don’t, then Shepard will go the way of other early commits in the recruiting cycle…another school.
I’m highly confident that we will execute on defense this year and continue our progression to the upper echelon of the BCS.
Mike says:
I’ve seen a few videos on this kid and he looks like he makes a lot of great plays… he also looks like he doesn’t know how to wrap up to make the tackle when he needs to.
Terry says:
The key is the offense, can they extend drives and make big plays to score points. We’ll see how Rees progresses, Crist doesn’t have the mental or physical toughness to play at this level, and the new recruit from SC will probably have to mature on the job, which would cost us 2-4 games. Naturally, it really comes down to the O-line, but a savvy QB makes a big difference. I’m confident that Kelly and staff know how to develop talent and team chemistry GO IRISH!