Chris Watt
Glen Ellyn, Ill. (Glenbard West H.S.)
6-3, 280, Offensive Lineman

Watt may play center Saturday but will be a guard for the Irish and he is the most highly rated among the three ND offensive line recruits in this class.

The Irish return their three top guards from last season -- juniors Chris Stewart and Eric Olsen, along with freshman and 2008 All-American Bowl participant Trevor Robinson, but Watt is good enough to push for playing time as a true freshman.

Cierre Wood
Oxnard, Calif. (Santa Clara H.S.)
6-0, 192, Running Back

CBS College Sports recruiting analyst Tom Lemming says Wood is a better prospect than any of the four former prep All-American running backs on the Irish roster (sophomores Armando Allen and Robert Hughes, junior James Aldridge and freshman Jonas Gray).

But it won’t be just Wood’s running and receiving prowess that will help him battle his way up the depth chart in the fall, it will be his ability to be an all-around back -- and that’s worth watching Saturday.

If Wood can block, if he can metabolize ND’s voluminous blitz protection packages, he will open Weis’ eyes faster and wider.

Shaquelle Evans
Inglewood, Calif. (Inglewood H.S.)
6-1, 203, Wide Receiver

Evans is another player who has a chance to get in the mix in 2009, but at the most crowded position on the Irish team. Notre Dame loses only senior David Grimes from a group led by freshman Floyd and sophomore Golden Tate.

Evans has been compared to a shorter version of Floyd. The Inglewood standout, who decommitted from USC, sees a lot of Houston Texas receiver Andre Johnson in himself.

“We both can catch either long passes or catch the short routes and break a lot of tackles,” Evans said.

Of all the players in the ND class, Evans was the one targeted as the most poachable from other schools. But Evans said he rode the roller coaster with the Irish at the end of the year and was with them through the late-season losses, the days in limbo for Weis and his job status, the rout of Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl Christmas Eve and finally the departure of offensive coordinator Mike Haywood to Miami of Ohio.

“The only thing that was really hard was coach Weis’ status,” Evans said. “Everything else was easy to deal with. Here’s the way I look at it. The losing was mostly because of youth and inexperience. They had the leads in a bunch of those games and gave them up. They weren’t that far away from being 9-3 or 10-2.

“As far as the coordinator leaving, Charlie Weis is going to call the plays next year anyway. And that was a big thing for me. I remember when he was with New England -- and I hated the Patriots -- but he called the plays for them. They didn’t always have the best players, but they scored points and won Super Bowls.

“Next year, they’re going to have an older team but they’re going to have young talent like me and Cierre and Chris Watt to go with it. I’m planning on working my way onto the field next year. If I didn’t think I could, I wouldn’t be here playing in the All-American Bowl.”

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