Class Impact: OL Charles Jagusah Commits To Notre Dame
Notre Dame landed yet another very important piece for its vaunted 2023 class with Rock Island (Ill.) Alleman offensive tackle Charles Jagusah committing to the Irish.
NOTRE DAME CLASS IMPACT
Jagusah is the 16th player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2023 class. He is the eighth offensive player and the fifth offensive lineman.
Coming into this cycle the Irish were looking to land at least four offensive linemen, but as the cycle dragged on there became a desire to expand that to five blockers. That was due to a numbers need and also there was too much talent on the board to stop at four. Eventually five became the target number, but if the right players wanted to jump on board the Irish staff would have worked to land six blockers.
Landing Jagusah means Notre Dame has absolutely met its numbers need in the class. It also means Notre Dame has landed one of the best blockers in the country, which puts a great finishing touch to the line class with its best prospect.
Jagusah ranks as the nation's No. 7 overall player on the On3 rankings, and he also ranks as a Top 100 player by 247Sports and ESPN. All three services rank him as the best player in Illinois.
Adding Jagusah to a class that also includes four-star linemen Sullivan Absher, Elijah Paige and Sam Pendleton, and sleeper blocker Joe Otting. This gives the Irish a very highly regarded line class, and landing a player of Jagusah's caliber also boosts the overall class ranking and prestige.
NOTRE DAME FIT
Jagusah is a tackle prospect right now, and that is where he'll being his career and a position he could easily be a standout. But his unique skillset also allows him to project as a potentially dominant guard as well. That makes his fit with the current commits ideal, and makes it easier for the staff to find a home for him.
Paige is a natural left tackle prospect, both Jagusah and Absher are tackles that are physical with guard potential, Pendleton is a natural interior player and Otting was recruited to be the center.
Looking at Jagusah's skillset, the first thing you notice is his unique combination of size and power. Jagusah is a massive young man that is listed at 6-6 and 295 pounds. Jagusah is only going to get bigger and keep filling out nicely. Despite being almost 300 pounds already, Jagusah has the kind of frame that should allow him to add at least 15-20 more pounds of good weight.
He's not just big; Jagusah is a physical football player that punishes his high school talent, and he's just getting started. The Alleman standout has extremely powerful hands, he has a strong lower body and he's an excellent finisher, something you'd expect from a high school wrestler who finished his junior season with a perfect 41-0 record and a state championship.
Jagusah is a quality athlete as well, one capable of playing on the edge and in space. He possesses quick feet, good lateral movement abilities and his burst off the line can be quite impressive when his technique is correct. You can see his athleticism and quickness on the wrestling mat and when he's playing defense, where his raw talent takes over. Those skills project well to being a high quality edge blocker that could thrive at right tackle, or an athletic, powerful, dominant guard.
Right now, Jagusah gets by on raw talent, power and athleticism. He's very much a work in progress from a technique standpoint due to losing a year because of Covid and dealing with a coaching change. His footwork is inconsistent, he needs to use his hands better and he needs to get more bend. Athletically he has no issue bending, it's a technical issue.
As he learns to play with more clean technique his game is going to explode, which is why he has one of the highest ceilings of any lineman in the country. Jagusah has all the tools you want: great size, great power, very good quickness off the ball, he's agile, he's flexible, he has fast hands. He just needs refinement. That refinement will determine if Jagusah ends up ranked as a five-star recruit or just hangs around as a Top 50-75 prospect, but more importantly it will determine he can turn his potential into dominant play as a college blocker.
This is the kind of elite talent that line coach Harry Hiestand has consistently turned into an elite college player, and that's why Jagusah was a player the Notre Dame line coach made an immediate priority when he was hired in January.
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Gettr: @IrishBreakdown
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook