Notre Dame picked up some huge commitments this past weekend led by athlete Ronald Darby out of Maryland. Darby will be a cornerback for the Fighting Irish and return kicks. He was electronically timed at the Under Armour All-American Combine in Orlando, FL in the 40-yard dash and ran an astonishing 4.31. He is one of if not the fastest sprinter in the country. He has multiple time trials on the track that timed out the fastest in the nation. He will be the fastest recruit at Notre Dame since Allen Rossum was playing corner in the mid 90's.
I know a lot of fans want to see him at tailback and for good reason with his ridiculous speed. But Darby likes to play defense and with Notre Dame losing Gary Gray, Robert Blanton, and Harrison Smith out of the secondary in 2012 Darby will get immediate playing time. He told IrishIllustrated.com he loves to play defense.
"I really like defense best and special teams," Darby previously told IrishIllustrated.com. "I like to be the one to deliver the hit."
With Tee Shepard and Darby in the fold Notre Dame has two of the elite cornerbacks in the nation. Geno Smith out of Atlanta is another elite corner that Notre Dame hopes to get on campus in the summer or fall. With the Irish losing most of their secondary to the NFL in 2012 all of these kids will have a chance to contribute immediately and Notre Dame can obviously sell playing time to them.
The Irish also picked up
Michael Cera's doppelganger in Nicky Baratti out of Texas. Baratti will play safety in college and his high school film brings back memories of another former Irish safety in Tommy Zbikowski. Like Zibby Baratti plays quarterback in high school and is extremely fast and physical.
