Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Top 5 post-spring targets for 2020 class

5. Cody Simon, 4-star OLB

Cody Simon is an outside linebacker prospect out of New Jersey. At 217 pounds, he is a bit of a smaller guy that can shed blockers and get to the quarterback when he steps up to the defensive line. He can also play the middle of the defense and track the running back in run plays. His versatility as a linebacker would be very useful in Notre Dame’s defense.

Depth at the outside linebacker position will be very useful looking forward. One of their projected starters for next year at the position is Jordan Genmark-Heath, but he only played in six games last year making the transition from safety to linebacker. He will also be a senior by the time Simon would enroll, so it would be useful to find some depth anyways.

In fact, outside linebacker on both sides of the defense lacks depth and proven talent. You always hope to find a gem that can step in and be your next star, but no one has proven that they will do that moving forward.

Notre Dame also lacks an outside linebacker currently committed to the team in the 2020 class, so Simon would be a huge get for the Fighting Irish. As of right now, Notre Dame has gotten 86 percent of Simon’s 247Sports Crystal Balls, with the other 14 percent remaining undecided. It would be huge for Notre Dame recruiting to land Simon, and it seems pretty likely as of right now that this will be the case by the time he makes his decision.