Anthony Rabasa & The Daily Double

Defensive end and soon-to-be linebacker Anthony Rabasa is ND’s second verbal commitment of the day, as first reported by his hometown Miami Herald.

A lightning-fast first step makes Rabasa a sack master in Florida’s largest classification, some of the best competition in the country. Because he isn’t able to physically overpower linemen, an early understanding of hand placement is a sort of silver lining for the glaring weakness that Rabasa can’t do anything to improve: height. His listed 6-3 frame dictates a move to outside linebacker in ND’s 3-4 defense. Catching a speedster from behind at the 4:36 mark of his junior highlights is reason to believe Rabasa can adjust to linebacker duties:



ND now prefers longer arms even of its outside backers, and it’s hard to tell if Rabasa's frame can hold much more weight. His game will take a similar transition to that of fellow commit Clay Burton, also a pass-rushing specialist but without Rabasa’s unreal explosiveness. Although Rabasa is unproven in moving laterally and reading running lanes and backs, speed alone makes him the favorite to succeed Darius Fleming as the starting CAT backer in 2012.

Burton is Irish!

Venice, Fla., outside linebacker Clay Burton verbally committed to Notre Dame today, according to Irish Sports Daily’s Steve Wiltfong.

His offers include Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, LSU, and Tennessee, according to Rivals, which has yet to rank him. ESPN rates four-star Burton as the nation’s 22nd-best defensive end. Burton’s end-linebacker combination meshes perfectly with the OLB role in Diaco’s 3-4 scheme. Various sites list Burton anywhere from 6-3, 225, to 6-4, 235. According to his Scout profile, Burton carries a 3.8 core grade-point-average and plans to enroll early in January, 2011.

Burton spoke glowingly of ND throughout the ISD interview:

“I’m so honored to even have the opportunity, and I’m definitely ready to help bring Notre Dame nation to where it should be. I want to be part of the revival of the program.”

In my estimation of his ESPN highlight film, Burton is a natural pass rusher, especially when taking uber-wide splits from his high school DE spot. One worry from the ESPN film is Burton's failure to close out the pursuit with sacks, but his Rivals highlight reel better captures the 12 sacks he totaled last season. Just as his biggest asset is pressuring the quarterback and forcing him out of the pocket, the most glaring weakness is his inability to get into the backfield against the run. Nonetheless, Burton’s athleticism and style are in the mold of ND junior hybrid Darius Fleming. Burton is a big commit at a position that will suddenly become a need after Brian Smith, Kerry Neal, Darius Fleming, and Steve Filer all graduate. Burton means that the Irish cupboard is restocking before it had a chance to be bare. Expect Burton to contribute to the ND defense by 2012.