Chris Watt Commits

Illinois Offensive Lineman Chris Watt committed to Notre Dame today after being pursued by numerous schools and leaning towards Ohio State at times recently.

By Steve Patterson

Irish Get the Call

    Chris Watt, 6’4” 270 lbs out of Glenbard West in Illinois is a 5 Star offensive line prospect that was highly recruiting by a number of mid-west’s top programs. But in the end, Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish got the call and the commitment from Watt.

    In contention for the athletic big man were Notre Dame, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio State. Reports had Watt traveling to both Notre Dame and Ohio State for a number of spring and summer events. Chris was favoring Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes while Chris’ father was high on the Irish. A number of factors came together for Watt and Notre Dame including his connection to members of the team in South Bend.

    Watt commented that the Irish were getting better this year and that also played into his commitment. This point could be widely debated as Weis has had his players in the program for several years and the results haven’t improved, but they can’t get much worse than 2007.

    Watt becomes the 12^th member of Notre Dame’s 2009 class that also includes highly touted offensive lineman Alex Bullard. Irish fans are excited about the tandem anchoring a line for future seasons to come.

Ohio State Full at Offensive Line Positions

    Rumors circulated that Ohio State had lost interest in Watt as Jim Tressel had accepted his third offensive line commitment from Sam Longo just days ago. Watt has stated that this isn’t the case and the Buckeyes were keeping a spot open for him regardless of who had committed to the Ohio State class.

    Ohio State looks solid at the offensive line for years to come even without the Illinois product who projects as an excellent guard with speed to get outside on pulls and cause damage to linebackers and defensive backs.

    The Buckeyes picked up one of the best offensive lines in the country last year with Mike Adams, Michael Brewster and JB Shugarts. And 2009 looks just as good with Jack Mewhort, Corey Linsley and Sam Longo already committed and Top 100 offensive tackle Marcus Hall from Cleveland Glenville expected to also join the class before all is said and done.