Listed measurements: 5-foot-11 ½, 195 pounds.
2023-24 year, eligibility: An early-enrolled freshman, Shuler has all four seasons of eligibility remaining.
Depth Chart: With four veteran safeties on the roster, thanks to Antonio Carter’s transfer in from Rhode Island, Notre Dame should not need to call on Shuler this season, particularly since being sidelined in spring practices knocked him behind classmate Ben Minich.
Recruiting: A rivals.com three-star prospect but a four-star in other recruiting services’ considerations, Shuler committed to the Irish in August of 2021, yes nearly two years ago by now. Nonetheless, the All-American held offers from Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. The Buckeyes, more than anyone else, stuck with their pursuit of Shuler well into his Notre Dame commitment.
WHAT WAS SAID WHEN SHULER SIGNED IN DECEMBER
“Shuler should be a safety in the long run, but if his body packs on muscle rather than staying lean, a move up to linebacker would not be unprecedented. …
“In the two classes ahead of him, only Justin Walters is a safety. There may be ample playing time for Shuler in the not-too-distant future.”
Note: Walters has since left the Notre Dame football program.
QUOTES
Like his classmate and position-mate Minich, Shuler also showed some offensive ability in high school, something that stood out to Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden, looking for players who understand football thoroughly so as to best call the defense from the back line.
“I had a chance to watch him practice live in the spring … playing Wildcat quarterback on offense,” Golden said in December when Shuler signed his National Letter of Intent. “Really excited about all these guys (that) can strike. They’re a really physical group. Adon, obviously, a really physical player, a competitor.”
2023 Notre Dame safety commit Adon Shuler hosted Marcus Freeman, Chris O’Leary and Al Golden for some rasta pasta on Tuesday night. pic.twitter.com/BJ91d5ZcR3
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) December 14, 2022
2023 OUTLOOK
Shuler plays hard. His highlight reel shows some hard hits. And he plays hard enough to not notice an injury to his AC joint in his shoulder.
At some point in his senior season, he evidently injured it, though he hardly noticed and played in the All-America Bowl all the same. Then when he got to South Bend in January, the Irish training staff identified the injury and Shuler underwent shoulder surgery in early February, costing him all of spring practices except for a few sprints toward the end.
There are other purposes to enrolling early — nutrition, classload, simply getting acclimated to college life — but Shuler unquestionably missed out on a chance to impress the Notre Dame coaching staff amid some uncertainty at safety.
Instead, there will now be ample reason to temper him into the season. Shoulder injuries are among the most tricky in football nowadays, very much surpassing the vast majority of knee injuries. Shuler may be cleared by preseason practices, but easing him back into contact would be prudent. At that point, his most likely path to playing time as a freshman may be in a November-specific special teams role.
Well, perhaps a late-October and into November-specific special teams role, given the Irish have only three games in November itself. Playing then would give Shuler time to strengthen his shoulder before enjoying some experience, and it would inject fresh legs into special teams coordinator Marty Biagi’s coverage units, fresh legs with a penchant for hitting hard, at that.
I’ll be back Soon! #goirish☘️ #irvingtontuff pic.twitter.com/67BAjgDPva
— Adon Shuler ✞ (@adon_shuler) February 9, 2023
DOWN THE ROAD
The uncertainty in the safety room is less abound than it was in early spring, thanks to the incoming transfer of Antonio Carter from Rhode Island, as well as Minich’s strong spring. But it is still a bit uncertain moving forward.
If Shuler can join Minich in instilling quick confidence, then Notre Dame may not need all three of Carter, Xavier Watts and Ramon Henderson to return in 2024, instead hoping for just two of them and thus giving more responsibility to the pair of then-sophomores.
That may seem convoluted, but a departure by Henderson or Carter, in particular, would also be a quiet acknowledgment that Shuler should be ready, both physically and competitively, for 2024 action.
Adon Shuler ☘️ 💈 line up too clean pic.twitter.com/41G7Us3CJ6
— julioscutz (@julioscutz) February 4, 2023
NOTRE DAME 99-TO-0
The summer countdown begins anew, Rylie Mills to Deion Colzie
No. 99 Rylie Mills, senior defensive tackle, moving back inside from end
No. 98 Devan Houstan, early-enrolled four-star defensive tackle
No. 97 Gabriel Rubio, junior defensive tackle, one of three Irish DTs with notable experience
No. 95 Tyson Ford, sophomore defensive tackle, up 30 pounds from a year ago
No. 93 Armel Mukam, incoming freshman defensive end, former Stanford commit
No. 92 Aidan Keanaaina, a senior defensive tackle now ‘fully healthy’ after a 2022 torn ACL
No. 91 Aiden Gobaira, sophomore defensive end, former four-star recruit
No. 88 Mitchell Evans, the next starter at ‘TE U
No. 87 Cooper Flanagan, incoming freshman tight end, four-star recruit
No. 84 Kevin Bauman, senior tight end coming off a torn ACL
No. 83 Jayden Thomas, junior receiver, probable No. 1 target in 2023
No. 79 Tosh Baker, senior tackle, again a backup but next year ...
No. 78 Pat Coogan, junior interior offensive lineman
No. 77 Ty Chan, sophomore offensive tackle, former four-star recruit
No. 76 Joe Alt, first-team All-American left tackle
No. 75 Sullivan Absher, incoming freshman offensive lineman
No. 74 Billy Schrauth, sophomore left guard, likely starter
No. 73 Andrew Kristofic, fifth-year right guard, likely starter
No. 72 Sam Pendelton, early-enrolled freshman offensive lineman
No. 70 Ashton Craig, sophomore interior offensive lineman
No. 68 Michael Carmody, senior offensive lineman
No. 65 Michael Vinson, sixth-year long snapper, four-year starter
No. 64 Joe Otting, incoming freshman offensive lineman, four-star recruit
No. 59 Aamil Wagner, sophomore offensive tackle
No. 56 Charles Jagusah, incoming freshman offensive lineman, four-star recruit
No. 56 Howard Cross, fifth-year defensive tackle, multi-year starter
No. 55 Chris Terek, incoming freshman offensive lineman, four-star recruit
No. 54 Blake Fisher, junior right tackle, second-year starter
No. 52 Zeke Correll, fifth-year center, third-year starter
No. 51 Boubacar Traore, incoming freshman defensive end, four-star recruit
No. 50 Rocco Spindler, junior offensive guard
No. 47 Jason Onye, junior defensive tackle on the verge of playing time
No. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka, sophomore defensive end, former linebacker
No. 42 Nolan Ziegler, sophomore linebacker, Irish legacy
No. 41 Donovan Hinish, sophomore defensive tackle following in his brother’s footsteps
No. 40 Joshua Burnham, sophomore linebacker-turned-Vyper end
No. 38 Davis Sherwood, junior fullback/H-back, former walk-on
No. 34 Drayk Bowen, early-enrolled freshman linebacker, baseball infielder
No. 32 Spencer Shrader, South Florida transfer kicker
No. 31 Nana Osafo-Mensah, fifth-year defensive end
No. 29 Christian Gray, early-enrolled freshman cornerback coming off a knee injury
No. 29 Matt Salerno, sixth-year receiver, former walk-on
No. 27 JD Bertrand, fifth-year linebacker, third-year starter, possible captain
No. 25 Preston Zinter, early-enrolled freshman linebacker, subtle recruiting win
No. 24 Jack Kiser, fifth-year linebacker, third-year starter, most efficient defender
No. 23 Jaiden Ausberry, early-enrolled freshman linebacker, four-star recruit
No. 22 Ben Minich, early-enrolled freshman safety, four-star recruit
No. 22 Jeremiyah Love, incoming freshman running back, four-star recruit
No. 17 Brenan Vernon, incoming freshman defensive end, four-star recruit
No. 13 Holden Staes, sophomore tight end, up 20 pounds in a year
No. 12 Penn State RB transfer Devyn Ford gives Notre Dame newly-needed backfield depth, experience
No. 4 Rhode Island transfer safety Antonio Carter gives Notre Dame desperately needed backline depth