Notre Dame Football Recruiting Update Entering July

As the calendar soon flips to July and the official second half of 2026 nears, it's a good time to look at where Notre Dame football stands in the recruiting world, after the white-hot run it has been on.

This past week saw five commitments give their pledges to Notre Dame - three coming from the 2027 class while the 2028 cycle received verbals from quarterback Trey Tagliaferri and safety Andre Jones.

Here's a detailed look at where things stand for Notre Dame as we enter July, and the official start to college football season draws nearer.

Notre Dame's Incredible Blue Chip Ratio

Notre Dame has 21 commitments in its 2027 class after the announcement of five-star offensive lineman Albert Simien on Friday. More on Simien and Notre Dame pulling off that recruiting upset in a minute, but the Blue Chip ratio Marcus Freeman and company are putting up this cycle is incredible.

17 of Notre Dame's 21 commitments come with a four or five-star rating, meaning those players are considered "blue chip prospects".

Notre Dame has the most blue-chip commitments in the entire 2027 class ‼️☘️

How have the Irish followed up their incredible 2026 haul? Quite well.https://t.co/FUYGwSkS66 pic.twitter.com/8UXGRZXRa5
— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) June 26, 2026

That's good for an 80.9% blue chip percentage, but also worth mentioning is that one of Notre Dame's commitment is long snapper Sean Kraft.

This isn't a dig at Kraft or longsnappers, but specialists are never going to be given a four or five-star grade, and will never be viewed at blue chip, even if they're the absolute best at their given positions.

With that in mind, Notre Dame essentially has 17 of its 20 commitments of non-specialists in blue chip territory, good for an 85% clip.

Those are numbers most never thought possible for Notre Dame to land again.

Notre Dame's Five-Star Recruiting Run

Notre Dame currently has four players that different outlets rank as five-star talents.

For reference, a five-star talent is decided by the recruiting services to be one of the nation's top 32 prospects in the entire class, regardless of position. The 32 is to represent, essentially, what the first round of an NFL draft (32 teams) would look like with the players.

Right now, all of those players play on either the offensive or defensive lines.

The Golden Standard. 🔑

Freeman is different.#GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/AypFha2Q7n
— Notre Dame Planet (@notredameplanet) June 27, 2026

On offense, it's Simien and tackle Oluwasemilore Olubobola while on the defensive line it's elite edge Abraham Sesay and defensive tackle David Folorunsho.

The hope for Notre Dame to land another five-star is that if it can have an already committed player see a ratings jump, or if it can snag an already committed prospect from elsewhere.

After how things went down with star linebacker Kaden Henderson earlier this month, I'm not one to count Notre Dame entirely out yet. I'm not saying a flip from Texas A&M will happen, but I'm not saying that recruitment is entirely done yet, either.

What's Left for Notre Dame in 2027 Recruiting Class

While the offensive side of the ball appears to be done, a couple of big fish remain on the defensive side.

Brayden Parks - Defensive Lineman Target

Defensive lineman Brayden Parks of Chicago (Brother Rice), Illinois is a top remaining target that would add another massive piece to what is already an incredible defensive line haul. While he has said a ton of good things about Notre Dame, Oregon has made his decision between the two extremely difficult.

Parks does not currently have a commitment date set, but he appears to be divided between Notre Dame and Oregon - a credit to Dan Lanning and the Ducks staff for making this the recruiting battle it has turned into.

Roman Igewbuike - Linebacker Target

Another Chicago kid, Igewbuike is a must-get for Notre Dame because of the position he plays. The Mt. Carmel star is rated as a top 10 linebacker prospect in the cycle, a position Notre Dame currently has zero committed players at.

Notre Dame appears to be in good shape here, but it's certainly not over until it's over. Igewbuike is scheduled to announce his commitment on July 11.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

So, how is Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame going to perform in recruiting after putting together what was rated as the second-best class nationally last year?

Pretty stinking good, I would say. The Fighting Irish currently trail only Texas A&M in the recruiting rankings for 2027 and while catching the Aggies will be difficult, consecutive classes in the top-five, which appears to almost be a certainty at this point, are something most thought couldn't happen in South Bend anymore.

Instead, it's the next phase of knocking on the door of a national championship.

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