Irish Breakdown

Will Notre Dame Land Star Running Back Recruit Jonaz Walton?

Notre Dame is a finalist for 2026 four-star running back Jonaz Walton. Will it be able to sign him?

Mason Plummer

Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after a play against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half of the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after a play against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half of the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Notre Dame is firmly in contention for 2026 tailback Jonaz Walton, who is set to announce his commitment on Wednesday, May 14, at 3 pm EST.

Walton was being heavily recruited by most of the premier programs in college football, before nailing down his finalists to Tennessee, Stanford, Notre Dame, Florida and Alabama.

The 5-9, 205-pound running back out of the heat of SEC country, Carrollton, GA, is ranked as the 10th best back in the country and the No.124 overall player in the class according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

As is the case in most high school recruitments, if you follow the visits, you can usually have a strong inkling of where a recruit may be going. After visiting Notre Dame in early April, predictions and hype starting trending towards the Irish in a big way and it has not stopped, but only grown.

Two of the best in the business, 247Sports' Tom Loy and On3's Steve Wiltfong, put in predictions for Walton to land at Notre Dame shortly after that visit, immediately followed by more and more picks.

As it stands, Notre Dame is the clear favorite for Walton's pledge - but it's recruiting, and there are always curveballs.

Walton clicked heavily with new Notre Dame running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider, who the Irish stole from Penn State this offseason to replace Deland McCullough, who departed for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Seider has already landed a top-10 back in Javian Osborne, and now looks to be in tremendous shape to land Walton. What a pairing that would be for Seider's first class!

The Georgia prospect is set to announce his commitment at his high school, Central High School, live on YouTube.

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Mason Plummer
MASON PLUMMER

Covered Notre Dame football recruiting since 2017 for Irish Breakdown, Blue & Gold Illustrated and Notre Dame On SI. Covering Notre Dame professionally got me my start in journalism, which led me to getting my degrees in Journalism and Communications from Ball State University in 2021. Featured on Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, Rivals, On3 and more. Have missed multiple weddings and graduation parties for Notre Dame games.

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