Potential Huge Week Ahead for Notre Dame Defensive Line Recruiting

Elite prospect Rodney Dunham will announce his college decision on Thursday

Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman talks to a referee against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Notre Dame football broke it's over two month drought of not landing any recruiting commitments over the weekend when prized edge defender Ebenezer Ewetade of North Carolina announced his decision to join the Fighting Irish. Less than a week later could Notre Dame be adding another elite defender?

Rodney Dunham of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina is set to announce his college decision on Thursday and signs point to Notre Dame being in a great spot to land the commitment.

Rodney Dunham Recruiting Profile

BREAKING: Five-Star EDGE Rodney Dunham will announce his Commitment on April 10th, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’4 230 EDGE from Charlotte, NC is ranked as the No. 7 Recruit in the ‘26 Class (per On3)

Where Should He Go?👇🏽 https://t.co/Upi6IKFVXj pic.twitter.com/C78oG994Rv

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 25, 2025

Rodney Dunham is one of the top-ranked defensive players in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Just how high? 247Sports ranks him as the 14th overall player and second best edge defender in the class currently.

Dunham checks in at 6-4, 227-pounds out and recorded five sacks and 10 tackles for loss as a high school junior (MaxPreps).

Why Notre Dame Seems to Have a Great Chance for Dunham

ND love 💚 Amazing visit!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/ODr8XjCRgu

— Rodney Dunham (@RodDunham2) March 22, 2025

Although there are no guarantees in college football recruiting, the way things have gone recently have to have Notre Dame feeling good about its chances. Dunham enjoyed his recent visit to Notre Dame (see above) and shortly after making it received multiple crystal ball predictions from national recruiting analysts to end up at Notre Dame.

At the final table with Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish will be Duke, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. If Notre Dame is able to finish the recruitment and land a commitment Thursday it will suddenly have the foundation of an extremely strong defensive line in place despite the rectruiting drought that plauged it just a few days ago.