Notre Dame 2023 Hot Board: Latest With Defensive Line Recruiting

Notre Dame has produced some strong defensive lines in recent seasons and the recruiting, while inconsistent, has added a number of talented players. First-year position coach Al Washington is looking to take things to another level up front, and the Irish are certainly off to a great start.

Notre Dame needs four defensive linemen in this class, but there is no doubt if the right players want to jump on the board the staff would jump at the chance to take five prospects.

Notre Dame is clearly targeting elite length and size up front, and it wants disruptive players. Right now the board is small and the staff is focusing on closing on its top targets. So let's take a look at where things stand with Notre Dame's defensive line recruiting.

(Note: See below for explanation on Hot, Warm, Cool)

Keeley was the first player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2023 class, pledging to the Irish back in June of 2021. Since then Keeley has become a five-star recruit and one of the most coveted defensive players in the country. The Tampa native has consistently said he's solid to Notre Dame, but obviously Irish fans have been nervous due to the fact Keeley took visits to Alabama, Florida (three, in fact) and Ohio State.

Coming out of each visit the story was always the same, sources close to those programs never felt like those programs were able to overcome Notre Dame's standing with Keeley.

The five-star end hasn't come out and said he's considering leaving the class, so I'm not sure he'll feel the need to make an announcement that he's locked into the class. Our sources have indicated that in each of his last two visits Keeley has made it clear to the staff and other players in the class that he is all Notre Dame, which is what he's said from the beginning and is why Irish Breakdown has always felt good about him ending up in the class.

Vernon committed to Notre Dame the day after Keeley. Since that time Vernon has remained as solid as can be with the Irish. He has made a number of return trips back to campus, including coming back this weekend for the Blue-Gold Game.

Vernon is all Notre Dame.

This has been an interesting recruitment. Notre Dame was in good position early in the process, but things started to change after Mike Elston departed for Michigan. That was when the Wolverines began to emerge as his leader due to the presence of Elston and the fact Houstan's older brother Caleb was a member of the Michigan basketball team.

Since that time the Irish staff has made a hard, hard charge with Houstan. Washington has obviously played a crucial role, and as he's gotten more comfortable at Notre Dame his recruiting prowess has started to shine. He's done a great job reminding Houstan why he liked Notre Dame so much in the first place while also building his own personal connection with Houstan.

Head coach Marcus Freeman and Director of Recruiting Chad Bowden have also put in a lot of work with Houstan and have also played important roles. Notre Dame now sits as the team to beat for Houstan, and it would seem that his recruitment is coming to a close in the near future.

Houstan earned a 4.0-star grade and a Top 150 player ranking on the Irish Breakdown board.

Notre Dame's standing with Moore has been a bit more up and down. There is no question that Moore has been a significant priority for the Irish staff for some time. Washington, Freeman and Bowden have all made it very clear to Moore how much he is coveted.

For awhile it seemed that Notre Dame was the team to beat for Moore, but the inability to get him back on campus in April is problematic. Moore's brother Justin, a basketball player for Villanova, took part in the NCAA Tournament with the Wildcats before tearing his Achilles in the Sweet 16. The combination of playing on the weekends during the tournament and then his surgery and recovery made it hard for Moore and his mother to make the trip out to South Bend.

Until Moore gets back on campus again it's hard to feel as good about where things stand as I did in past weeks. Make no mistake, Notre Dame is still very much a player in this recruitment, but he was able to make it out to Ohio State in April and the Buckeyes are a legit threat along with Penn State and possibly Maryland.

Moore earned a 4.5-star grade and a Top 50 player ranking on the Irish Breakdown board.

Traore committed to Boston College back in August of 2020 but decommitted on March 12. From that moment Notre Dame was considered a strong contender for this talented defensive lineman.

Traore tried to get on campus in early April but it didn't work out. He is expected to arrive today (April 26) for his first visit to South Bend, and it's a very important trip for both Traore and Notre Dame.

Traore is a hard player to connect with, and at this point we don't really know where things stand with him. Traore has never been to Notre Dame's campus, so today's visit should tell us a great deal more about his interest in the Irish and whether or not Notre Dame can wrap things up and add him to the class. If things go well the Irish could be very, very hard to beat.

Traore earned a 4.0-star grade and a Top 100 player ranking on the Irish Breakdown board.

HOT BOARD KEY

Hot means things are really, really going well on both sides of the recruitment.

Warm means there is legit interest from both but not in the committing discussion yet.

Cool means one or both sides aren't high on the other or the prospect is a long way away from making a decision.

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Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense

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