Notre Dame Recruiting Mailbag - February 28 Edition

We are just a few weeks from spring practice officially beginning! With that, the unofficial visits are about to ramp up as well. Talented players from all over the country will be heading out to their prospective schools.

You should expect Notre Dame to be a very busy place during the process.

Let’s answer some questions that Notre Dame fans and faithful are all wondering about. Of course, the questions come from Irish Breakdown subscribers on the message board.

syro-malabarndfan: Besides Christian Gray and Justyn Rhett, what is the cornerback board looking like?

Notre Dame has several talented cornerbacks on the board. Getting off to such a great start with Rhett is substantial and allows for the Irish to continue to shoot for some of the top talents on the board.

The staff is extremely high on Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington two-way star Micah Tease. Tease's positional outlook is all over the board. Depending on the prospective program, some see him as a cornerback, wide receiver or even at safety. Tease is a smooth and explosive athlete who has playmaking skills on both sides of the ball. He has the prototype look of a field corner with plus speed and ball skills.

The staff is also starting to build a connection with Coppell (Texas) High School defensive back Braxton Myers, who 247Sports ranks as the No. 106 overall player in the country. Myers is also a player that has some position flexibility, potentially working either at cornerback or safety down the road. Notre Dame likes him at cornerback currently. He brings the type of size to the position that Coach Freeman and staff has valued heavily in the past. There are some comparisons between Myers and current Notre Dame star cornerback Cam Hart.

Notre Dame also has their eyes set on a couple consensus Top 100 recruits out of the state of Texas in Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff cornerback Malik Muhammad and Arlington (Texas) Martin five-star corner Javien Toviano. Notre Dame is involved with both but getting each on campus this spring or summer is paramount. Until then, both remain a little bit of a pipe dream.

dj: The sheer number of elite ‘23 recruits ND has a legitimate chance to get is unprecedented in South Bend. What is the realistic number of Top 100 recruits Notre Dame might sign?

Well let’s start with the recruits that are already committed. Keon Keeley, Drayk Bowen, Brenan Vernon, Peyton Bowen, Justyn Rhett and Cooper Flanagan are all considered Top 100 recruits by at least one recruiting service. That is six of the nine current commits.

At quarterback, Dante Moore and Christopher Vizzina are the top targets for the Irish, and both sit as Top 100 players, with Moore ranking as a five-star recruit. You have to feel pretty good about Notre Dame landing one of them ultimately. That's seven.

There is a lot of skepticism about wide receiver but Notre Dame is in a very good spot for three top pass catchers that fit that billing: Carnell Tate, Rodney Gallagher and Braylon James. Let’s be realistic and say they only land two out of three. That would be nine.

Offensive line recruiting is also in a good spot. Notre Dame is in a very good position for both Monroe Freeling and Charles Jagusah. They are also making a huge push for Samson Okunlola. The latter obviously needs a ton of work so let’s again say two out of three. That makes 11.

Jason Moore is the guy on the defensive line. Notre Dame is again right near the top. That would be 12 if they were able to land the DeMatha Catholic product.

That leaves Samuel M’Pemba at linebacker as the last “feel good about it” type of recruit. The Irish will be in on a few quality secondary players but those remain a long shot currently. So for now, we will say 13 Top 100 players ... give or take one.

It is poised to be a huge year for Notre Dame in the recruiting trail.

bplence1189: What players are currently working on scheduling spring visits that you know of?

Great question! We have an updated visitors list on the Irish Breakdown premium message board, which you can find HERE.

Notre Dame is also working to set up visits with many of their top prospects. Dante Moore, Carnell Tate, Charles Jagusah, Monroe Freeling, Samson Okunlola, Jason Moore and Rodney Gallagher are the top names that Notre Dame is working to get on campus in the near future.

(Also, if you are reading this and aren’t signed up for the message board, I am not sure what you are doing.)

martyg: Why has Notre Dame seemed to slow play Ryan Yaites? Can you evaluate him? I think he’s a top 80 ranked player and having a teammate of Peyton Bowen would be a plus.

The staff liked Yaites as a prospect, but right now with Bowen, Shuler and Rhett in the class the staff is focusing on prospects they like more.

I like the versatility he brings to the field. Teams were recruiting him at cornerback and safety, which speaks to how multiple he could be on the back end. He is an extremely smooth athlete who can cover a fair amount of ground. Yaites is a good player.

martyg: Is the staff pushing hard for the WR-LB-SS kid from Massachusetts? I thought he might commit by now if they were?

That would be Cambridge (Mass.) Buckingham Browne & Nichols athlete Ronan Hanafin. Yes, the staff is still high on him. They are in a great place. Ronan is just doing his due diligence making a big decision.

His offer list has also jumped in since his visit to Notre Dame. Ohio State and Miami (Fla.) are two schools that have offered since that visit to South Bend.

martyg: Has Notre Dame fallen behind with the WR from Gulliver Prep? Any way they get back in? Why not take a shot at an elite tight end? We have a new coach? See what he can do.

It is going to be tough landing Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Prep wide receiver Jalen Brown. If Notre Dame is able to land Moore then the chances increase exponentially but even then, it may be difficult to get him out of Florida. Getting Brown on campus would be a huge step if they expect to make a push.

Notre Dame was moving in the right direction, but Miami has really made a strong push for him in recent weeks and the Irish have faded.

I believe Notre Dame would be wise to keep recruiting Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle tight end Duce Robinson. The current number of tight ends on the roster might have an attributing factor to it, but also the staff really likes Flanagan. It appears they would be very okay with just taking one tight end during the cycle.

martyg: Is Jason Moore status quo? Where does Notre Dame rank at present?

Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic defensive lineman Jason Moore is a consensus Top 100 recruit and one of the more talented players in the country. You can’t expect an extremely early declaration. usually. As it currently stands, I believe that they are right near the top for Moore. I would also expect him to get on campus sometime this spring/summer.

jameslryan: Are you concerned about the small number of commitments on the offensive side of the ball (2) as compared to the defensive side (7)? If not, when is it time to get concerned?

I am not concerned, no. There are a variety of reasons for this trend. Coaching changes are the big ones. Notre Dame went into the off-season knowing that they would have to bring in a new offensive line and wide receiver coach. Then, former tight end coach John McNulty and running backs coach Lance Taylor each accepted offensive coordinator jobs at Boston College and Louisville respectively.

That is massive turnover on the side of the football. Throw in the fact that head coach Marcus Freeman obviously has his roots on the defensive side of the ball and the lopsided start makes perfect sense. Add in the fact that wide receivers are traditionally one of the longer recruiting processes and it should be no surprise that they are where they are.

Also consider that Notre Dame's seven commitments on defense is abnormally high compared to most programs. Alabama only has two total commitments, and none of them are on offense. Clemson only has one total commit at this time. Ohio State has three offensive commits and only five total.

That being said, I expect things to change drastically over the next few weeks. If they get into the summer with low numbers then it might be time to feel a little uneasy. With the recent chatter, however, I don’t expect that to be the case.

irish65: Any more news about Okunlola, Freeling, Jagusah and Absher recruitment? According to the ranking services ND trails with all except Jagusah.

For Rock Island (Ill.) Alleman offensive lineman Charles Jagusah, you have to like where Notre Dame is currently. I’d comfortably say that Notre Dame leads for him. I also feel that Notre Dame is right there with Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside Collegiate Academy standout Monroe Freeling. If they aren't the leader then they are either the co-leader or sitting in a very close second. Notre Dame is in a great position for the talented offensive lineman.

Check out the recruiting update we posted yesterday on Freeling. You can read that HERE.

I also believe that the Irish are right near the top with Belmont (N.C.) South Point star Sullivan Absher. I wouldn’t call them the leader but they are absolutely in the top group. He will be a little more difficult to get out of the Carolinas compared to a Freeling, but he is very receptive to Notre Dame and the interest is definitely there.

Consider that Absher visited Notre Dame in January and has already scheduled a return visit for the Blue-Gold Game. You don't do that if you aren't serious about the Irish program.

As for Brockton (Mass.) Thayer Academy star Samson Okunlola, I’m not sure I would qualify anyone as a “leader”. There are so many schools in contention that navigation of this recruitment is going to be telling over the next couple of months.

Okunlola also does not appear close to being in decision making mode, so the focus right now is just on continuing to build the relationship and trying to get him on campus.

tony_stangel: Keon Keely. Where does he stand after all his visits? Still a solid lock? Or should we be worried?

Keeley is set to return to Notre Dame for the Blue and Gold Game. The recruiting world can be incredibly volatile but I still feel as confident that Notre Dame will hold onto the talented defender more than ever.

He is going to continue to take visits but he is firmly Irish. There shouldn’t be any worry currently that that will change. If you are going to recruit at this high

of level, the recruiting doesn’t stop after a verbal. Notre Dame will have to be willing to fight until the ink dries in a few months.

irishmojo25: Who is the next offensive player to commit? With the new coaches on board now and fully into recruiting have there been any new names pop up in 2023?

I’d guess an offensive lineman, probably Jagusah. I’d guess we won’t see the wide receiver board start to come together until after the quarterback recruiting makes a move.

With a running back and tight end recruit already on the board, that makes offensive line the most reasonable expectation without a commitment currently. Coach Harry Hiestand is busy identifying and making connections with the offensive line on the board, and continuing to add.

Notre Dame is in a great place with Jagusah so he seems like a reasonable guess.

Yes, boards have begun to be reshaped and added to since new coaching hires came on board. We just saw recent movement on the offensive line board with Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle standout Elijah Paige.

Since Al Washington has come as the new defensive line coach, we have seen multiple new defensive line offers get put on the board. As the coaches get deeper into the evaluation process, you should expect more of the same.

irishfam: Your prediction on how many 2023 recruits that are not on the radar now, but have great seasons this fall, ultimately land at Notre Dame?

This is almost possible to predict without a crystal ball. However, I will say that you see it every single year.

In the 2021 cycle, Notre Dame was able to flip running back Audric Estime from Michigan State late in the process. They also got a commitment from defensive back Khari Gee relatively out of thin air.

Despite being a heralded recruit, Notre Dame didn’t get into the conversation for linebacker Jaylen Sneed in the 2022 cycle until after the new year, the same is true of Niuafe Tuihalamaka, Jaden Mickey and Benjamin Morrison.

There’s no telling who it will be but history tells us that there are bound to be a case or two every year of late interest leading to commitments - especially in what looks like a very large class in 2023.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

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

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board

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