Notre Dame is back up to one running back in the 2023 class thanks to the addition of four-star prospect Jayden Limar today. The 5’11”, 190-pound Washingtonian joined the class less than a week after Sedrick Irvin Jr. backed off his September pledge to the Irish, presumably as the new staff made it clear they were going to recruit other prospects over him. Limar is one of those prospects; a look at his junior highlights makes it easy to see why. He visited Notre Dame last fall for a game and came back this spring, with, you know, a few minor changes having taken place, during the Blue-Gold weekend. At that point the Irish apparently took a commanding lead for his services and, true to form in the Marcus Freeman era, never let up.

Also, for those of you who care about such things, Limar is the tenth Irish commitment in this cycle who holds a Michigan offer. One single solitary Michigan commit holds a Notre Dame offer – Florida linebacker Raylen Wilson, who has official visits to Georgia and Florida scheduled over the coming weeks. I present this information without further commentary.

(Psst… If you don’t care about making Michigan look bad, are you really in the right place?)

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9062 rating), #254 overall, #15 RB, #4 in WA

On3 Consensus — 4 star (89.92 rating), #265 overall, #16 RB, #4 in WA

The 247 Composite is based on a proprietary algorithm that combines the 247, Rivals, and ESPN rankings. The On3 Consensus is similar, but also includes On3’s own rankings.

247Sports — 4 star (90 rating), #246 overall, #11 RB, #4 in WA

Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), #241 overall, #12 RB, #3 in WA

ESPN — #256 overall, #17 RB, #4 in WA

On3 — 3 star (89 rating), NR overall, #29 RB, #5 in WA

Friend of the Stripes Jamie Uyeyama does the recruit evaluations for ISD, and we trust his evals as much as anyone’s. So while the 247 Composite and the On3 Consensus don’t factor in ISD evals, we put a lot of weight on them ourselves.

Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (90 rating)

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame, Limar holds offers from Arizona State, Miami, Michigan, Oregon, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, and Washington, among several others.

Highlights

Limar is surprisingly hard to bring down for a kid who doesn’t profile as a power back. I felt like Vizzini watching this – “He didn’t go down? Inconceivable!” Seriously, he’s an absolute nightmare to tackle; play after play, into the boundary, to the field, up the middle, he’s stepping out of low tackles and driving through high tackles and stealing guys’ souls (check the 0:38 mark) and just generally being a pain in the butt to get to the ground. He’s an outstanding receiver, whether in traffic on that screen play they ran over and over (hey, if you’re not going to stop it…) or on wheel routes where he knows he’s going to take a hit from the safety. Doesn’t matter, it’s his ball. He shows plus wiggle in tight spaces, somewhat reminiscent of Lee Becton – you can’t explain how you missed, because he was there, and you were there too, and then he wasn’t there anymore. He’s does a good job setting up blocks and seeing cutbacks, and is decisive when he sees what he likes. I think his long speed is okay, maybe something he can improve, but that’s the only real complaint I have. He looks like a pretty complete back.

Impact

The Irish have five backs on the roster right now in junior Chris Tyree, sophomores Logan Diggs and Audric Estime, and freshmen JD Price and Gi’Bran Payne. Tyree will almost certainly be gone after the upcoming season, but beyond that there’s very little certainty about who will have what role in the offense. Diggs and Estime both flashed in live action as freshmen and Price flashed in spring practice. Payne is a guy that Deland McCullough really likes, signing him at Indiana and then taking him as a transfer at Notre Dame. There are indications that the staff would like take at least one more back in this class, most likely speedster Jeremiyah Love, and if lightning strikes on five-star Richard Young’s official visit next month they would gladly take three backs. That’s a lot of backs, and it’s hard to see all of them staying on campus, just as it’s hard to know how any individual guy fits into the picture.

All that said, Limar’s completeness gives him a very interesting type of potential. I think he’ll have a chance to make his mark on the field, even if it might not happen right away. He strikes me as a guy who can be a reliable, high-volume contributor on any team.

Welcome to the Irish family, Jayden!