Welcome to our individual breakdowns of the Notre Dame 2024 recruiting class. In case you missed it, you can read our overview of this Fighting Irish recruiting class, the second full group of the Marcus Freeman era.

Today, we look at a really exciting linebacker group led by maybe the best prospect in Notre Dame’s 2024 class.

As a reminder, here’s our standard grading scale for this exercise:

95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff

LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa

Eric: 95

While not quite in the Te’o/Jaylon/JOK god-tier of twitchy athletes, KVA is in the vicinity. You turn on his tape and it’s an immediate “wow” how much he jumps off the screen as a playmaker against some of the best high school schedules in the country, too. It’s easy to see why many believe he’ll jump right into the 2-deep at Notre Dame and is possibly the best recruit overall in this class for the Irish. It’s a huge get, a potential dominant middle linebacker and one would think captain down the road, too.

Tyler: 96

The best player on one of the best teams playing in one of the best leagues in the country. He has an argument for best linebacker in his class and I’d be surprised if he didn’t make his way onto the field with real minutes in 2024.

LB Bodie Kahoun

Eric: 82

Kahoun shows really nice closing speed and can run well from sideline to sideline. He’s listed as tall as 6’4″ and looks like he’ll bring plenty of size to Notre Dame. He’s a smart kid who should pick up the defense quickly, as well. I like him as a Mike linebacker where he’ll have some talent recruited ahead of him so it might take some time to see an impact.

Tyler: 85

I think Bodie is going to surprise some people and end up a multi-year starter. He’s smart, rangy, athletic, and would probably be a fit at either the Mike or Will spot. I just have a feeling he’s going to be a guy we forget about for a year or two before he starts making waves during the offseason.

LB Teddy Rezac

Eric: 85

There’s a lot of mold to work with here for Rezac, including being a high academic kid who should flourish at Notre Dame off the field. He looks every bit of 6-2 to 6-3 in height with a long frame. Is it weird that I don’t hate it if he tries to stick at safety? He looks like he’ll have to pack on quite a bit of weight to play linebacker and he’ll be behind the curve physically for a while. Still, I just think he’ll end up being something good for the Irish somewhere on this defense.

Tyler: 83

It would take a few years, and it’s far from a sure thing, but I really think Rezac could be a heck of a player at linebacker for Notre Dame. He’s spent his high school career at safety so he’s not accustomed to the position he will be playing at Notre Dame. He’ll also need to bulk up. But I could see his career following the path of someone like Jack Kiser, although Teddy is probably a better athlete.