Notre Dame got the metaphorical fireworks going for Independence Day weekend when high four star receiver Kaydon Finley announced his commitment to the Irish. The 6’2″, 195-pound Texan becomes the third receiver in Notre Dame’s 2026 class and the third NFL legacy receiver in the last two cycles; his father Jermichael can trade notes with Plaxico Burress (Elijah) and Jerome Bettis (Jerome Jr.) on how their sons are adjusting to the start of their college careers. School legacy is another angle worth highlighting here. Jerome Sr. is of course one of the most accomplished players to ever wear the Blue and Gold, and in addition to Plaxico’s alma mater Michigan State not being as strong a program right now Elijah went to high school in New Jersey, not Michigan. So legacy was a big assist for the one and perhaps not much of an obstacle for the other. For Finley though it was a different story; Kaydon is a prep star in not just his but also his father’s home state, Jermichael is a Texas alum, and the Longhorns posted a 2024 season that was just half a step behind Notre Dame’s.
That is a lot for a recruiter to overcome. Give Marcus Freeman and, yes, Mike Brown their flowers on this one. However much of a “Notre Dame kid” Finley might be they still had to convince him to look past all of that to see it for himself and to make him and his Super Bowl-champion dad comfortable that South Bend was a good home for the next few years. Finley has posted enormous production at the second-highest level of Texas football – in a 14 game junior season that ended in the state quarterfinals, he had 81 receptions for 1,432 yards (17.7 per) and 21 TDs. He had a 42/703/7 line as a sophomore and 25/417/6 as a freshman, with Aledo winning the state title both seasons. Much like we noted with Jaden Greathouse back when he committed, if you put up those kinds of numbers in Texas, there’s a pretty good chance you can play at the next level.
The lead photo, by the way, shows from left to right 2026 LB commit Thomas Davis Jr. and his father, Panthers legend Thomas Sr., 2026 WR offer Devin Fitzgerald and his father, certain Hall of Famer Larry, and Kaydon and Jermichael. Devin is announcing tomorrow. Just saying.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9499 rating), #110 overall, #14 WR, #15 in TX
On3 Consensus — 4 star (92.53 rating), #124 overall, #18 WR, #21 in TX
The 247 Composite and On3 Consensus both combine 247, On3, Rivals, and ESPN rankings.
247Sports — 4 star (91 rating), #216 overall, #33 WR, #32 in TX
On3 — 4 star (91 rating), #120 overall, #14 WR, #17 in TX
Rivals — 4 star (5.9 rating), #93 overall, #13 WR, #13 in TX
ESPN — 4 star (82 rating), #114 overall, #18 WR, #13 in TX
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (92 rating)
Note: Jamie does the recruit evaluations for ISD, and we trust his evals as much as anyone’s; while the 247 Composite and the On3 Consensus don’t factor in ISD evals, we put a lot of weight on them ourselves. ISD only ranks the top 50 prospects in each class, and hasn’t ranked 2026 yet. Based on past classes a 95 rating would be the bottom end of their top 50.
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame and Texas, Finley holds ovvers from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Washington, among many others.
Highlights
Finley showcases excellent short area quickness and awareness/vision once he has the ball – I think he can be a YAC monster at the next level. I think his long speed is “only” good, sort of like Greathouse, although I think he looks faster than Greathouse did at this same stage. He needs to work on his routes, which are not quite sharp enough. That’s about the only thing I can pick out to complain about even a little.
Oh, and he is a finisher as a blocker. My goodness.
Impact
I couldn’t even guess how much Finley might be needed in 2026, due to so much of that depending on how the class ahead of him develops. I do think he’s very talented and has all the tools to push for a starting job at some point, though. Not to belabor the point, but I could see his career arc being a similar one to Greathouse’s – cup of coffee as a freshman, rotation as a sophomore, starter as a junior.
Welcome to the Irish family, Kaydon!
Could be another busy weekend for you.
Texas and Georgia may have been late pushes for Finley and Davis, but both did push (and Texas pushed hard) and got officials and we still landed/kept them. Encouraging that our NIL is on par and we’re finally letting Freeman’s crootin chops be the deciding factor.
Also very cool that we are landing a lot of NFL legacies. At least in basketball they are known to outperform their draft ranking. Come on down baby Witten!