You may have noticed we didn’t complete positional recruiting grades for Notre Dame’s 2026 class and there haven’t been articles breaking down our scouting reports of the newest Irish players. Let me explain! The 2026 recruiting class signed in early December and 25 out of the 30 commits were enrolled on campus in January to participate in spring practice.
The recruiting and college football calendar is irrecoverably changed. By the time mid-December rolls around, the world is more focused on the transfer market and with good reason. I won’t say high school recruiting feels as irrelevant as ever, however, it’s become much more difficult to cover it with any great detail like the good old days when recruits signed in February and didn’t practice until August.
We’re months away from summer workouts (I’m old enough to remember when official visits happened in the summer, mere weeks before enrolling for fall camp!) and already we know so much about the 2026 Notre Dame freshmen and how they’re fitting in and developing within the program.
So, this review is going to be different with some hindsight involved and a little less projection.
Notre Dame 2026 Recruiting Geography
I hand drew this map.
What immediately jumps out about the 2026 class? No one recruited out of California sticks out big time–including no one in the Pacific Time Zone (although punter Jasper Scaife comes from the Australian Western Standard Time Zone). The 3-star lineman Jackson Hill just recently became the first Californian for the 2027 class and before that Madden Faraimo (2025) plus KVA/Logan Saldate (2024) are the most recent Irish signees from the Golden State.
Notre Dame continues to hit Charlotte/North Carolina and the Dallas Metroplex/Texas areas really hard while Georgia remains steadily on the menu. For a while, there seemed to be some shyness about Florida but that pipeline seems to be open again.
Just over a third of the class comes from the upper Midwest/Great Lakes/Northeast corridor where Notre Dame has always been traditionally swinging its influence around high schools.
Pennsylvania has been a frustrating state in modern times–not as much talent as the good old days and often not a place Notre Dame pulls elite talent from in recent cycles. 2026 was different with 2 of the top players in the class coming from the Keystone State, and from the same high school to boot.
No Indiana players also sticks out.
Notre Dame 247 Sports Recruiting Class Points & Player Average – Last 10 Cycles
I was inspired by the SportsBall Instagram account (must follow for anyone).
Are we seeing a trend?
The end of the 85-man scholarship limit and into the 105 roster cap era is definitely helping the rise of the total class points that eventually blossomed for the first time in the 2026 cycle. Brian Kelly would probably quibble that he’d be doing a better job recruiting if he were still at Notre Dame today and able to take more players in the NIL era. But he left.
Freeman and recruiting have been an excellent relationship for ND.
The trend of a higher player average is pretty nice to see in recent years. That last Brian Kelly class in 2021 was a regression, even though it was a fairly large 27-man haul. Blake Fisher, Joe Alt, Lorenzo Styles, Gabriel Rubio, Audric Estime, Mitchell Evans, and Pat Coogan all got drafted from that class (although Styles & Coogan after transferring) but it wasn’t a real talent-heavy class for the Irish.
It’s been 5 straight cycles of very high player averages in recruiting which has resulted in a fully stocked Notre Dame roster capable of winning a National Championship–and not in the Return to Glory™ underdog sort of backhanded way the media can sometimes use.
2026 Irish Recruits Depth Chart
The little red crosses didn’t show up that well for injured players.
We don’t have player numbers for the 5 freshmen who haven’t enrolled yet. The offense player numbers available right now are 9, 23-25, 27-30, 32, 34, 38-41, 43-45, 47-49, 51, 53, 59, 62-63, 67, 69, 72-73, 79-83, and 90-99.
Drescher – He wore 16 in high school, I’ll say he picks 28.
Nichols – I’ll guess he picks 72.
Patrick – Let’s say he’ll pick 79.
Premer – He wore 14 in high school and would need to take that from Micah Gilbert in that case. Something about a 5-star tight end picking 25 stirs something inside of me, though. Wearing 44 could be pretty cool, and close-ish to 14 in spirit.
Jarrard – The quarterback aura-friendly 9 is sitting right there to wear. However, Jarrard has made a big deal about wearing #2 in high school to honor his cousin who died in a house fire a few years ago. He’d need to grab that number off running back Nolan James, though.
I’m pretty sure we had at least a couple early enrolled freshmen last year switch numbers when they reported for fall camp. This is a big class, we might see 3 or 4 freshmen switch heading into 2026.
The Diamond in the Rough – Nick Reddish
News flash, many consider this 2026 class to be among the best this century at Notre Dame. That means there aren’t a ton of under the radar recruits but one that could apply is Nick Reddish. He was only a 3-star in the Composite and one of the lowest ranked players in this Irish class. He held some nice offers (Indiana, Wisconsin, Louisville, Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss) although this wasn’t a case of Notre Dame beating a bunch of blue bloods to sign him. However, that Indiana offer looks better than ever now, doesn’t it?
Do we have a future starter on our hands in Reddish? The early returns were really positive as he was inserted into the nickel competition and acquitted himself nicely. However, shoulder surgery towards the end of spring clouds his future in 2026.
The Slightly Disappointed Early Enrollee – Kaydon Finley
Calm down, this isn’t the end of the world. Still, I thought out of the freshmen class Finley was poised to flourish immediately this spring. He came from a big Texas school, was polished coming out of the prep level, and was by far the highest rated recruit at this position for the Irish. Was there really any great or bad news for Finley this spring? No, not really. Still, a couple of other classmates in Devin Fitzgerald and Bubba Frazier did have more impressive spring practices.
The Don’t Stop Drinking Milkshakes Award – Brayden Robinson
One of the other freshmen wideouts Brayden Robinson suffered an ACL injury late in his high school career and didn’t participate this spring. By the time you’re reading this he may be already close to full health. Missing practice may not have been the worst thing for his career because when Notre Dame uploaded the first spring roster this guy was in need of some bulk!
It looks like he borrowed his dad’s dress shirt.
When I checked back at the roster this month, there’s been an update! Robinson was up 12 whole pounds. It may not seem like much but for someone who is on a smaller frame that type of extra weight can really have a transformative feeling. I’m sure the S&C staff has him wolfing down milkshakes, protein bars, spaghetti, and pancakes on a regular basis.
Recruited as Him, is Likely Him – Rodney Dunham
Notre Dame brought in former no. 2 overall Composite recruit Keon Keeley this off-season from Alabama but another 5-star and the no. 7 overall recruit for 2026 in Rodney Dunham stole much more of the spotlight at the same position during the spring. While that may say more about Keeley being conspicuously absent from many positive reports there’s no denying that Dunham exhibited a combination of size and speed that was difficult to ignore.
I can’t make much of a prediction yet on playing time for 2026, although things are on track for him to be a rotational player right away and someone capable of 20 snaps per game early in his career. So, maybe that is a prediction.
The Non-EE Stud – Teddy Jarrard
The easy answer is tight end Ian Premer, the 5-star tight end and no. 1 player at his position in the country. He’ll be walking into a situation where playing time isn’t going to be very easy, although if he’s a budding star he could zoom up the depth chart. Nothing seems that locked down before fall camp.
Reclassifying Jarrard was a bold move, but these are bold times.
In contrast, I don’t see Teddy Jarrard taking second-team reps all by himself in mid-August and clearly unseating CJ Carr is out of the question. Still, you have to wonder why Notre Dame made such a push for Jarrard to reclassify, particularly as Noah Grubbs (see below) finished strong in his high school career and came to South Bend with plenty of confidence. The Irish coaching staff must see Jarrard as a real dog for the future and this is basically a bet on that scouting.
Jarrard was considered a consensus top 5 quarterback in the 2027 class before reclassifying. As a 2026 recruit, he was a modest 4-star recruit. Athletically, arm-talent, and wow-factor wise Jarrard doesn’t jump off the screen (especially not in a way Champ Monds, Notre Dame’s even younger, also reclassifying 2027 commit, looks on the field) but if you look closely his game in terms of accuracy, touch, maturity, and game-management does resemble a certain no. 13 starting quarterback for the Irish.
The Worst Off-Season Injury – Javian Osborne
For sure, Osborne will need some patience moving forward. He has to be frustrated to be sidelined with an injury (wrist) that he maybe could’ve played through if it was the season all while his classmate Jonaz Walton picked up a ton of experience in the spring. From a personal standpoint, Osborne is my pick.
From a team perspective, losing Khary Adams (shoulder) was a blow in the sense of this secondary could’ve been building an even more insane stacked roster. Even Reddish and O’Brien could go here but at least they practiced for most of the spring (Reddish), whereas O’Brien was hurt in the Blue-Gold Game.
A Long Term Project – Tiki Hola
I’ll be honest, this is largely a vibe-based answer. Hola was one of the more underappreciated recruits in this class and hasn’t been talked about a whole lot. Even more so, given the other options signed along the defensive line. As a prospect, I thought he was fine but wouldn’t have penciled him in as a future starter.
Maybe the shirt isn’t doing him any favors.
I’m not sure the athletic traits are there for a great career, and now the knee injury has slowed his progress. He was featured in one of the off-season videos recently (again this is vibes based!) and I thought his body looked like he needed some work. He’s big (listed at 6’3″ and 310 pounds) and I’ll be curious to see how well he moves when he comes back healthy.
Waiting for More Info – The Entire Offensive Line
I just don’t know what to think about this offensive line class. The depth up front is as insane as I’ve ever seen it at Notre Dame, at least in terms of rostered players, and then we have 6(!!) recruits coming in and trying to find a role. Four of them enrolled early, one sat out with injury, and I’m not sure there was a single thing mentioned of concrete value from any of these guys following the spring.
I wouldn’t sleep on this class, either. Four of the players were top 15 recruits for Notre Dame in this class and in many other years would’ve been given a much larger spotlight. However, there’s a long way to go for playing time and the 2027 class at this position coming in behind them is looking like it could be one of the best for the Irish in 30+ years.
5 Players Re-Ranked Higher
RB Jonaz Walton 0.9472
WR Devin Fitzgerald 0.9085
WR Bubba Frazier 0.9078
QB Noah Grubbs 0.8931
CB Nick Reddish 0.8800
I was going to go crazy and re-rank the entire class here but that would mean unfairly dropping down a lot of guys who don’t deserve that ignominy when we haven’t played a full season yet. Instead, I just wanted to highlight a few guys who I would say would be ranked higher if the services could have a re-do heading into the summer.
I saw a lot of hype surrounding Walton this spring and zooming out he only averaged 3 yards per carry in the spring game and I’m not sure he’s flashed an unbelievable amount of talent to date. However, he was a top 10 player in this class for the Irish and maybe deserves just a small bump after acquitting himself really well with a ton of reps in the spring.
Bubba.
Devin Fitzgerald and Bubba Frazier were right next to each other as the 18th and 19th best recruits for Notre Dame in this 2026 class, according to the Composite. Both were among the most talked about freshmen coming out of the spring, got a ton of work, and look like they could be future starters. There’s no doubt they should be mid-level 4-star recruits with hindsight.
Despite leading Lake Mary to the 7A state title and doing so much with so little support, Grubbs just never rose through the player rankings. He’ll be a fascinating player to watch at Notre Dame. Grubbs needs to add weight and if he packs on a solid 10 pounds this summer the arrow will be pointing up. He showed enough to me that a potential starter down the road is certainly possible and his progress vis-a-vis Jarrard will be a big part of how we perceive this class a whole. As the 24th best recruit for Notre Dame in this class, clearly Grubbs deserved a higher ranking.
Before his injury, Nick Reddish was having a fantastic spring. We don’t really need to say much more, do we? He was the 27th (out of 30!) best prospect in the class according to the Composite and the Fighting Irish hit a homerun grabbing him out of the friendly confines of Charlotte, North Carolina.
