In case you missed it, I recently reviewed my way-too-early guess at Notre Dame’s recruiting class of 2022. As is tradition, next year’s way-too-early guess is next, and I think it’s one that most of you would be very pleased with.

The Fighting Irish have gotten off to their best recruiting start since, well… Ever? They’re currently sitting at #1 nationally in 247Sports team recruiting rankings and have an average recruit grade of  .9477 (which is a top 150 level player in any recruiting cycle). All nine commits in Notre Dame’s recruiting class of 2023 currently hold composite 4-star status, with 4 of them sitting within the national top 100 (and a 5th sitting just outside the top 100 at #106).

Will Notre Dame continue to build off of this fast start, or will things start to fizzle out as we get through spring official visits? Here’s my guess:

(Commits are listed in bold.)

OFFENSE

Quarterback

Dante Moore — MI — 6’2″/195 — .9970

The #6 overall player in the country and undoubtedly the top target on Notre Dame’s board. Marcus Freeman and Tommy Rees currently have the Irish in great position with the 5-star prospect out of Detroit, even after recent visits to Miami, Michigan State, Michigan, and LSU. He’s expected to visit South Bend again the final weekend of March. I’m not saying he’s a sure thing, but it wouldn’t shock me to see him make a decision shortly after that visit.

Other names to watch: Chris Vizzina (.9773), Avery Johnson (.9352)

Running Back

Sedrick Irvin Jr — FL — 5’10″/190 — .9062

The son of the former Michigan State star and Detroit Lion committed to Notre Dame way back in September. The departure of Lance Taylor for Louisville seems to have had no effect on his commitment to the Irish. An excellent all-around back that should prove a valuable addition to the already-impressive RB room.

Jayden Limar — WA — 5’11″/190 — .9108

Limar is one of the top priorities for new RB coach Deland McCullough, and he’s made a good impact so far. Marcus Freeman is also putting in some work here, and that’s really improved Notre Dame’s chances. He has really good speed and could prove a threat in the passing game as well.

Other names to watch: Kaden Feagin (.9115), Jeremiyah Love (.8778)

Wide Receiver

Braylon James — TX — 6’2″/175 — .9652

The hiring of Chansi Stuckey has been huge for Notre Dame’s recruitment of Braylon James. The two already had a relationship from Stuckey’s time with Baylor, and his arrival in South Bend has greatly improved Notre Dame’s chances. Braylon’s a high-academic kid with some big-time offers. This would be a big-time pickup.

Rodney Gallagher — PA — 5’10″/160 — .9620

This one is a bit of a projection. Rodney reportedly holds the Irish in high regard, but he has other schools he’s shown a lot of interest in as well. The reason I’m including him in this best guess is the amount of effort the entire Notre Dame staff is putting into recruiting him. Marcus Freeman, Tommy Rees, Chansi Stuckey, and Gerad Parker are all heavily involved. Parker in particular might prove to be low-key big here, as he was Rodney’s primary recruiter for West Virginia and the two have a good relationship.

Malik Elzy — IL — 6’3″/195 — .9052

One of the more local guys on the board. Tommy Rees was doing really well here with the blue-chip Chicagoan before the arrival of Chansi Stuckey. Although I don’t believe they had a prior relationship, I’m assuming the hiring of Stuckey will help more than the previous receivers coach probably did.

Ronan Hanafin — MA — 6’3″/200 — .8850

I think this one will just come down to whether or not he gets the green light to commit to Notre Dame. At this time, the Irish are recruiting Ronan as an athlete — primarily a receiver, but he could potentially play defense depending on how he fills out.

Other names to watch: Carnell Tate (.9901), Jalen Brown (.9862), Jaden Greathouse (.9528), Rico Flores (.9300), Tyler Williams (.9110)

Tight End

Cooper Flanagan — CA — 6’5″/230 — .9238

Cooper’s added offers from Alabama and LSU since his commitment to Notre Dame back in September, but he doesn’t appear to be wavering at all. The Irish might try to add a second tight end if the right athlete comes along, but I think it’s likely they just sign Cooper.

Other names to watch: Jaxon Howard (.9641)

Offensive Line

Chase Bisontis — NJ — 6’5″/290 — .9752

I would not have included Chase in this projection if Jeff Quinn were still the offensive line coach, but it sounds like the (re)hiring of Harry Hiestand will greatly improve Notre Dame’s chances here.

Charles Jagusah — IL — 6’6″/305 — .9681

All signs are currently pointing to the Irish having a significant lead in this recruitment. Charles is one of Harry’s top targets this cycle, and he appears to be hitting the right buttons. This is one of the higher-upside offensive linemen in the country.

Sullivan Absher — NC — 6’7″/290 — .9113

This big-framed prospect took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame at the end of January and it made a big impact on his recruitment. The Irish appear to be in the driver’s seat, but they’re battling home-state North Carolina and Clemson.

Other names to watch: Samson Okunlola (.9844), Monroe Freeling (.9619), Austin Siereveld (.8910), Elijah Paige (.8739)

DEFENSE

Defensive Line

Keon Keeley — FL — 6’5″/240 — .9936

This is an absolute massive early get for Marcus Freeman, but his recruitment is far from over. Multiple teams are coming after the elite edge rusher extremely hard here, with Alabama and Florida both hosting Keon for recent unofficial visits. I have a feeling Keon sticks with the Irish, but he’ll likely keep us sweating here for a couple more months before either shutting things down or reopening his recruitment. He’s supposed to be visiting South Bend twice this spring, so hopefully the Irish can get him to shut things down afterwards.

Brenan Vernon — OH — 6’5″/275 — .9655

This was another big early get for Marcus Freeman. Most had Brenan pegged to Ohio State, but Notre Dame proved to have everything he was looking for. Of course there are other schools sniffing around, but he seems locked in with the Irish at this point in time. He bulked up from about 240 pounds to 275 over the last year, so he may end up in a MTA or Rylie Mills role of strong-side end/defensive tackle combo.

Boubacar Traore — MA — 6’4″/250 — .9374

In a previous draft I wrote about how Traore was currently committed to Boston College, but still very open to other schools and Notre Dame in particular was a school he had a great deal of interest in. On Saturday, he forced me to go back and edit this paragraph after officially backing off his commitment to the Eagles and opening up his recruitment. Notre Dame is in good position with him, but he’s likely going to take all of his officials before making another decision. If the Irish were to land him, he’d be the strong-side end to pair with Keon Keeley at Vyper.

Devan Houstan — MD — 6’4″/270 — .9153

Visited Notre Dame a few weeks back and loved it. The Irish are firmly in his top group and might even be his outright leader. He’d be the pure defensive tackle in this haul.

Other names to watch: Chandavian Bradley (.9834), Jason Moore (.9780), Tamere Robinson (.9448), Kendrick Gilbert (.9030), Colton Vasek (.8950), Kennedy McDowell (NR)

Linebacker

Drayk Bowen — IN — 6’2″/215 — .9814

Huge pickup for the Irish, both on the football field and the baseball diamond. He’s locked in and doing some heavy recruiting as a committed prospect. The Notre Dame LB room will be absolutely stacked in 2023.

Preston Zinter — MA — 6’3″/215 — .8958

Preston has some positional flexibility as he could also play tight end. Primarily recruited to play linebacker, however. He’s an athletic kid who should prove an asset whichever side of the ball he ends up at.

Other names to watch: Samuel M’Pemba (.9924), Jaiden Ausberry (.9787), Phil Piccioti (.8920)

Defensive Back

Peyton Bowen — TX — 6’0″/185 — .9742

Another huge get for the Irish at a position where they desperately need elite talent — safety. Much like Keon Keeley, the Irish have to stay on him. Oklahoma is pushing really hard here, and they do have his friend and high school teammate in the fold — one-time ND quarterback target Jackson Arnold. Like Keeley, I think he sticks, but he’s probably more of a toss-up than Keeley is. Holding onto him isn’t going to be easy.

Justyn Rhett — NV — 6’1″/195 — .9534

Justyn has ideal size and length to play boundary CB for Notre Dame. The Irish haven’t landed too many guys like this Bishop Gorman prospect in recent years.

Adon Shuler — NJ — 6’0″/190 — .9350

Adon continues to reel in offers despite being firm in his commitment to the Irish. Alabama was the latest just a few days ago. Chris O’Leary has really done a great job of landing two stud safeties early. This would be an elite pairing if Bowen sticks with his commitment.

Christian Gray — MO — 6’0″/175 — .9501

Brian Kelly hiring his former high school coach Robert Steeples as CB coach has made this one closer than it was two months ago, but the Irish are still in the best position at this point in time. While Rhett is more suited to boundary, Gray is more suited to play field. Together, they’ll make the best CB duo Notre Dame has landed since before I started following recruiting 8 years ago.

Daeh McCullough — IN — 6’2″/200 — .9293

Now this one here is a big projection on my part. Notre Dame hasn’t actually offered McCullough yet at this point. However, you probably recognize his last name — that’s because he’s the son of new RB coach Deland McCullough. Daeh has been committed to IU for quite a while now, and he went on twitter to reaffirm his commitment right after the news broke that his dad would be accepting the Notre Dame job. (Channeling my inner Stephen A. here) HOWEVER, there’s still a long time for him to think about his commitment between now and signing day, and the word is he’s likely transferring to local Penn High School for his senior season. There’s a big opportunity here for Notre Dame if they decide to play poacher.

Other names to watch: Caleb Downs (.9925), Javien Toviano (.9887), Caleb Presley (.9599), Micah Tease (.9315), Amare Snowden (.8910)

FINAL THOUGHTS

Looking back at the group, this projection seems both highly optimistic and mildly conservative.

One the one hand, a 22- man class with just one three-star signee seems impossible. On the other hand, Notre Dame just isn’t targeting very many three-stars at this early stage.

I was honestly thinking of expanding this projection to a 25-man class just to add some more three-stars, but I couldn’t even point to an additional three-star on my radar that seems likely to end up at ND right now. Just take a look at the “other names to watch” section for each position group and you’ll see very few composite scores below .8900.

Marcus Freeman is going big-game hunting, y’all. The Irish are finally legitimately trying to compete with the elites on the recruiting trail. I’m really excited to see how it shakes out.