Notre Dame makes the top group for 2026 4-star offensive lineman

The Irish are still in the hunt for one of the Midwests best offensive lineman

With the early signing period rapidly approaching, many teams like Notre Dame football are already looking to the 2026 class options.

One of those for the Irish is Michigan offensive lineman [autotag]Ben Nichols[/autotag], who trimmed his list down to nine schools recently. The 6-foot, 5-inch and 315-pounders remaining teams are a who’s who of college football which includes Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee, Penn State, the Irish, and others.

It will be a highly competitive recruiting battle between his final nine, as the nation’s No. 234 overall recruit according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings has a difficult decision ahead of him.

Nichols hasn’t taken many visits this fall, but one of them was to South Bend, even though he was on hand for the loss to Northern Illinois. Hopefully the play of the Notre Dame offensive line has gotten his attention, as they were named as a Joe Moore Award semifinalist on Tuesday morning.

Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, second from right, talks to offensive lineman Aamil Wagner (59) during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in South Bend.

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