Recruiting for the 2022 class is about to take a turn, with the dead period being lifted after the conclusion of this month, expect a whole lot more action. For Notre Dame, so far it’s been a great start on the recruiting trail, with 13 commits and a top 4 ranking according to the 247Sports composite.
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With the early success of the class, The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman (subscription required) was asked in his mailbag if the Irish could keep their high ranking and finish inside the top 5. Well, Wasserman wasn’t very high on that projection.
Right now, Notre Dame has a top-five class, yes, but some of that is due to the fact that the Irish already have 13 commitments. The way you can see if a particular class is actually built to finish in the top five is by counting how many top-100 players it has. Right now, Notre Dame’s class doesn’t have a single one.
It’s easy to discount the Irish as this moment if you look at it the way Wasserman has, but there are certainly some big fish still out there to be caught. Virginia offensive tackle Zach Rice, a top-10 player, is highly considering the Irish. South Carolina linebacker Jaylen Sneed, California linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka, and instate defensive tackle Caden Curry are just a few names that seen as top-100 players who could end up in the Irish’s class.
Don’t forget about the always underrated prospects that Brian Kelly seems to find or ones that could have big senior years and make a recruiting ranking leap.
In all reality, although it would be nice to see the Irish finish with a top-5 class, it really doesn’t matter. Was does is the development of the classes and the results on the field. Kelly has shown over the last three years, that Notre Dame is among the best schools in the country at racking up wins and making it to the playoff field.