State of the Recruiting Class - 2024

[PutuporShutup]

Clemson won a national title with recruiting classes ranked 11-16.
They had 3 total 5 Stars on their roster out of the four recruiting classes. One didn’t play, one was a backup.
But they had a 5 Star QB Watson.
Interestingly enough their second best player was a walkon WR.
And they blew out OSU 31-0 and then beat Bama for the title.
They also lost to below .500 Pitt & beat FCS Troy by 6 on a last minute score.

That team was probably an 8-4 team without Watson.

This.... As many have said. You need insane talent everywhere to win the title if you don't have one of the best college QBs.

We have one of the best college QBs (not the best) this year for one year. We will have the best QB on the field for 11 of 12 games. That hasn't been the case in a long long time.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I did check, and to no surprise, you are once again, incorrect.

View attachment 3053774

View attachment 3053775
ESPN had Watson as a 4-star, albeit their standards for 5-star status are quite stringent.

Watson was ranked higher on ESPN.

Carr is currently ranked higher than Watson per 247 and Rivals.

My point stands as originally stated.

QB 1 vs QB 4..... that is the critical stat when you are talking about numbers that are close.

 

[PutuporShutup]

On3 didn’t exist when all the QBs we are talking about were ranked.
If you remove On3, Carr is a top 25 player, 5 Star.
You have to use your brain & realize Charles Power is the only reason Carr isn’t a 5 Star. It’s personal with him & Carr.
193rd is just ridiculous and even you know it.

Remember Kyle Hamilton?
You know he was not a 5 Star composite either? He was 165th & the 10th Safety on a site, destroying his ranking too.

Yeah, and we didn't win a title.

There's 2 ways to win a title, ND hasn't done either until maybe this year. Have the best talent all over the field, or really good talent and the best QB.

 

[Lberry]

Matt Freeman recruiting update on ISD. Short of it, not looking good for KVA and Scott's decision to announce next month probably isn't good for ND. Carter Nelson also possible off the board. He maintains ND is in the mix for all, but rough update. With Lambert, no one has a clue.

 

[NDMatt91]

Matt Freeman recruiting update on ISD. Short of it, not looking good for KVA and Scott's decision to announce next month probably isn't good for ND. Carter Nelson also possible off the board. He maintains ND is in the mix for all, but rough update. With Lambert, no one has a clue.

Shocker. Hopefully they haven't slow-played Shaw.

 

[EvilleIrish]

Matt Freeman recruiting update on ISD. Short of it, not looking good for KVA and Scott's decision to announce next month probably isn't good for ND. Carter Nelson also possible off the board. He maintains ND is in the mix for all, but rough update. With Lambert, no one has a clue.

I was big on the Freeman hire at the beginning but the shine is wearing off pretty quickly.

 

[Lberry]

Shocker. Hopefully they haven't slow-played Shaw.

"Hard to see Bama kid coming to SB but ND is in the mix"...

 

[Reaper97]

Matt Freeman recruiting update on ISD. Short of it, not looking good for KVA and Scott's decision to announce next month probably isn't good for ND. Carter Nelson also possible off the board. He maintains ND is in the mix for all, but rough update. With Lambert, no one has a clue.

Nelson committed to Nebraska on Saturday.

I’m curious as to where he thinks Scott commits to since both UGA & Miami don’t think it’s them.

Who knows on KVA.

And Lambert is the constant mystery, but I would say ND still leads.

I don’t think Freeman put out anything with any sources or reasons. Doesn’t seem any different from what we knew before.

 

[stlnd01]

I was big on the Freeman hire at the beginning but the shine is wearing off pretty quickly.

Yeah i don't like Matt Freeman anymore either.

 

[Terry Jillery]

So if they all go elsewhere besides Lambert we’d finish just over 260, which would be 16th last year. No Lambert and still finish top 20? Scott seemed pretty excited about Ohio State and Michigan.

 

[Crazy Balki]

QB 1 vs QB 4..... that is the critical stat when you are talking about numbers that are close.

Watson was rated as a dual-threat QB, while Carr is rated as a pocket-passer.

Pretty important to consider.

The point stands.

 

[lcaps20]

No way around it, losing on KVA/Scott/Nelson would suck. KVA and Scott would be massive blows to the defensive recruiting.

 

[Crazy Balki]

No way around it, losing on KVA/Scott/Nelson would suck. KVA and Scott would be massive blows to the defensive recruiting.

Depends on who they would re-assess.

My guess is that if they whiff on KVA, they'd press for Shaw. If they get him, I'd say that's a win.

For Scott, it's hard to see a replacement with his upside, but Scott also has a considerable amount of development ahead of him, and there seems to be indication that there will be names about DL recruits moving forward if Scott doesn't commit.

Losing Nelson is meh IMO with Nate Roberts in fold for '25.

 

[lcaps20]

Depends on who they would re-assess.

My guess is that if they whiff on KVA, they'd press for Shaw. If they get him, I'd say that's a win.

For Scott, it's hard to see a replacement with his upside, but Scott also has a considerable amount of development ahead of him, and there seems to be indication that there will be names about DL recruits moving forward if Scott doesn't commit.

Losing Nelson is meh IMO with Nate Roberts in fold for '25.

Agree on Shaw, but I have my doubts about ND landing a linebacker from Alabama. Also I like the positional flexibility of KVA more than Shaw.

For Scott it is both the absence of a backup plan and the optics around losing a 5* (even if he is a player who is rated as such strictly based on projection) from Chicago to Michigan.

 

[NDQuebec]

I know it's not exactly your point. But these are the top five-rated players (247 composite) in our 2017 through 2021 classes....

2017:
Brock Wright
Cole Kmet
Robert Hainsey
Josh Lugg
Darnell Ewell

2018:
Houston Griffith
Kevin Austin
Phil Jurkovic
Shayne Simon
Jack Lamb

2019:
Kyle Hamilton
Zeke Correll
Quinn Carroll
Jacob Lacey
Andrew Kristofic

2020:
Michael Mayer
Jordan Johnson
Chris Tyree
Tosh Baker
Jordan Botelho

2021:
Blake Fisher
Rocco Spindler
Tyler Buchner
Deon Colzie
Lorenzo Styles

So. Mayer and Hamilton, yes. A few other guys who turned into quality starters. And a lot of guys who never did much of anything at Notre Dame. While many - most? - of our best players from the last four years - Foskey, JOK, Kyren Williams, Joe Alt, Estime, etc. - are not on that list.
It's not that rankings and stars don't matter. They do. But they only matter so much. And given what we've done in the last few years it's understandable why the average Notre Dame fan might not agree that "rankings are more often right than wrong."

Thanks for that list. I've always had the feeling, in the last years, that ND was extremely unlucky with its highly ranked recruits and the list shows it. I remember being ecstatic with these commitments. It was earlier than your list, but Dayne Crist also stood out. I don't think you can assign blame on these failures. IMHO, it was pure bad luck. Every one of those players that flopped had good offer lists, and most did nothing when they transferred.

 

[Luckylucci]

Losing him to Michigan would be ass. Solely because it’s Michigan. Him taking the paycheck to get lost in Miami, whatever. Him turning down the NIL for Michigan? Now that would suck.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I was big on the Freeman hire at the beginning but the shine is wearing off pretty quickly.

Me too, but I have high hopes for this year and think he can explode. I just think it's this year is great or he's not the one.

Georgia recruiting was good before Kirby but exploded after he did great his second season. Freeman and ND need to be great this year. In my view, only a hartman injury or bad coaching prevent a great year.

 

[IA4irish]

Matt Freeman recruiting update on ISD. Short of it, not looking good for KVA and Scott's decision to announce next month probably isn't good for ND. Carter Nelson also possible off the board. He maintains ND is in the mix for all, but rough update. With Lambert, no one has a clue.

Man that would be terrible for ND. What a buzz kill

 

[irishff1014]

I like Freeman and I think he is the most energetic coach we could have hired. No other coach puts this energy into their university the way he does. And I think he is the man for the job even though I don’t care much for some of the decisions he made.

But if they can’t keep this class within the top 12 it’s a failure. End of story.

 

[Lberry]

Man that would be terrible for ND. What a buzz kill

Shocked Golden won't be closing on a big time LB...

 

[NDMatt91]

I like Freeman and I think he is the most energetic coach we could have hired. No other coach puts this energy into their university the way he does. And I think he is the man for the job ever though I don’t care much for some of the decisions he made.

But if they can’t keep this class within the top 12 it’s a failure. End of story.

Yep. Would need to cut bait with Golden, O'Leary, etc.

It appears that these are the remaining targets at the present time:

KVA
Shaw
Lambert
Scott
Nelson
Beasley
Ziglar

I don't count Andrews because he will be taking a 2 year mission. If they only end up getting 1-2 of these targets then I would hope they just focus on renting grad transfers (or 2023 targets who signed elsewhere who transfer after one year) in the portal to complete the 2024 roster. With the portal you definitely need to over-sign and this would be the 3rd straight class where they signed 23 or fewer players, which isn't a great look. Some might not like hitting the portal as much as they have been (and will have to going forward), but if the staff had closed on more guys out of HS they wouldn't have to.

 

[Terry Jillery]

I like the content IB puts out but I’m beginning to think their 6, 7, and 8’s are actually 2, 3, and 4’s.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Golden is someone I would happily move on from for a more dynamic recruiter.

His defenses are meh, he doesn't seem to relate well to these kids at all (which was a HUGE knock for him at Miami as well), and I just think ND can do better.

 

[EvilleIrish]

I’m just concerned that we are now to the point of hoping for a top 12 class.

 

[NDMatt91]

I know people criticize Loy, IB, etc. for being optimistic with where ND stands with recruits but they're just reporting what the staff and those connected to the program are telling them. If anything, it's the staff that has problems reading the room. I highly doubt they're making things up for the hell of it.

 

[NDQuebec]

What I don't get is this : Freeman is known for his defensive acumen. Golden was a successful NFL coach recently and Washington had a good reputation. So, why is recruiting on the defensive side of the ball so average? There is no rhyme or reason to this. I am also concerned that when all is done, ND will have a lower ranked class than many of Kelly's. The excuses concerning NIL are sort of a cop out since, on the offensive side of the ball, recruiting is pretty good.

 

[Terry Jillery]

I know people criticize Loy, IB, etc. for being optimistic with where ND stands with recruits but they're just reporting what the staff and those connected to the program are telling them. If anything, it's the staff that has problems reading the room. I highly doubt they're making things up for the hell of it.

Agree, Matt. I think the IB folks need to start reading between the lines on who they’re hearing this from. Either that or just stop with the 8 1/2’s on kids that are unlikely coming to ND.

 

[ACamp1900]

I’m just concerned that we are now to the point of hoping for a top 12 class.

So I try not to keep up with the roller coaster that close anymore,... but don't we have a top-five class right now?? We are expecting to fall ten spots or more by signing day???

 

[SoIll]

So I try not to keep up with the roller coaster that close anymore,... but don't we have a top-five class right now?? We are expecting to fall ten spots or more by signing day???

Because we're pretty much done with "big names" on the board. Maybe, maybe we get Scott.

We'll end up with more 3 stars. Not to mention our bigger commits will get a rankings drop by the end of the cycle.

A lot of big time 4 and 5 star guys haven't committed yet. When those schools get them kids (LSU, Tenn, USC, Clemson) they will pass us up. Happens every year.

I love Freeman. Love his message, but we're still in the same aisle as BK. The gap isn't closing. Sorry.

PS, Golden can hit the road

 

[NDMatt91]

So I try not to keep up with the roller coaster that close anymore,... but don't we have a top-five class right now?? We are expecting to fall ten spots or more by signing day???

I think it's more so that the class might (key word) be close to being done and other schools will add more players and end up with a higher score.