2026 Master Thread

[PolishDomer]

Where does Will Fuller rank on the "best athlete" list for ND?

I ask because folks are saying J Love is #1

But theres The Rocket, Tim Brown, Ricky Waters, Golden Tate...

And those are only dudes ive been around for

There's more!

Love is AMAZING... but let's calm down a little

One measure of athleticism is the "jump out of the pool" test aka Steve Filer

 

[kzoondfi]

anyone worried about us only having 3 defensive line committed for 26? Granted, they are 3 really good crusts. We have so many good db recruits coming in, but as we saw last year and will see again this year when we meet better teams again post season…. The secondary can only hold so long if we don’t have pressure. We do need some meat up front. The D ends won’t matter if we don’t have anything up front in the middle.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

anyone worried about us only having 3 defensive line committed for 26? Granted, they are 3 really good crusts. We have so many good db recruits coming in, but as we saw last year and will see again this year when we meet better teams again post season…. The secondary can only hold so long if we don’t have pressure. We do need some meat up front. The D ends won’t matter if we don’t have anything up front in the middle.

I can think of at least one poster who is concerned

 

[MacIrish75]

I can think of at least one poster who is concerned

 

[Dale]

We have four, not three.

 

[MacIrish75]

anyone worried about us only having 3 defensive line committed for 26? Granted, they are 3 really good crusts. We have so many good db recruits coming in, but as we saw last year and will see again this year when we meet better teams again post season…. The secondary can only hold so long if we don’t have pressure. We do need some meat up front. The D ends won’t matter if we don’t have anything up front in the middle.

I know, my friend, you didn’t mean to do this. It isn’t you. It’s us. But, I fear you may have awakened a sleeping giant.

It’s only a matter of time, now.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

I wonder if any of our 6'3"+ dbs have the frame to add some weight and move to DT?

 

[kzoondfi]

We have four, not three.

Per the front page, Dunham, Ewatade, and Hola. Who else? I may be missing, but even at 4 it seems lacking.

I knew the 2008 shit was coming, but at some point there has to be enough up front to take some stress off of the coverage. Against good teams.

 

[Dale]

Per the front page, Dunham, Ewatade, and Hola. Who else? I may be missing, but even at 4 it seems lacking.

I knew the 2008 shit was coming, but at some point there has to be enough up front to take some stress off of the coverage. Against good teams.

Elijah Golden.

 

[Cpnd1]

Per the front page, Dunham, Ewatade, and Hola. Who else? I may be missing, but even at 4 it seems lacking.

I knew the 2008 shit was coming, but at some point there has to be enough up front to take some stress off of the coverage. Against good teams.

Golden

 

[ColoradoIrish]

Per the front page, Dunham, Ewatade, and Hola. Who else? I may be missing, but even at 4 it seems lacking.

I knew the 2008 shit was coming, but at some point there has to be enough up front to take some stress off of the coverage. Against good teams.

Elijah Golden is missing, he's an inside guy

 

[kzoondfi]

Correct. He is a stud, but I still feel like the DL is behind.

 

[calvegas04]

We have four, not three.

We need triple that

 

[NDMatt91]

Correct. He is a stud, but I still feel like the DL is behind.

Is your concern that they needed 1 more Defensive Lineman?

 

[Rocketman84]

anyone worried about us only having 3 defensive line committed for 26? Granted, they are 3 really good crusts. We have so many good db recruits coming in, but as we saw last year and will see again this year when we meet better teams again post season…. The secondary can only hold so long if we don’t have pressure. We do need some meat up front. The D ends won’t matter if we don’t have anything up front in the middle.

Yep, we've beat this drum for over a decade. Until we can at least masquerade with something close to SEC DL those Playoff games will be harder to win just relying on a very good running game and "elite" secondary talent without much presence of a pass rush.

 

[Rocketman84]

Correct. He is a stud, but I still feel like the DL is behind.

The kid who committed to U$C or Vallejo would've been ideal.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Why?

Just, fucking, WHY.....

 

[Irish#1]

anyone worried about us only having 3 defensive line committed for 26? Granted, they are 3 really good crusts. We have so many good db recruits coming in, but as we saw last year and will see again this year when we meet better teams again post season…. The secondary can only hold so long if we don’t have pressure. We do need some meat up front. The D ends won’t matter if we don’t have anything up front in the middle.

I am dumbfounded that 2008 hasn't replied to this in the last 12 hours.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

I am dumbfounded that 2008 hasn't replied to this in the last 12 hours.

Do we need to call in a wellness check?

 

[NDMatt91]

The kid who committed to U$C or Vallejo would've been ideal.

To be fair, they tried really hard to get Noah Clark from NC. I could be reading into it the wrong way, but from what ISD said, the biggest factor in his final decision was staying close to home, and he likely would've been Irish had he not wanted to stay close to home. Of the OV's that he scheduled, ND was the only school that wasn't within 3-3.5 hours of where he lived. I don't believe he followed through with the ND OV as he told the staff that he decided to stay close to home because he's very close with his family.

 

[NDPhilly]

Yeah a kid like Clark / Vallejo would have really rounded out this defensive class. Another stud LB wouldn’t have hurt either.

 

[DomeFieldAdvantage]

Yeah a kid like Clark / Vallejo would have really rounded out this defensive class. Another stud LB wouldn’t have hurt either.

This is sneakily concerning to me. We obviously have great linebacker play right now, but all of those guys were highly rated recruits. The lowest was Ausberry at 162 composite. The next lowest was Bowen at 102. None of the lower ranked guys have really hit. Meanwhile our commits for the next two classes are 212, 455, 260.

 

[irishnd31]

Why?

Just, fucking, WHY.....

 

[Irishnuke]

Checking out the Rivals 300 list, we have number 9, 10, 23, 25, 27, and 28th ranked recruits. If Rivals/On3 keeps up with their traditional 5 star ratings, that would be SIX 5 starts come signing day. Different aisle indeed.

 

[Dale]

247 Update

Dunham 15 to 8
Premer 45 to 21
Pouncey 144 to 66
Nichols 376 to 143
McKeough 415 to 145
Ewetade 245 to 148
Fitzgerald 355 to 215
Smith 88 Rating to 91 Rating
Thom from a 87 Rating to 89 Rating
Faison from a 87 Rating to 88 Rating

Osborne 140 to 189
Golden 113 to 218
Grubbs from a 90 Rating to 88
Davis from a 91 Rating to 90, dropped out of Top 247
Finley same rating, dropped out of Top 247
Frazier same rating, dropped out of Top 247

All others essentially unchanged.

 

[NDPhilly]

2026 Overall Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

Unless OSU has a few kids they are planning on flipping down the stretch that are big names, we are going to sign a better class than them lmao. Wild.

92.67 avg player and 298 total class score are levels I didn’t think ND could reach

Tough to complain about any one ranking but I do think Golden and Osborne are top 150 players. Thomas Davis also feels like one of those guys that if he didnt commit so early would be higher.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

247 Update

Dunham 15 to 8
Premer 45 to 21
Pouncey 144 to 66
Nichols 376 to 143
McKeough 415 to 145
Ewetade 245 to 148
Fitzgerald 355 to 215
Smith 88 Rating to 91 Rating
Thom from a 87 Rating to 89 Rating
Faison from a 87 Rating to 88 Rating

Osborne 140 to 189
Golden 113 to 218
Grubbs from a 90 Rating to 88
Davis from a 91 Rating to 90

All others essentially unchanged.

How in the hell could Osborne fall? Did he get injured or just stop producing? Because his highlights from earlier in the season were incredible.

 

[Cpnd1]

What a job by the staff to assemble a class like this basically drama free. Knowing a large portion will be on campus early, the future is so bright. Marcus has changed our lives.

 

[arrowryan]

Look at those 5 stars and the schools they’re attending. A good visual representation on how NIL is changing college football.

 

[CanadalovesND]

Using the 24/7 Composite Rankings, ND currently has four five-stars (Dunham, Premer, O'Brien & Adams), and only four three-star commits.

BCR% of 85.