2026 ND Portal Targets

BleedBlueGold

BleedBlueGold

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This is catastrophic!

In all seriousness, though, if ISD is starting to wet the bed, it might be time to sound the alarms. I'm holding out judgement until the defensive line guys are signed (or not). If ND whiffs on DL, I will officially go buy diapers at the nearest Costco.
 
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mrmcgrail

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I'm assuming they want partridge there for d line recruits and wanted as many guys together at once to create a vibe. It has backfired on them slightly, should have brought guys in right away but usually in the portal guys go to multiple places this is the first year I can remember guys just on the spot committing
 
SoIll

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Per two folks on the USC side, Williams left uncommitted. The mom wanted him to visit Notre Dame.

I would say Chad Bowden also knew that USC's chances would change if he set foot on campus at Notre Dame or Florida.

Why didn't Notre Dame host kids this weekend? Unknown. But it cost them Nick Marsh and Jontez Williams.

ISD

 
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IrishInOntario

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RudyVerse said:
Matt Freeman just said USC is in the lead for Keon Keeley.

Lol this has been an epic failure for the portal thus far, when our coaches had more time than literally anyone and were "all in".

Yeah ok.
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Lol nobody even connected ND to Keon Keeley. You have no clue if they even called him or his agent with interest. The guy has done absolutely nothing in his career at Alabama to warrant being a top of the board prospect. I'm not saying that he'll be a bust wherever he goes, but acting like Keon Keeley is some big prize based on what we've seen out of him in college... Is a take.
 
NDMatt91

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SoIll said:
Per two folks on the USC side, Williams left uncommitted. The mom wanted him to visit Notre Dame.

I would say Chad Bowden also knew that USC's chances would change if he set foot on campus at Notre Dame or Florida.

Why didn't Notre Dame host kids this weekend? Unknown. But it cost them Nick Marsh and Jontez Williams.

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Did ISD say that not having Marsh on campus this weekend is the reason he didn't commit here?
 
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PutuporShutup

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IrishInOntario said:
Nickel is the base defense at Notre Dame and the base defense for approximately 25 teams in the NFL. You're literally a coveted, valuable starter as Nickel is the league today and vital player in college.

60% of all plays in the NFL are out Nickel personnel in today's game. A further 10%-15% are out of DIME, with the Nickel often remaining on the field. 3 linebacker systems are slowly going extinct.

You're absolutely kidding yourself if you think that recruiting a kid to play Nickel is some kind of slight to him. The reason ND goes into the Portal each yewr to find the best one they can is because it's very hard position and it's vital to the defense.

Devonta Smith being hurt (A&M) and Karson Hobbs playing Nickel vs Miami and A&M was literally the single biggest reason that ND missed the playoffs this year. The ability to cover Malachi Toney and Mario Craver in the slot, absolutely cost ND the first two games of the season.
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Agree. But Williams is and wants to be a “regular” cb and is significantly better than gray. They should have been selling him on being 2nd starting corner and we’d have a better shot to land him. Then you go after a true nickel as well.
 
NDWarrior

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mrmcgrail said:
I'm assuming they want partridge there for d line recruits and wanted as many guys together at once to create a vibe. It has backfired on them slightly, should have brought guys in right away but usually in the portal guys go to multiple places this is the first year I can remember guys just on the spot committing
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I think one more thing is there is no Spring portal AND the end of season TP period is only 14 days long so you have to move fast.
 
NDWarrior

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Case in point - I think this was his first visit over the w/e and he's already gone...

 
NDVirginia19

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smw6230

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PutuporShutup said:
Agree. But Williams is and wants to be a “regular” cb and is significantly better than gray. They should have been selling him on being 2nd starting corner and we’d have a better shot to land him. Then you go after a true nickel as well.
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So you'd pay him more than Gray.

Gray would then essentially be dead money on NDs roster, that could have been used at DT or WR.

With all due respect I think a lot of fans never really think about internal chemistry, and budget allocation, when it comes to adding players.

Bad moves can destroy your culture fast, especially with 18—23 year olds.
 
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allenm5333

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smw6230 said:
So you'd pay him more than Gray.

With all due respect I think a lot of fans never really think about internal chemistry when it comes to adding players.

Bad moves can destroy your culture fast, especially with 18—23 year olds.
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Bingo. And let’s say he is slightly better, is the money worth it?
 
rtrn2glory

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Yeah based on how things appear to be trending. If dudes show up on campus they'll be committed by the next day
 
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IrishInOntario

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PutuporShutup said:
Agree. But Williams is and wants to be a “regular” cb and is significantly better than gray. They should have been selling him on being 2nd starting corner and we’d have a better shot to land him. Then you go after a true nickel as well.
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Who do you think the obvious Portal upgrade to Christian Gray is? Because as much as we bag on him, if that kid was in the Portal, he'd be a top 5 CB prospect. Kids with that much starting experience and play making history, are highly coveted.

Yes, Christian Gray is frustrating at times, especially when he sees a ton of targets vs 1 WRs as teams try to hide from Leaonard Moore, but he's a capable #2 CB when healthy and locked in.

Reminds me a ton of Davison Igbinosun at Ohio State. For 1.5 years before they beat ND in the title game and won a championship, OSU fans bagged on the guy for taking holdings penalties, getting beat and not being as good as Denzel Burke. He wasn't bad player, he was simply not as good player, he just got a lot of targets as teams avoided Burke. If you're Christian Gray, you have to be better in 2026 without a doubt, but it's easy to be the one getting clowned on a lot by the fan base, when you play across from a cyborg.

If you look at how ND got exploited last year, I actually think it's more important that they play the better Nickel, at the Nickel position. I think you can cover up things to Field a lot easier than you can in the slot. JMO.
 
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mcbri014

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IE version of FMK

-eville
-putup
-Koon and his aliases

This has gameday thread vibes right now
 
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Silentkaw

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The first vs later visit in the portal is exactly the same as the dumb talking points for summer OV recruiting. The people complaining about not having the first visit are the same people who would say it was dumb to have the first visit if guys don’t commit immediately.
 
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PutuporShutup

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IrishInOntario said:
Who do you think the obvious Portal upgrade to Christian Gray is? Because as much as we bag on him, if that kid was in the Portal, he'd be a top 5 CB prospect. Kids with that much starting experience and play making history, are highly coveted.

Yes, Christian Gray is frustrating at times, especially when he sees a ton of targets vs 1 WRs as teams try to hide from Leaonard Moore, but he's a capable #2 CB when healthy and locked in.

Reminds me a ton of Davison Igbinosun at Ohio State. For 1.5 years before they beat ND in the title game and won a championship, OSU fans bagged on the guy for taking holdings penalties, getting beat and not being as good as Denzel Burke. He wasn't bad player, he was simply not as good player, he just got a lot of targets as teams avoided Burke. If you're Christian Gray, you have to be better in 2026 without a doubt, but it's easy to be the one getting clowned on a lot by the fan base, when you play across from a cyborg.

If you look at how ND got exploited last year, I actually think it's more important that they play the better Nickel, at the Nickel position. I think you can cover up things to Field a lot easier than you can in the slot. JMO.
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Exactly. We almost always, especially early in the season had a safety over the top of gray until the staff found out that Hobbs was terrible. 2nd quarter and most of second half vs A&M they stated bringing some safety help for the slot, gray got burned a ton but luckily they were over thrown.

Our staff was more comfortable putting Hobbs on an island than gray, let that sink in.

When smith came back, ND could help gray again more over the top and disguise coverages more.

Vs usc ND couldn’t do that because they had Moore follow lemon, rightfully so. It was easy for usc to identify coverages and single out gray. Almost cost us in a game where the other 10 positions on D played lights out.

Also, Williams was the clear upgrade over gray. I think gray is significantly worse than you think. I only think he would start for a handful of power 4 teams in say the top 25 of power 4 teams. Clearance Lewis bad as a recent comp. Lewis could hold onto Syracuse staying spot on a bad defense. Gray has a little more ability than Lewis, but his lack of focus and yea at times effort makes his play even worse.
 
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IrishInOntario

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Irish4life said:
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I actually think this kid could wind up being an upgrade over Raridon from a production standpoint. He's a TD monster and a yard eater. 6'6, 260lb grown ass man. Plug-n-play in what I think will be a much upgraded TE room.

He's been top of my TE board since he entered the Portal and I've been talking about him all week. I'm glad ND values him as highly as I do. Yes, he played against worse competition than Raridon last year, but he was more productive than Eli in every way.

Would be an A+ get as far as the Portal goes. He's to TEs in this year's Portal class what Nick Marsh would have been to WRs.
 
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