2027 Master List

[IrishInOntario]

DT David Folorunsho
DT Brayden Parks
DT Alifeleti Tuihalamaka
DE/DT Aidan O'Neil
DE/DT Marcus Fakatou
DE Abraham Sesay
DE Mekai Brown
DE Santana Harvey

It's no secret that the above has emerged as the top of the board with Jacobs, Whitehead and Forstall no longer interested / committed elsewhere. You basically HAVE to land 4 of those 8 players in order for this DL class to be considered a success. Which 4-5 you land will determine the extent of the success.

At this point I'd probably take a class of Fakatou, O'Neil, Folorunsho and one of Parks / Tuihalamaka... Even know ND would be taking 2 SDE types and not landing a true edge, pass rusher, they could take a guy like Ifeanyi Emedobi as the pass rusher in the class, after taking 2 pure pass rushers last year in Dunham and Ewetade.

 

[allenm5333]

DT David Folorunsho
DT Brayden Parks
DT Alifeleti Tuihalamaka
DE/DT Aidan O'Neil
DE/DT Marcus Fakatou
DE Abraham Sesay
DE Mekai Brown
DE Santana Harvey

It's no secret that the above has emerged as the top of the board with Jacobs, Whitehead and Forstall no longer interested / committed elsewhere. You basically HAVE to land 4 of those 8 players in order for this DL class to be considered a success. Which 4-5 you land will determine the extent of the success.

At this point I'd probably take a class of Fakatou, O'Neil, Folorunsho and one of Parks / Tuihalamaka... Even know ND would be taking 2 SDE types and not landing a true edge, pass rusher, they could take a guy like Ifeanyi Emedobi as the pass rusher in the class, after taking 2 pure pass rushers last year in Dunham and Ewetade.

This bold is realistic and ideal in this scenario. I would still take a 6th as the edge pass rusher OR take 3 LBs with Fox being a hybrid

 

[IrishInOntario]

This bold is realistic and ideal in this scenario. I would still take a 6th as the edge pass rusher OR take 3 LBs with Fox being a hybrid

I actually don't think it's as realistic as you do. Not because ND won't recruit those players hard, or because they aren't willing to spend some money, but because I'm hearing that prices are high again in this cycle and the heavy hitters are willing to pay high prices for the nation's best... Of which, objectively, the guys you bolded are among.

Ultimately, I'm cheering for you to be right and for me to be wrong, but I suspect ND will lose some of those bidding wars, and the DL class will wind up excellent, but not quite what we're hoping it will be.

 

[allenm5333]

I actually don't think it's as realistic as you do. Not because ND won't recruit those players hard, or because they aren't willing to spend some money, but because I'm hearing that prices are high again in this cycle and the heavy hitters are willing to pay high prices for the nation's best... Of which, objectively, the guys you bolded are among.

Ultimately, I'm cheering for you to be right and for me to be wrong, but I suspect ND will lose some of those bidding wars, and the DL class will wind up excellent, but not quite what we're hoping it will be.

Let me rephrase it: realistic but unlikely? I think we land 2 of the 3 true DTs (I consider Fakatou a DT). Sesay is the DE I think we will pay for because we need someone like that. I also think O'Neil is a guy we get.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Let me rephrase it: realistic but unlikely? I think we land 2 of the 3 true DTs (I consider Fakatou a DT). Sesay is the DE I think we will pay for because we need someone like that. I also think O'Neil is a guy we get.

I certainly don't think that's reach by any stretch, but if I had to guess the most likely group at this point I'd guess it's something like...

DE: Aidan O'Neil
DE: Ifeanyi Emodobi
DE/DT: Marcus Fakatou
DT: Brayden Parks or Alifeleti Tuihalamaka
DT: David Folorunsho

I'm hoping it's your group rather than mine though! Here is to hoping that ND doesn't start lowballing everyone, hoping that culture wins out.

 

[Irish du Nord]

They also have every other target on the board as a 4*, don't really consider them to be honest.

That’s your prerogative. My only point was that other sites besides Rivals have him as a top of the board guy

 

[Armyirish47]

I certainly don't think that's reach by any stretch, but if I had to guess the most likely group at this point I'd guess it's something like...

DE: Aidan O'Neil
DE: Ifeanyi Emodobi
DE/DT: Marcus Fakatou
DT: Brayden Parks or Alifeleti Tuihalamaka
DT: David Folorunsho

I'm hoping it's your group rather than mine though! Here is to hoping that ND doesn't start lowballing everyone, hoping that culture wins out.

I would also say that in the new era you have to account for a projection of what a position group will make the following year and with a lot of potential returning players you aren't necessarily lowballing for the sake of culture but sticking to an allocation of "cap space" for a position group.

 

[allenm5333]

I would also say that in the new era you have to account for a projection of what a position group will make the following year and with a lot of potential returning players you aren't necessarily lowballing for the sake of culture but sticking to an allocation of "cap space" for a position group.

Yup. Also, we signed two stud DEs last year. 2028 is loaded with DEs we have a legit chance at. I get that a bird in one hand is better, but what 2028 offers has to be considered too

 

[Rocketman84]

This bold is realistic and ideal in this scenario. I would still take a 6th as the edge pass rusher OR take 3 LBs with Fox being a hybrid

I think we land Sesay, O',Neil and Fakatou but the other 2 players are up in the air.

 

[NDFAN2008]

Yup. Also, we signed two stud DEs last year. 2028 is loaded with DEs we have a legit chance at. I get that a bird in one hand is better, but what 2028 offers has to be considered too

Didn't we have a legit chance at a bunch of 2027 DE's what happened?

 

[IrishInOntario]

Didn't we have a legit chance at a bunch of 2027 DE's what happened?

Nothing really has "happened" other than some guys committing elsewhere. ND's board has been the following:

DJ Jacobs (Ohio State)
Chris Whitehead (Uncommitted)
Zyron Forstall (Texas A&M)
Mekai Brown (Uncommitted)
Abraham Sesay (Uncommitted)
Marcus Fakatou (Uncommitted)
KJ Green (Uncommitted)
Aidan O'Neil (Uncommitted)

Santana Harvey (Uncommitted)
Ifeanyi Emedobi (Uncommitted)
Esa Whittinburg (Uncommitted)

ND had 8 defensive ends on their board coming into the spring. 6 of them remain uncommitted, although 2 of them likely aren't options anymore, leaving 4 of them that ND is still very much in on. The staff has since added 3 new names to the board as other names have fallen off.

ND is looking for 2-3 DEs in this cycle and that id still very much in reach.

 

[allenm5333]

Nothing really has "happened" other than some guys committing elsewhere. ND's board has been the following:

DJ Jacobs (Ohio State)
Chris Whitehead (Uncommitted)
Zyron Forstall (Texas A&M)
Mekai Brown (Uncommitted)
Abraham Sesay (Uncommitted)
Marcus Fakatou (Uncommitted)
KJ Green (Uncommitted)
Aidan O'Neil (Uncommitted)

Santana Harvey (Uncommitted)
Ifeanyi Emedobi (Uncommitted)
Esa Whittinburg (Uncommitted)

ND had 8 defensive ends on their board coming into the spring. 6 of them remain uncommitted, although 2 of them likely aren't options anymore, leaving 4 of them that ND is still very much in on. The staff has since added 3 new names to the board as other names have fallen off.

ND is looking for 2-3 DEs in this cycle and that id still very much in reach.

who are the two unlikely? Whitehead and ?

 

[SeekNDestroy]

who are the two unlikely? Whitehead and ?

Green?

 

[Big23Head]

I don't think Whitehead, Brown, or Green are realistic at all as of today

 

[NDPhilly]

This class is going incredibly similar to last year:

Hot start in fall / winter —-> slow period into spring ——> a few top targets start trending elsewhere ——> increased panic ———> crush summer visits ——> wave of commits and top 5 class locked up before season begins.

 

[greyhammer90]

This class is going incredibly similar to last year:

Hot start in fall / winter —-> slow period into spring ——> a few top targets start trending elsewhere ——> increased panic ———> crush summer visits ——> wave of commits and top 5 class locked up before season begins.

But the good/hard part is the part that hasn't happened yet lol