Recruiting Comparison: Notre Dame vs. Clemson

A look at how the Notre Dame starting lineups stack up against each other from a recruiting standpoint.

The fourth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the top-ranked Clemson Tigers this weekend in what will be the biggest game in Notre Dame Stadium in decades. Clemson has been arguably the top program in the country since 2015, with the Tigers winning two national championships (2016, 2018), getting to the title game two more times (2015, 2019) and making a playoff berth in the other (2017).

It is a big opportunity for Notre Dame to finally beat one of the nation's elite. Let's kick off the breakdown of this contest with a look at how the starting lineups stack up against each other from a recruiting standpoint, using the 247Sports composite rankings.

Let's begin with a look at the Notre Dame offense against the Clemson defense.

From a recruiting standpoint, the Tigers are loaded with highly ranked defensive linemen. Not only is their starting lineup loaded with highly ranked players, there are highly ranked players coming off the bench.

The good news for Notre Dame is that its most talented unit, from a recruiting rankings standpoint and practically speaking, is its offensive line. The one difference is experience. Notre Dame's offensive line has a junior (Patterson), two seniors (Hainsey, Banks) and two fifth-year seniors (Eichenberg, Kraemer), while Clemson's starting defensive line has a pair of true freshmen (Bresee, Murphy), a sophomore (Davis) and a redshirt sophomore (Henry).

The one matchup that could be most interesting is Notre Dame's talented tight ends against the Clemson linebackers and safeties.

Let's look at the Notre Dame defense against the Clemson offense.

There's talk about how "recruiting matters" or "stars" matter and some will point to players like Kyle Hamilton or Daelin Hayes, two guys who were ranked as four-stars by at least one service. What's interesting about the Notre Dame defense is that some of its best players (Owusu-Koramoah, Tagovailoa-Amosa, Bracy, McCloud) were three-star recruits.

Notre Dame does have some highly ranked players coming off the bench, especially up front. Defensive tackles Jayson Ademilola (4-star, No. 128), Rylie Mills (4-star, No. 159), Jacob Lacey (4-star, No. 172) and defensive end Isaiah Foskey (4-star, No. 211) were all highly ranked players.

Clemson's highly ranked receivers against the Irish corners, who were all three-stars, is another intriguing matchup.

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