Class Impact: Notre Dame Lands Dynamic Receiver Shaun Terry

Notre Dame has added another talented player to its 2025 class with the addition of Ironton (Ohio) High School wide receiver Shaun Terry. The Irish beat out programs like USC, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and Tennessee to land the 5-10, 170-pound athlete.
Let's take a look at how the commitment of Terry impacts the Notre Dame 2025 class and the Irish depth chart.
NOTRE DAME CLASS IMPACT
Terry is the 16th player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2025 class. He is the eighth offensive player and the second wide receiver, joining New Jersey standout Elijah Burress.
Early on the plan was for Notre Dame to land just three receivers, which made sense after the Irish landed five receivers in the 2023 class (including Jordan Faison) and three more talented players in the 2024 class. With the loss of Braylon James and Rico Flores Jr. from that class, the need in the class rose to four. Landing Terry to go with Burress gets the Irish to the halfway point of the class.
Notre Dame is also looking for specific skillsets in this class, and one of those is more dynamic after-the-catch players. Notre Dame doesn't have enough playmakers in the pass game that can do major damage after the catch. Landing Terry gives the Irish one of the better after-the-catch players on their board. By landing Terry and Burress the Irish now have two good after-the-catch players in the class, but they do it in very different ways, which is ideal.
There is always a desire to add more impact special teams weapons to the roster, and Terry is a dangerous return man, and his return skill might be the most projectable skillset he has for the next level.
NOTRE DAME FIT - FILM ANALYSIS
Landing Terry gives the Irish a pure slot player in the 2025 class. There are some looks where they can line Terry up outside, and we saw that a bit with Jordan Faison during the 2023 season. But outside of certain matchups, or lining Terry up outside in certain quick game/screen looks, the position where he makes the most sense from a fit standpoint is in the slot. From there Terry can be used as a downfield pass catcher, as a weapon in the screen game and on movement plays (jet sweeps, reverses, etc).
Notre Dame wants and needs more impact players with the ball, and that is certainly what Terry shows on film. Despite a lack of ideal size (he's listed between 5-9 and 5-10 and around 170-175 pounds), Terry is a strong player that does a lot of damage with the football. I was surprised at how much damage he did after contact, which shows his toughness, but also shows impressive balance.
Athletically, the traits that shine the most with Terry are his quickness and agility. He's a sudden athlete that can make easy change of direction moves. He explodes out of cuts when he is doing work in space. That combines with his good strength and excellent balance to make him such a dynamic in space player. Those traits translate well to the next level as a quick game, screen, run game weapon, and especially as a punt returner. Terry also shows the vision and anticipation skills needed to be an impact player in space.
What Terry doesn't have is the truly elite, burner speed. He won't spend all game getting over top of the defense, but he has enough speed to make big plays once he gets in space. What he does have, however, is the ability to get to full speed quickly and to accelerate through creases. If can add a little bit of an extra gear at the next level he'll be an even more effective downfield player.
Terry does most of his damage in high school in the screen game and quick game, and he'll get over top of defenses as well. He plays all over for Ironton, so his route running game isn't overly nuanced at this point. Terry certainly has the quickness, looseness and acceleration to become a highly productive route runner down the road. Once that happens his ability to impact the game more down the field will certainly improve.
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Irish Breakdown Content
2024 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense
2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense
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