Carter Nelson Is Key To Notre Dame Landing An Elite Skill Class
Notre Dame offensive recruiting has been on fire over the last year, and the Irish are on the verge of landing one of the nation's best offensive classes in the 2024 haul. There are two uncommitted players still on the board that are must-gets if Notre Dame wants to finish with an offensive class that ranks at the top.
I've broken down the importance of offensive Guerby Lambert, but when looking at the skill positions, it's Ainsworth (Neb.) High School star Carter Nelson that holds the key to Notre Dame landing the nation's best group of skill players.
Notre Dame has one of the best quarterbacks in the class (CJ Carr), an outstanding running back duo (Kedren Young, Aneyas Williams), yet another big-time wide receiver class (Cam Williams, Isiah Canion, Micah Gilbert) and a quality tight end (Jack Larsen).
It's a really good group, and Notre Dame is certainly closing the gap with this class. Landing Nelson, however, would take things to a different level It would be hard for me to see any other program in college football having a better group of skill players should Notre Dame land Nelson.
Right now the Irish are battling Georgia, Penn State and Nebraska to land him, so there is a lot of work to be done, but this feature points out the importance of this recruitment.
ELITE POTENTIAL
Adding Nelson would give Notre Dame a fifth offensive skill player that ranks as a Top 100 recruit by at least one service. That would be five out of eight, and another - Williams - ranks as the No. 135 overall player according to Rivals. Larsen ranks as the No. 139 overall player by ESPN, and Gilbert is a consensus four-star recruit.
That's the epitome of a gap closing class.
Looking at Nelson specifically, his upside is as high as any tight end in the class. He's a truly elite athlete that thrives on the football field and the basketball court. Playing 8-man football puts him in position where he still has a lot to learn about the game, and that's partly why so many services were late to realize his talent, and some are still behind on their Nelson ranking.
Nelson has big time speed for a tight end, and his combination of length, speed, ball skills and route running potential makes him more of a hybrid player than a pure tight end. Nelson can play outside and stretch the field, he presents brutal slot matchups for defenses. Nelson is also a legit after-the-catch weapon.
The scary thing is he's just scratching the surface of how good he can be, and whoever gets his commitment is landing an easy five-star upside player.
IDEAL TE COMPLEMENT
Larsen has been committed to Notre Dame for over a year, and the Irish just picked up arguably the best tight end in the 2025 class when Oklahoma star Nate Roberts committed to the Irish.
There's a reason why Notre Dame still values landing Nelson, and it goes beyond his impact potential. Nelson is the perfect complement to the current group of commits in his class, the one before him and the one after.
Notre Dame's 2023 signee - Cooper Flanagan - is a bit of a throwback tight end, Larsen can do a lot of H-Back/slot work and Roberts is very much the modern tight end that can attack on all three levels and can play outside, but he does his best work from the slot and from an attached position.
Roberts also has big play speed, but he's already 230 pounds and he is a nightmare on intermediate routes and working across the field. I love his potential as a blocker, and he has the tools to play attached and not only dominate in the pass game, but also as a blocker.
Nelson's compete is quite different, and it's a skillset that should allow the Notre Dame coaches to always have him on the field with one of the other tight ends. He is part wide receiver and part tight end, and his ability to do legit damage as an outside player with his speed and ball skills is impressive. There isn't a tight end on the roster, or one committed to Notre Dame, that has the same blend of tools that Nelson adds.
Notre Dame could go 13 personnel with Nelson and Roberts on the field together with either Flanagan or Larsen. With Roberts' blocking ability the Irish could be a physical, pound the defense team out of this look while having Nelson outside opposite of or in the slot inside of the one receiver. In that look the Irish could use Nelson as a second receiver. The Irish could also put Roberts in the slot and basically attack a team like it can with 11 personnel, but now it would have a bunch of big players on the field and the defense would be in a bigger personnel grouping.
That kind of versatility with Nelson and Roberts on the field together would make the Notre Dame offense incredibly difficult to defend.
That's what Nelson would bring to the class and why he is still an incredibly important recruit for Notre Dame in the 2024 class, and the key to the Irish having the best group of skill in the country.
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