Notre Dame 2022 Defensive Recruiting Class On The Verge Of Elite Status
Notre Dame has put an outstanding defense on the field for the last four seasons and the 2021 unit has been good as well. The problem during the previous four seasons is that recruiting on that side of the ball hasn't been as good as the on-field product.
The challenge for first-year coordinator Marcus Freeman when he was hired back in January was to not only continue putting a top defense on the field, but he and the staff needed to start landing better classes on that side of the ball. Barely 10 months into his tenure, Freeman, defensive line coach Mike Elston and cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens have put together an outstanding 2022 defensive haul, and the 2023 class is off to a very fast start.
Notre Dame currently has 11 defensive committed in the 2022 class, and the group is already in the discussion for best defensive haul for the Irish in the last decade. Six of those 11 commits are ranked among the Top 250 players in the country on the 247Sports composite list. That number is tied with Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame, and only Georgia (8) has more.
For the unit to truly be elite and have the balance it needs the staff must add at least one more defensive recruit to the class.
LINEBACKER HAUL LEADS THE WAY
The strength of the class is at linebacker. Freeman inherited a linebacker depth chart that is about a year away from being very, very thin on numbers and impact talent, and it's already a unit that lacks much length.
Freeman added a tremendous four man group. All four commits are consensus four-star commits, all rank among the Top 250 players in the country by 247Sports and all four rank as Top 200 recruits on the Irish Breakdown grading scale. It's a long, versatile and athletic group of linebackers.
Josh Burnham and Jaylen Sneed are the top two linebackers in the class, and both rank as Top 100 recruits. Burnham has tremendous length and athleticism, and Sneed is an explosive playmaker, and both can play at least two positions in the Notre Dame defense. This is the most athletic one-two linebacker punch that Notre Dame has landed under Kelly.
Nolan Ziegler is one of the most underrated linebackers in the country and he's having a monster senior season. He outplayed 2023 five-star Drayk Bowen in a game earlier this season, making big plays on both sides of the ball. Burnham and Sneed are playmakers at linebacker and quarterback, while Ziegler has thrived at linebacker and wide receiver as a prep player.
Niuafe Tuihalamaka is the one player that doesn't fit the mold of the other linebackers in the class, and that's one of the reasons I love him in the class. Notre Dame's schedule requires it to have a thumper or two in the lineup and that is exactly what Tuihalamaka brings to the table.
There isn't a better group of linebackers in the country and I don't see that changing.
EDGE DEFENDERS ARE OUTSTANDING
Notre Dame has a strong three-man defensive line class as well. Freeman and Elston love length, and the defensive end duo of Tyson Ford and Aiden Gobaira has exceptional length and talent.
Ford is a massive and powerful edge defender that is already about 6-5 and 250 pounds. Notre Dame wants to be able to switch between four and three-man fronts, and having a player like Ford is essential to making that happen. He's powerful and big enough to play inside in a four-down, disruptive enough to play big end in a four-down and good enough as a pass rusher to get after the quarterback inside, outside or in a five-technique alignment.
Ford is having a very strong senior season but is getting overlooked, which is likely due to the fact he committed to Notre Dame so long ago.
Gobaira might be even longer than Ford and he's also a versatile defender. He could easily play the big end position but also has a similar skillset to current Vyper end Isaiah Foskey. His dominant spring vaulted him from three-star status to a Top 250 player ranking. Gobaira has been even better this fall and he combines with Ford to give the Irish an outstanding pair of big men.
Fellow DL commit Donovan Hinish isn't the top-level prospect as the other two commits but he is a more athletic version of his older brother Kurt, a three-year starter at Notre Dame.
UNDERRATED SECONDARY HAUL
I would argue that Notre Dame doesn't have enough defensive commits in the Top 250. Cornerback Jaden Mickey is in there but future teammates Devin Moore and Benjamin Morrison are not ... but they should be.
SI All-American ranks Moore as one of the Top 100 players in the country and Morrison grades out by Irish Breakdown as a Top 150 caliber recruit. All three are having excellent senior seasons and have built on the foundation the Notre Dame coaches fell in love with.
Mickey is a smart, physical and athletic cover player that could battle for immediate playing time in the slot next season. His combination of coverage skills, physicality and high football IQ is the perfect combination for that position.
Morrison is long and explosive, and his speed has seen a jump during his senior season. He has the cover skills and length to thrive in the boundary but also possesses the range and hitting ability to play to the field. He has filled out his frame as a senior and looks much closer to being the kind of player that can come in and immediately help the defense.
Moore is exceptionally long and exceptionally versatile. At close to 6-3 with long arms, Moore has the body of a safety and the game of a cornerback. He is the rare type of defensive back that could literally start and thrive at all five secondary positions (field corner, boundary corner, field safety, boundary safety, nickel). His long strides mask how fast he is and his knack for getting his hands on the football is special.
New Jersey native Jayden Bellamy is more of a combo player that could play corner but fits best at safety.
What I love most about this cornerback class is not its length or playmaking ability, it's the fact this group of four corners can actually fit together on the field at the same time. When they arrive in the winter and fall this group will give the Notre Dame secondary an immediate, and much-needed boost in length, versatility and most important coverage ability.
NWANKPA IS A MUST-GET
There is one glaring hole in the current 2022 class, and that is a pure safety, which makes Iowa standout Xavier Nwankpa important from a need standpoint alone. But Nwankpa simply being a safety isn't the reason he is a must-get for Notre Dame. For this defense to truly be elite it needs more playmakers at safety, and that is a position the Irish coaches have struggled to recruit in recent seasons.
The 6-2, 190-pound safety is the ideal fit for the Notre Dame defense, which wants and needs safeties with a complete game. Nwankpa can play the alleys in run support just as well as he can play center field, and he has the athleticism and instincts to be a strong man cover defender as well. Players with his combination of intelligence, athleticism and length are hard to find, but they are exactly what Freeman wants and needs on the back end of his defense.
Nwankpa is a Notre Dame fit on and off the field, but the staff must continue to convince him of that. Right now I do like where Notre Dame stands, but Iowa and Ohio State aren't going away. This is the kind of player that can show not only what safeties coach Chris O'Leary can do as a recruiter, it will show the kind of influence Freeman can have ... or not.
Landing Nwankpa would give Notre Dame an elite recruit that boosts the recruiting class, but more importantly it would give the Irish defensive staff a playmaking safety that can impact the depth chart the moment he steps foot on campus.
ONE MORE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN IS IDEAL
I wouldn't say Notre Dame "needs" another defensive lineman, but I do think another defensive lineman would be ideal. There are two outstanding players let on the board, and landing either one would be a coup for the Notre Dame staff. The two players left on the board are Anthony Lucas and Hero Kanu.
Arizona native Anthony Lucas might not be the positional need that Nwankpa is, but he's an elite talent. Lucas actually grades out as the No. 1 overall defensive player on the board for me, and that includes committed and uncommitted players. Players with his combination of size, athleticism and production don't come along very often, and Lucas seems to fit well at Notre Dame off the field as well.
Getting him away from the Southwest/West Coast could be a major challenge, but the Irish staff is still giving it their best shot. Should Elston pull this off it would be arguably the biggest recruiting upset of his long tenure in South Bend, but if it is combined with landing Nwankpa it would give Notre Dame arguably the best defensive class in the entire country.
Landing Kanu would be no consolation prize and he's a Top 100 recruit in his own right. While Lucas is more of a hybrid player that could thrive at big end, five technique and inside at DT, Kanu is more of a pure interior player that could possibly take some reps at the five-technique.
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Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule
Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Offense
Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Defense
Notre Dame 2022 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2022 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
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