Notre Dame Recruiting Two-Year Grades - Offense Edition

Grading Notre Dame's offensive recruiting results in the 2023 and 2024 classes

Notre Dame has wrapped up its 2024 recruiting class, with all 23 commits turning into signees. It was an excellent class for the Fighting Irish staff, who landed a class filled with impact talent, depth and they met their needs.

It's the second straight year that Notre Dame has landed a strong class. With both now signed, and with grades being handed out for the 2024 class, it's time to look at Notre Dame's two-year recruiting grades.

We'll begin with the Notre Dame offense, which has seen a much-needed infusion of talent and depth across the board on that side of the ball. Notre Dame has a chance to put a very, very talented offense on the field in upcoming seasons.

Note: The grades listed by each player are the Irish Breakdown grades. The first is the current grade and ranking range, the second is the upside grade. The class grades are also based on how the 2023 players were graded when they signed, not how they performed as freshmen.

QUARTERBACK

Grade: A

2023 - Kenny Minchey - 4.0 (Top 100) - 5.0

2024 - CJ Carr - 5.0 (Top 25) - 5.0

There is little doubt that quarterback was the biggest offensive need for Notre Dame when Marcus Freeman took over as head coach. His first two full classes have seen the program completely overhaul the position, with Notre Dame landing two outstanding quarterbacks in back-to-back classes. 

Landing Kenny Minchey in the dramatic fashion in which they did rescued what had the potential to be a big miss at the position. Minchey has impressive arm talent and coaches who spend time around him rave about his mind just as much as his farm.

Carr actually committed to Notre Dame before Minchey, and he was a ring leader of the 2024 class. His arm talent is special, he's a quality athletic and he too is a very smart, high football IQ player. Landing these two standouts in back-to-back classes greatly increases the odds that Notre Dame will be able to find an impact starter in future seasons.

RUNNING BACK

Grade: A 

2023 - Jeremiyah Love - 4.5 (Top 50) - 5.0

2024 - Kedren Young - 4.0 (Top 100) - 5.0
2024 - Aneyas Williams - 4.0 (Top 150) - 4.5

It wasn't that long ago that people would tell me that Notre Dame's running back recruiting problems were due to top players not wanting to come to a place like ND for whatever excuse people could use. Lance Taylor started to turn things around and Deland McCullough has taken it to a whole new level.

Love graded out as a Top 50 national player, and adding a player with his explosiveness and versatility was a coup for the staff. Love was always a great athlete, but as a senior he showed a much-improved feel for playing the position and his grade took off.

Notre Dame wanted two backs in the 2024 class and it landed two outstanding players. Williams jumped on board first, giving the Irish arguably the best all-around back in the country. This is a young man that rushed for over 4,000 yards and had over 3,000 yards receiving in his career. Young is a physical runner with tremendous feet and vision. He's one of the best pure runners that Notre Dame has signed in years.

Notre Dame landed home run hitters at running back, there is all-around talent, there's a hammer. There aren't many teams in college football that are recruiting the running back position better than Notre Dame over the last two years, if there are any.

WIDE RECEIVER

Grade: A-

2023 - Jaden Greathouse - 4.0 (Top 100) - 5.0
2023 - KK Smith - 4.0 (Top 150) - 4.5
2023 - Jordan Faison - N/A

2024 - Cam Williams - 5.0 (Top 25) - 5.0
2024 - Micah Gilbert - 4.0 (Top 150) - 4.5
2024 - Logan Saldate - 4.0 (Top 250) - 4.0

This grade is based on the players that are still part of the program, since two players in the 2023 class departed before the 2024 class was signed. This grade will also reflect the fact Jordan Faison was a walk-on coming out of high school. Landing Faison turned out to be a huge steal for the Irish based on how he played as a freshman, but Faison won't be reflected in this grade because it would all be based on what he did at Notre Dame, but it also shouldn't be ignored.

The two remaining signees in the 2023 class are a pair of Texas receivers in Greathouse and Smith. Greathouse was an elite high school player and graded out as a Top 100 recruit. He was vastly underrated by most services, and landing him gave the Irish one of the highest floor pass catchers in the country. Smith was also very underrated, and I love his combination of speed, athleticism and ball skills. Smith also brings value in the return game.

Notre Dame's 2024 class was a great complement to the 2023 group, but also to itself. All three signees in the 2024 class project best at a different position, but all project to play at least two receiver positions. Williams graded out as a five-star recruit and he adds a huge boost in speed and impact playmaking ability. Gilbert has exceptional ball skills and size, and he's a quality athlete for his size. Saldate is a good athlete that also catches the football quite well and he had a breakout senior season.

Notre Dame signed a pair of Top 100 players, two more Top 150 players and a Top 250 player in the last two years. It gets an A- instead of an A because it could have used one more signee for numbers. If you include Faison based on what we saw from him as a freshmen this group would jump up to an easy A in my view.

TIGHT END

Grade: B

2023 - Cooper Flanagan - 4.0 (Top 250) - 4.5

2024 - Jack Larsen - 4.0 (Top 250) - 4.0

Notre Dame has done a good job at tight end the last two classes, but it hasn't added the high level impact players we've seen in the past. What I like about this one-two punch is how well this duo complements each other.

Flanagan is a massive (6-6, 260) player that is a quality athlete for his size. Flanagan projects as a dominant blocker, but he will add some pass game value as well, and he was a pretty good high school defensive end as well.

Larsen is the ideal complement to Flanagan - and vice versa. He's on the smaller side (6-3, 212) and projects as more of a movement tight end. He gets after it in the run game, but Larsen's grade comes from his pass game skills. Larsen has truly elite ball skills, and if he was just a touch bigger or more explosive he would jump up quite a bit due to his feel for the game and special pass catching ability.

This is a quality group of players.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Grade: A

2023 - Charles Jagusah - 5.0 (Top 25) - 5.0
2023 - Sam Pendleton - 4.0 (Top 200) - 4.5
2023 - Sullivan Absher - 4.0 (Top 200) - 4.5
2023 - Joe Otting - 4.0 (Top 250) - 4.5
2023 - Christopher Terek - 3.5 (Top 400) - 4.0

2024 - Guerby Lambert - 5.0 (Top 25) - 5.0
2024 - Styles Prescod - 4.0 (Top 200) - 4.5
2024 - Peter Jones - 4.0 (Top 200) - 4.0
2024 - Anthonie Knapp - 3.5 (Top 350) - 4.5

Neither offensive line class earned an A grade, with both getting an A- grade. But when you put the group together they are a great fit and grade out with an A grade. A big part of that is the combination of elite talent, elite potential and that the 2023 class is strong where the 2024 class isn't quite as strong, and the 2024 class is strong where the 2023 isn't quite as strong.

Harry Hiestand did a great job putting the 2023 class together, and he helped get the 2024 class off to a good start. When Joe Rudolph arrived I had questions about whether he could continue building on what Hiestand started. Rudolph absolutely answered that question and is thriving on the trail.

Landing big time tackles is a must, and Notre Dame landed a five-star offensive tackle in both classes. Jagusah was the top offensive recruit in the 2023 class after a dominant senior season. He's a massive (6-7, 330) and physical blocker that improved his pass protection skills as a senior. Lambert is also a long player with a massive frame. He's a punishing run blocker with very impressive feet, and I project him to eventually be a big time pass blocker as well. These are two players with legit first-round NFL Draft talent and potential.

None of the other signees graded out as Top 100 players, but the depth of the class is really, really good. Four other signees graded out as Top 200 prospects and two more were Top 250 players. On top of that, five of the non-five star signees earned 4.5-star upside grades. There's a lot of raw talent in both classes, but there is just some work needed.

The 2024 class helped add more pure tackle depth to the roster with Lambert and Prescod. Absher was recruited as a tackle but he came from a triple option offense and pass protection was a major question mark when he signed, but he's a punishing blocker. Prescod adds more length and athleticism to the edge, and if he pans out along with Jagusah and Lambert we could see Absher move inside and develop into a really good guard.

The two classes were both strong inside. Pendleton and Jones are very similar players in that they are both physical, have very good size, are quality short area athletes and they are very high floor players. Otting and Knapp are also similar in that they are undersized but also athletic and tough. Terek adds really good size and power to the inside as well.

Notre Dame met its inside-out needs in these two classes, they added big time size to what was becoming a bit of an undersized offensive line (especially inside), and they added impact talent and potential. The future of the offensive line remains very bright from a talent standpoint.

GRADE KEY

A — Elite / College Football Playoff caliber
B — Outstanding / Top 15 caliber
C — Solid / Borderline Top 25 caliber
D — Subpar / Not good enough
F — Disaster

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

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

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter