While most of college football has been put on hold, recruiting marches on. The class of 2021 has seen a wave of commitments since the start of April, and the team rankings have adjusted to reflect growing classes. We are taking a snapshot of classes in the Rivals Team Rankings, and continue today with a look at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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MORE IRISH: Where does Notre Dame rank among the best football-basketball combo schools? | ND's 2021 commitment list
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
MORE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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NOTRE DAME
Current rank: No. 11
Number of commits: 10
Top commits: Four-star OT Blake Fisher (No. 22), four-star WR Lorenzo Styles Jr. (No. 39), four-star QB Tyler Buchner (No. 46)
Top targets: Four-star WR Dont’e Thornton Jr. (No. 53), four-star OG Rocco Spindler (No. 56), three-star DB Ryan Barnes
LOCAL REACTION
“Notre Dame got off to such a strong start in the 2021 class, and there was plenty of hope that this would be a top five group. The Irish are likely not even going to sniff 25 total signees, so it will be hard to have a highly ranked class. However, it should be very good when it comes to sorting by average star ranking.
"The Irish were able to land commitments from offensive lineman Pat Coogan, cornerback Philip Riley and defensive end Jason Onye during this quarantine period, all prospects whom the staff coveted. The Irish lost out on North Carolina running back Will Shipley to Clemson, so it's key for them to find more playmakers in the backfield.
"You can always use more weapons at receiver too, and there aren't many better pass catchers than Dont'e Thornton Jr.
"Rocco Spindler is probably the most well-known target on the board among Notre Dame fans, and many would consider the offensive line class a failure if the Irish aren't able to land the nation's No. 3 guard.” – Mike Singer, BlueandGold.com
NATIONAL REACTION
"Notre Dame has not been as active as other teams in adding new commitments during this dead period, and it also lost a pair of four-stars in Deion Colzie and Greg Crippen. The Crippen de-commitment was a long-time coming and it felt like the Irish were already moved on when it was officially announced, but the momentum here is not as robust as it is with other teams in this range.
"Notre Dame is maybe the best national recruiting team in the country, but in order to maintain that distinction it needs to get kids on campus, so the visit shutdown disproportionately affects the Irish.” – Josh Helmholdt, Midwest recruiting analyst
