Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 FEBRUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY MIKE SINGER N otre Dame signed 24 recruits during the early signing pe- riod Dec. 21-23 and could po- tentially add more on National Signing Day Feb. 1. Below is a breakdown of each Notre Dame class of 2023 signee, listed in or- der of their rankings in the On3 Consen- sus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media compa- nies, as of Dec. 30. 1. CHARLES JAGUSAH OL • 6-6, 300 ROCK ISLAND, ILL. • ALLEMAN H.S. T h i s i s t h e ty p e o f player and young man that Notre Dame abso- lutely has to land. He's a very talented prospect who offers high upside and little bust potential, while also tremendous student and leader off the field. Plus, he's from the Midwest. The landscape in college football is changing, and it may be difficult for Notre Dame as an institution to adapt with those changes, but as long as re- cruits such as Jagusah exist, the Irish have to land them. Jagusah, who is a five-star prospect in On3's own rankings, is the No. 5 of- fensive tackle and No. 42 overall player in America per the On3 Consensus. 2. JEREMIYAH LOVE RB • 6-1, 195 ST. LOUIS • CHRISTIAN BROTHERS H.S. Landing Love is a re- cruiting win that shows what Marcus Freeman can do as a head coach. I feel confident in saying that Notre Dame doesn't land Love in the Brian Kelly era. It took a lot of effort and dynamic per- sonalities on the Irish staff to pull off getting Love's commitment and sign- ing him. Freeman, Deland McCullough, Tommy Rees and Chad Bowden deserve a lot of credit for beating out Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and others for him initially, and holding off other programs late in the cycle. On the field, Love is as good as they come. His combination of speed, natu- ral playmaking ability and versatility as an offensive weapon is off the charts. This is an absolutely fantastic get for the Irish. Love is the nation's No. 5 running back No. 67 overall player. 3. DRAYK BOWEN LB • 6-1, 232 ST. JOHN, IND. • ANDREAN H.S. The high school Butkus Award winner. MaxPreps Indiana Player of the Year. Mr. Football in Indiana. All-American. 2021 In- diana 2A state champion. What else is there to say about Drayk Bowen? Not only has he been an absolute menace on the field, he is as good of a person as they come off of it and has been a pleasure to interact with for the past couple years. Bowen, who is the No. 7 linebacker and No. 88 overall prospect in the na- tion, also is expected to play baseball at Notre Dame. He's one heck of an athlete. Bowen's high school career was noth- ing short of sensational. In 55 career games, he recorded 379 tackles, 54 tack- les for loss, 16 sacks, 6 interceptions, 6 passes broken up, 6 fumble recover- ies, 10 forced fumbles, 4 blocked punts and 3 blocked field goals. He also added a fumble recovery score and returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns in his career. Charles Jagusah is Notre Dame's highest-rated recruit, the No. 42 overall player in the On3 Consensus. PHOTO COURTESY ON3.COM RANKING THE RECRUITS Blue & Gold Illustrated's insights on Notre Dame's early signees