Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 75 2023 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE the No. 5 pass catcher and No. 20 over- all prospect in the land. He's locked in with the Irish, and there are several other big-time, key targets of note at the position. Out of St. Louis, the Irish are in hot pursuit of Christian Brothers College's Jeremiah McClellan and University High's Ryan Wingo. Notre Dame was in early on both players, but as the cy- cle has gone on, both prospects have been visiting other programs of late and haven't been to South Bend in a while. McClellan and Wingo are the No. 30 and No. 7 wide receivers nationally, respec- tively. Position coach Chansi Stuckey and Co. will continue to battle for both talents. In January, Notre Dame extended offers to Las Vegas Arbor View's Da- vid Washington and West Hills (Ca- lif.) Chaminade's Kwazi Gilmer. Irish sources indicate that both players will be key targets for Notre Dame moving forward. Washington is ranked the No. 77 receiver nationally, while Gilmer is currently unranked. Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Catholic's Emmett Mosley V — son of two former Irish athletes, Emmett IV and Cindy (née Daws) — also received an offer. Mosley's father played running back and receiver at Notre Dame from 1993-96, and his mother was a stand- out soccer player who won the 1996 Hermann Trophy as the top collegiate soccer player in the country. In recent interviews, Mosley has been talking up a few Pac-12 contenders in his re- cruitment, but the feeling is that the four-star recruit doesn't want the na- tion thinking he's a lock to Notre Dame as most pundits had believed. We still believe the Irish are the team to beat in his recruitment. Hicksville (N.Y.) Holy Trinity Dioce- san's Josiah Brown, Tampa (Fla.) Carroll- wood Day's Bredell Richardson and Fort Wayne (Ind.) North Side's Tae Johnson are other prospects of note. Johnson is listed as a wide receiver by On3 and could play that position or safety for the Irish. TIGHT END Committed: 1 Projected Take: 2 Synopsis: Charlotte (N.C.) Catho- lic's Jack Larsen, the No. 18 tight end in America, committed to Notre Dame last summer and is solid with the Irish. It's normal for Notre Dame to take two tight ends in a cycle considering the elite tal- ent it can attract. The Irish only signed one tight end last cycle (Cooper Flana- gan), setting up position coach Gerad Parker to certainly land a second in ad- dition to Larsen in 2024. At the top of the wish list is Ain- sworth (Neb.) High's Carter Nelson, who is the No. 5 tight end and No. 109 overall prospect nationally. The Irish have been after him for a few months now and Irish head coach Marcus Free- man even made it out to Nelson's school in January, showing just how much of a priority Nelson is to Notre Dame. Raymore (Mo.) Peculiar's Jaden Red- dell and Carrollton (Ga.) High's Caleb Odom, the No. 1 and No. 6 tight ends in the land, respectively, picked up of- fers from Notre Dame this winter and will be key prospects for the staff mov- ing forward. Neither have visited South Bend yet, but the priority is to get both on campus this spring. OFFENSIVE LINE Committed: 1 Projected Take: 3 Synopsis: Notre Dame has loaded up on the offensive line in the past three recruiting cycles, signing 15 players in total. This year is expected to be a smaller take with three, but that is al- ways subject to change. Malvern (Pa.) Prep's Peter Jones, the No. 34 interior offensive lineman in the land, has been committed to the Irish since last August and is going strong with his pledge. Of the current offensive line targets, the Irish are in the best shape with Hamilton (Ind.) Southeastern's Styles Prescod, the No. 19 offensive tackle and No. 266 overall player nationally. The Irish are going hard after the in-state product. West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Me- morial's Guerby Lambert, who is the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 13 overall prospect in America, has been a long- time target for the Irish but hasn't been to campus just yet. Notre Dame is a lead school for him, though. Brookline (Mass.) Dexter School's Liam Andrews, Logan (Iowa) Magno- lia's Grant Brix and Reading (Pa.) Wyo- missing's Caleb Brewer are all key tar- gets for the Irish as well — along with Prescod and Lambert — per Notre Dame sources. Warminster (Pa.) Archbishop Wood's Kevin Heywood may be another worth monitoring, but he's considered a Penn State lean. DEFENSIVE LINE Committed: 1 Projected Take: 5 Synopsis: There are no shortage of defensive line targets for the Irish in the 2024 class. To this point, position coach Al Washington and Co. have offered nearly 40 prospects on the defensive line. This would be an endless synopsis if we were to try to include every target, but here's a look at the key prospects per Blue & Gold Illustrated's knowledge. Princeton (N.J.) The Hun School's Owen Wafle, the No. 46 defensive line- man nationally, committed to Notre Dame last May and is solid with his pledge. He's a wrecking ball on the in- terior of the defensive line. Charlotte (N.C.) Christian's Bryce Young — son of Irish legend Bryant Young — is considered a Notre Dame lean but is seeing his recruitment blow up in recent weeks. Young, who is ranked as the No. 11 edge and No. 103 overall prospect in America, is a top tar- get for Notre Dame. Notre Dame would love to land twin brothers Jacob and Jerod Smith, who transferred to Cheshire (Conn.) Acad- emy in February. They're not expected to make a decision on which school they'll attend until their birthday in August, but the Irish are currently considered the team to beat for the twins, who will attend the same school at the next level. Jacob is the No. 19 edge and No. 218 overall prospect nationally, while Je- rod is the No. 34 defensive lineman in America. Chicago St. Ignatius' Justin Scott, the nation's No. 2 defensive lineman and No. 16 overall prospect, is one of the top overall targets in the entire 2024 class for the Irish. Scott had planned to announce a commitment Jan. 31 with Notre Dame being the favorite to land his pledge, but he decided to push his timeline back to the middle of the year. Georgia, Michigan and Southern Cal are among the other programs making a run at the 6-5, 310-pounder.