Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532365
82 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY MIKE SINGER N otre Dame signed a 25-man 2025 class that was No. 12 in the country in the On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings. And the Irish already have a strong head start on the 2026 cycle with seven commitments as of Feb. 10 — five on offense and two on defense. Blue Gold Illustrated breaks down who is committed, who the top targets are and how many players are expected at each position for the Irish in the 2025 class. All rankings listed are according to On3. QUARTERBACK Committed: 1 Projected take: 1 Synopsis: On June 1, 2024, Lake Mary (Fla.) High's Noah Grubbs, the No. 26 quarterback nationally, commit- ted to Notre Dame over Florida, Michi- gan, Penn State and many others. He looks to be rock solid in his Irish pledge and has visited South Bend four times since making his decision, including at the end of January for the staff's big ju- nior day recruiting event. Grubbs was a top of the board target at the position for the Irish staff, and they got their man. RUNNING BACK Committed: 0 Projected take: 1-2 Synopsis: Notre Dame will definitely take one running back, but whether it takes two will in part depend on the wishes of its new position coach. News broke Feb. 10 that Penn State's Ja'Juan Seider was expected to take the job. Notre Dame had a set running back board with Deland McCullough, but now that he's departed we'll see what changes Seider makes on the board. At Penn State, he had Harrisburg (Pa.) High's Messiah Mickens, the No. 14 running back and No. 129 overall player nationally, committed. Notre Dame targeted Mickens before he picked the Nittany Lions. Will the Irish look to flip him? For McCullough, the player who looked to be on the top of the board was Carrollton (Ga.) Central's Jonaz Walton, who ranks as the No. 4 running back and No. 58 overall prospect in America. Se- ider offered Walton while at Penn State, for what it's worth. Forney (Texas) High's Javian Osborne, Raymore (Mo.) Peculiar's DeZephen Walker and West Boca Raton (Fla.) High's Javian Mallory have been other key running back targets for the Irish thus far. They rank as the Nos. 5, 11 and 29 running backs in the land, respec- tively. WIDE RECEIVER Committed: 1 Projected take: 3-4 Synopsis: The Irish have the younger brother of Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison committed. Last spring, Boca Raton (Fla.) Saint Andrew's School's Dylan Faison, a three-star prospect, pledged to the Irish. Notre Dame has a handful of other receiver prospects it would love to have, and Jacksonville (Fla.) The Bolles School's Naeem Burroughs is the high- est ranked of the bunch, checking in as the No. 4 wideout and No. 38 overall recruit in the nation. Notre Dame is a top program on Burrough's list. The Irish are in hot pursuit of Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Catholic's Trent Mosley, son of Emmett Mosley IV, who played wide receiver and running back for the Irish from 1993-96. His mother, Cindy, was a standout women's soc- cer player at Notre Dame during that same period. The young Mosley ranks as the No. 39 wideout and No. 262 overall player in the land. At the end of January, the Irish hosted three big-time receiver targets in Aledo (Texas) High's Kaydon Finley, Potomac (Md.) The Bullis School's Connor Sal- min and Red Oak (Texas) High's Brayden Robinson. This group ranks as the Nos. 18, 26 and 80 receivers nationally, re- spectively. Finley and Robinson look to be leaning towards the Irish, while Sal- min has Clemson, Notre Dame and Penn State atop his list. On Feb. 6, the Irish offered two four- star wideouts in SEC country. Those players are Norman (Okla.) North's Ma- son James and Mansfield (Texas) High's Zion Robinson, who rank as the Nos. 46 and 28 wideouts in the land, respec- tively. BGI believes that Notre Dame Lake Mary (Fla.) High's Noah Grubbs, the No. 26 quarterback nationally per On3, committed to Notre Dame over Florida, Michigan and Penn State last summer. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER A Look Ahead At The Irish's Class of 2026