Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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84 MARCH 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2026 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Another priority has emerged off the edge in Exton (Pa.) Downingtown East four-star Abraham Sesay. Freeman and Partridge visited the No. 6 edge and No. 35 overall prospect nationally sepa- rately during the January contact period. They also saw a pair of three-star de- fensive tackles: Brayden Parks of Chicago Brother Rice and Montana Toilolo at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. They rank Nos. 39 and 63 at the position, respectively, and both remain key interior targets. Partridge made stops to see three other interior recruits: Birmingham (Ala.) Ramsay four-star Karlos May, Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh School four-star Joseph Buchanan and West Palm Beach (Fla.) Palm Beach Central three-star Tyler Alexander. They rank Nos. 10, 22 and 41, respectively, among defensive linemen nationally. Two additional defensive tackles to monitor are Seattle O'Dea three-star Tevita Nonu and Chicago St. Patrick's David Folorunsho. Nonu is the No. 34 defensive lineman in the class, while Folorunsho is still awaiting a ranking. On the edge, Notre Dame visited an impressive group that includes Bra- denton (Fla.) IMG Academy five-star Zyron Forstall, Olney (Md.) Good Coun- sel four-star Anthony Sweeney, Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson four-star K.J. Green, Greenwich (Conn.) Country Day four-star Mekai Brown and Annap- olis (Md.) High four-star Rion Jackson. Rivals ranks Forstall No. 4, Brown No. 5, Sweeney No. 7, Green No. 18 and Jackson No. 22 as edge rushers in the class. LINEBACKER Committed: 1 Projected take: 2-3 Synopsis: New linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary inherited a board that already includes one commitment in Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy three- star Amarri Irvin, the No. 38 linebacker in the 2027 class. There are several candidates Jean-Mary could pair with Irvin. The top priority has been Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit four-star Kaden Henderson, the No. 2 linebacker nation- ally. Notre Dame hosted Henderson in November, and Freeman visited him dur- ing the January contact period. Jean-Mary's addition has also helped the Irish gain momentum with Hay- market (Va.) Battlefield four-star Noah Glover, the No. 12 linebacker. On Feb. 10, Glover included Notre Dame in his top six alongside Georgia, Miami, Oregon, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech. In January, Notre Dame extended an offer to Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban three-star Brayton Feister. Jean-Mary previously recruited the No. 19 athlete in the class while at Michigan. Before Al Washington departed for the Miami Dolphins, he evaluated several other linebacker targets for Notre Dame: Nashville (Tenn.) Franklin Road Academy four-star Omarii Sanders, a Vanderbilt commit, and a trio of three-star pros- pects in Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy's Kenneth Simon, Anaheim (Calif.) Ser- vite's Isaiah Leilua and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco's Josiah Poyer. Rivals ranks Sanders, Simon, Leilua and Poyer as the Nos. 7, 25, 39 and 52 linebackers in the class, respectively. DEFENSIVE BACK Committed: 3 Projected take: 5-6 Synopsis: Mike Mickens left de- fensive backs coach Aaron Henry in a strong position for the 2027 cycle. Notre Dame holds commitments from Cincinnati Anderson four-star Ace Alston and Raleigh (N.C.) Cardinal Gibbons four-star Xavier Hasan, ranked Nos. 4 and 12 at cornerback, respectively. The Irish also have a pledge from four-star Khalil Terry, the No. 13 safety in the class. At cornerback, seven additional names stand out, led by the No. 1 cor- nerback in the class in Cornelius (N.C.) Hough five-star Joshua Dobson. There are four other blue-chip pros- pects to know: Gardena (Calif.) Juni- pero Serra's Duvay Williams, Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek's Brandon Sher- rard, Euclid (Ohio) High's Kei'Shjuan Telfair and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas four-star Jaden Carey. They rank as the Nos. 6, 9, 27 and 31 cornerbacks in the class, respectively. Though Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco's Jailen Hill and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy's Censere Gaylord are both three stars, Notre Dame is after them, too. Hill and Gaylord are the Nos. 36 and 46 cornerbacks in the class, respectively. At safety, Notre Dame is targeting two elite four-star recruits from Cali- fornia: San Diego Cathedral Catholic's Honor Fa'alave-Johnson and La Verne (Calif.) Damien's Gavin Williams. They are the Nos. 4 and 19 safeties in the class, respectively. There are also two safeties in Florida to know: Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas three-star Zayden Gamble and Miami Carol City's Alan Blackshere. Gamble is the No. 34 safety in the class, while Blackshere is currently unrated. Another name to monitor is Chicago Mount Carmel four-star Tavares Har- rington, the No. 20 safety in the class. Before departing for the Baltimore Ravens, Mickens was recruiting Har- rington at safety. SPECIALIST Committed: 1 Projected take: 1-2 Synopsis: Special teams coordina- tor Marty Biagi has secured his future long snapper in Asheville (N.C.) Chris- tian Academy three-star Sean Kraft, the No. 1 specialist at the position. Beyond Kraft, it remains unclear whether Notre Dame will add a kicker or punter in the 2027 class. No public offers have been reported at either position. ✦ Cincinnati Anderson four-star Ace Alston is one of three defensive backs verbally committed to the Irish in the 2027 class. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER