Notre Dame Football Recruiting: How many will the Irish sign in the 2020 class, and what is the positional breakdown?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish just finished up the 2019 recruiting cycle, but they have been hard at work for the 2020 class for quite a long time already. The Irish have secured 4 commitments in this class, and are already dome with two position groups (TE & QB).

Notre Dame has about 117 offers out right now, and that number will probably be around 180 before it’s all said and done. There are some basic questions that we can ask right now:

• How many can/will Notre Dame sign?
• How many players at each position?
• BUT WHAT ‘BOUT THEM 5 STARS?!
• Are there any hot names right now?

We’ll try to answer those questions (kind of) but it’s still early, and the Irish still have roster attrition on the menu for 2019 that hasn’t happened yet.

HOW MANY?

If the Irish get down to 85 on its 2019 roster, that leaves 14 scholarship spots. I won’t speculate on what type of attrition the Irish will see over the next 12 months, but I imagine it could be around another 10 players. To play it somewhat conservative, I’ll state that I believe this class will be about 20 players.

WHAT’S THE POSITION BREAKDOWN?

I think we can make some general assumptions about the possible breakdown of the class — so let’s hit it!

• QB (1) Drew Pyne is in the books. Done.
• RB (2) Despite a running back room that will have a lot of bodies in it, I think the Irish grab two of their highest rated backs in half a decade.
• TE (2) Notre Dame has Michael Mayer and Kevin Baumen on the commit list. Done.
• WR (3) The Irish have more offers out to this position group than any other. I believe they will try and sign 3, but 2 or 4 wouldn’t surprise me either.
• OL (3) Notre Dame returns 4 starters (but all 5 with starting experience) along the offensive line in 2019. In 2020, they could return another 4. There numbers are strong here, and I think 3 is a solid number on a “short year.”
• DT (2) If injuries go well enough (meaning: healed) Notre Dame is already sitting at 3 deep at DT in 2020. I believe they will push that to 4 deep as they can never have enough depth on the defensive front.
• DE (3) 2020 will see a lot of talent leave South Bend at DE. Edge rushers are at a premium, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the Irish tried to sign 4.
• LB (2) I can’t imagine the Irish continuing to load up in numbers at linebacker, but they will still probably try to sign 2 at least.
• CB (1) After a few years of coming up empty, the Irish landed 5 cornerbacks in the last two classes. I believe they will still try to sign one this class, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they passed this cycle.
• S (1) Safety is almost exactly like cornerback. Notre Dame will have 5 on the roster in 2020. In fact, I think the chances of Notre Dame signing a safety in 2020 is less than at cornerback.

5 STAR TALENT

As of right now, the Irish have offered 17 different 5-Star prospects. Only 5-Star RB Chris Tyree looks like a possibility at this point. The Irish have 4 offers out to 5-Star RB’s though, so at least they appear to be trying to get an elite talent to South Bend.

HOT NAMES?

We already mentioned Chris Tyree, but here are a few other names being mentioned with a little more sauce:

• RB Michael Drennen II
• RB Reggie Love
• WR A.J. Henning
• WR Jalen McMillan
• OT Paris Johnson Jr.
• OT Kevin Pyne
• DE Bryan Bresee
• DE Rylie Mills
• DE Braiden McGregor
• DT Aidan Keanaaina
• LB Cody Simon
• ATH Enzo Jennings

The “hot list” will change quite a bit through spring, so I wouldn’t get married to these prospects just yet.

SPRING?

Remember, because of the early signing period, recruits can take official visits in the spring now. The next couple of months will be vital to Notre Dame’s recruiting efforts, and we will keep a close eye on all of it.