What would a top rated recruiting class look like for Notre Dame Football?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish currently have the #1 recruiting class in the country for the 2023 cycle according to the 247 Team Composite. Even the most optimistic fan out there doesn’t truly believe Notre Dame has a chance to finish with the #1 class — but it’s not that crazy of a thought.

Using 247’s class calculator, I took the current 9 commitments and added 17 players to create a 26 man class. A few notes to consider:

• The 17 players selected were took from the current offer list. Right now there are about 138 offers for 2023 against a yearly average of around 185.
• These aren’t exactly predictions, but the 17 players selected are some of the more likely commitments in 2023 (as of right now).
• Why 26? No specific reason other than a belief that Notre Dame will likely shift towards 25+ man classes for the foreseeable future. The changing landscape of college football will mean more players moving around on a yearly basis.

So — here we are — here’s a class that can compete for that #1 spot. More importantly, however, it’s one of several similar classes needed to truly compete for a national championship.

Go ahead and look up and down that list, and I think you’ll find that it isn’t a pipe dream. Obviously the class may end up quite differently — but those are all names that are high possibilities for Notre Dame.

That 26 person list has a ranking grade of 322.62. How does it rank against the last 5 years?

2022 #2
2021 #2
2020 #1
2019 #1
2018 #2

Again... this isn’t a prediction. This is what a top class for Notre Dame can look like, and it looks like something that is doable if the Irish recruit the way that Marcus Freeman has been mandating in his statements to the press.

This is the thing that can help put Notre Dame over the top. Keep paying attention.