Notre Dame football continuing to prioritize elite defensive lineman who has a chance to be a CFB superstar
You don’t often see Notre Dame offer many high school freshmen. Not many high school freshmen, however, are 2028 Orange (Calif.) Lutheran defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou. At 6-7 and 275 pounds, the size pops out immediately, but the talent extends way beyond that. Fakatou was able to earn that offer from the Fighting Irish earlier […]
You don’t often see Notre Dame offer many high school freshmen. Not many high school freshmen, however, are 2028 Orange (Calif.) Lutheran defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou. At 6-7 and 275 pounds, the size pops out immediately, but the talent extends way beyond that.
Fakatou was able to earn that offer from the Fighting Irish earlier this offseason when he camped in South Bend. The California star spoke high praises of Notre Dame following that initial visit. So much so that Fakatou made a return to campus this week. He is on campus now, and is on a multi-day visit through Thursday.
As a 2028 recruit, Fakatou is not yet rated by any major recruiting platform. If you want to know just how good Fakatou is, take a look at his offer list. Some of the top programs that have offered him so far include the Fighting Irish, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, Oregon, Oklahoma, USC, Auburn, Miami, Penn State, Nebraska, Missouri, Washington, Utah, BYU, Arizona State, SMU, Minnesota, Syracuse, Arizona, and Cal among others.
Despite being just a freshman, Fakatou was able to earn an important role on a loaded Orange Lutheran squad. In 10 games, he was able to record 28 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and five sacks. Fakatou also broke up a pass and blocked a field goal.
From a body type perspective, there are a lot of parallels to former USC star Leonard Williams. For as big as he is, you would expect Fakatou to be a pretty average athlete. Then you see him move, and you get pretty surprised. Fakatou has the ability to make some plays off of the edge, but his body looks destined to move inside to the interior.
Getting a player like Fakatou out of the state of California isn’t going to be easy. That’s especially true since several elite programs are also already pursuing the California native. You don’t want to be too hyperbolic when talking about freshmen, but Fakatou is a special talent. He has superstar upside on the college level.
