Notre Dame is predicted to miss out on their top quarterback target in favor of a hated Fighting Irish rival
2027 Notre Dame quarterback recruiting just took a tough turn. Where do Marcus Freeman and the Irish go from here after the recent news?
While Notre Dame football recruiting has had a lot of momentum in the 2027 class recently, the search for the group’s quarterback has become an interesting affair. Teddy Jarrard was originally a member of the 2027 class before reclassifying and signing with the Fighting Irish with the 2026 group.
Head coach Marcus Freeman, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, and the staff made three offers in a short amount of time, but 2027 Salt Lake City (Utah) West four-star signal caller Kamden Lopati quickly became the top option of the group. Despite being committed to Illinois, Lopati was clearly keeping his options open. That included taking an unofficial visit to South Bend recently.
Following that trip, Notre Dame was seemingly in a great spot with Lopati. The vibes were strong, and optimism was high. The Irish felt like the betting favorite for a couple of days.
That changed in a big way after Lopati took a trip to check out the Michigan Wolverines. Coming out of that visit, they are surging for the Utah star. Rivals national recruiting analysts Steve Wiltfong and Adam Gorney each logged an expert prediction for Lopati to flip to Michigan. Barring something unforeseen, that appears to be a move on the horizon.
For Notre Dame, losing out on Lopati is tough news. They have a visit scheduled with Florida quarterback Champ Monds, but he will soon be the only uncommitted signal caller left on the board. It would be wise for Notre Dame to expand that board sometime in the pretty near future to have a solid group of options.
Kamden Lopati’s recruiting background
The recruiting rankings are a bit all over the place for Lopati right now – some outlets rank him as a four-star and others as a three-star player. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Lopati sits as a four-star, the No. 122 overall player, the No. 9 quarterback, and the No. 2 player from the state of Utah for the 2027 recruiting class. If the interest over the last couple of months is any indication, those rankings should continue to trend upward.
While his rankings are all over the place, the Utah native boasts an impressive offer list so far. Some of his top offers include the Fighting Irish, Georgia, Oregon, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, Arizona State, Utah, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Boston College, Houston, Illinois, Arkansas, Cal, Duke, Stanford, and Purdue, among others. More and more schools are continuing to show a lot of interest in the talented passer.
As a junior in 2025, Lopati put together a tremendous season. The 6-3, 220-pound passer managed to throw for 2,671 yards and 34 touchdowns, completing over 64 percent of his passes and throwing just eight interceptions. Lopati also ran for another 730 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, averaging a stellar 8.1 yards per carry. That part of his game has been extremely underrated.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish News
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