Predicting the final 2026 Notre Dame wide receiver recruiting class with the Irish in position for a few stellar pass catchers
Wide receiver recruiting has been an interesting conversation with this Notre Dame program. Former Irish wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey set the recruiting fortunes back a good bit, and made the 2025 class an uphill battle. Unfortunately, Mike Brown wasn’t able to dig them out well enough. There is no skating around a couple simple […]
Wide receiver recruiting has been an interesting conversation with this Notre Dame program. Former Irish wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey set the recruiting fortunes back a good bit, and made the 2025 class an uphill battle. Unfortunately, Mike Brown wasn’t able to dig them out well enough.
There is no skating around a couple simple facts, even though Coach Brown wasn’t put into an ideal position, he still had several missteps down the stretch. This also makes the 2026 recruiting class incredibly important. Brown must show that he can recruit at this type of level.
He has a nice early commitment from Boca Raton (Fla.) St. Andrew’s School pass catcher Dylan Faison, whose last name might sound a bit familiar. While Faison is a talented wide receiver, he also wasn’t the hardest pull in the world due to his family ties to the program. The real test will be grabbing a couple of commitments from the stellar names on the board.
While it doesn’t matter until commitments happen, Notre Dame does have a ton of momentum right now. The magic number seems to be three more commitments in this class, wanting a total of four in the end. Here are my predictions for who ends up in the class.
WR Kaydon Finley – Aledo (Texas) High School
What a monumental pull Finley would be. Coming from the state of Texas, and having elite suitors pursuing him, this might be viewed as a slight upset for Notre Dame. As it currently stands, they stand as good of a chance as anyone. Finley is one of the most productive players in the 2026 class, and would be a huge upgrade at the position.
WR Connor Salmin – Potomac (Md.) The Bullis School
Notre Dame is searching for speed, speed, and more speed at wide receiver. That’s exactly what Salmin brings to the table, having run a 10.44 100-meter yard dash as a sophomore. The Irish are in a battle with Clemson and Penn State, but are the perceived favorites to land Salmin right now.
WR Brayden Robinson – Red Oak (Texas) High School
Speaking of speed, Robinson brings a ton of it to the table as well. He isn’t the biggest guy at 5-8 and 180 pounds, but he makes up for it with his playmaking ability with the football in his hands. He, along with Finley and Salmin, each went for over 1,000 receiving yards as juniors. Robinson is the ideal slot who can make things happen in the RPO and screen game.
Marcus Freeman has a chance to reverse some extremely troubling NFL Draft droughts for Notre Dame in the near future
NFL Draft trends that need to change for Notre Dame.
