The Notre Dame 2025 recruiting class could go down as one of the most bizarre groups in recent memory, particularly at the skill positions
Notre Dame 2025 recruiting has been a bizarre class to monitor so far. That is especially true at the skill positions. We all know about the Deuce Knight saga, with the talented five-star signal caller eventually flipping his commitment to Auburn after flirting for months. The Irish staff acted swiftly, eventually pulling off a flip […]
Notre Dame 2025 recruiting has been a bizarre class to monitor so far. That is especially true at the skill positions. We all know about the Deuce Knight saga, with the talented five-star signal caller eventually flipping his commitment to Auburn after flirting for months. The Irish staff acted swiftly, eventually pulling off a flip of their own, luring quarterback Blake Hebert away from Clemson.
Wide receiver recruiting has been just as strange so far. Notre Dame has seemingly missed on the majority of their top targets early on in this class. It now sits with Elijah Burress, Jerome Bettis Jr., and Antavious Richardson. The staff would still like to add at least one more pass catcher, and still have their eyes set on LSU commit Derek Meadows.
Somehow there may not be a weirder position group than running back, where we just saw long time commit Justin Thurman flip to the Kansas Jayhawks. Obviously, that is a very strange flip destination, and from the sounds of it, this was a mutual parting. While Thurman brings a lot of speed and explosiveness to the table, his two years of film as the full time back at Tampa Jesuit have left a lot to be desired.
Thurman is the second running back decommitment in this class, along with Arkansas standout Daniel Anderson, who is still looking for a new home. Notre Dame recently made a flip of their own, grabbing New Jersey native Nolan James, who was previously committed to Boston College but is teammates with Burress.
With National Signing Day only a few weeks away, it appears doubtful that the Irish will sign a second running back in this class. Thurman had been committed since August of last year, but it became clear that his path toward playing time would be pretty steep. Notre Dame is prepared to just take one running back in this class unless the right one wants to come late in this process.
If I would have told you this time last season that your skill position class would have consisted of quarterback Blake Hebert, running back Nolan James, wide receivers Elijah Burress, Jerome Bettis Jr., Antavious Richardson, and one other wide receiver to be named, you would have called me crazy. This has been about as bizarre of a recruiting class as one can remember, and thankfully it is almost over.
