Notre Dame football is left with an interesting “dilemma” following suprise commitment from elite TE Ian Premer
Notre Dame football got a massive, yet somewhat surprising, commitment from 2026 Great End (Kansas) High School tight end Ian Premer on Thursday. Considered an elite player in the 2026 recruiting class, Premer currently ranking as the No. 24 overall player and No. 3 tight end in the country according to On3. There is a […]
Notre Dame football got a massive, yet somewhat surprising, commitment from 2026 Great End (Kansas) High School tight end Ian Premer on Thursday. Considered an elite player in the 2026 recruiting class, Premer currently ranking as the No. 24 overall player and No. 3 tight end in the country according to On3. There is a strong argument that Premer is the top tight end to commit to the Fighting Irish since Michael Mayer.
With Premer now in the class, he joins Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic star Preston Fryzel as the two tight end group for the Fighting Irish. While Premer is the stud of that pairing, Fryzel has some incredible upside that he also brings to the table. If he is able to build out his frame effectively, there is a ton of mismatch potential to tap into as a passing game weapon, especially together.
Heading into the 2026 class, we knew that the Fighting Irish staff needed to add two tight ends to the group. They are now tasked with an interesting “dilemma” with one more talented tight end on the board remaining, Waukee (Iowa) High School star Evan Jacobson. The question is, should they still pursue Jacobson and take a third tight end?
It’s unclear whether Notre Dame will make that push for Jacobson now, and there are positives and negatives to doing so. If Jacobson did decide to pull the trigger first, the Fighting Irish would have still taken Premer as an elite talent. It’s uncertain if they will do the same for Jacobson.
The tight end room is in a position to take some chances in its current formation. After the 2025 college football season, both Eli Raridon and Kevin Bauman will be without eligibility. Cooper Flanagan is also coming off of an Achilles injury, so evaluating how he comes back from it will be worth keeping tabs on.
With those question marks considered, as well as Ty Washington having just one year of eligibility remaining after 2025, loading up that room with talented options could be in their best interest. That is especially true considering both Fryzel and Jacobson could use some time to develop their frames. Redshirting both as true freshman wouldn’t be a bad idea.
These hard decisions are the sign of a very healthy program. Having to decide whether to tell talented football players no is what’s going to happen to the degree you are at Notre Dame. This is a very good dilemma to have to deal with.
Former Notre Dame commit anonymously predicted to be a breakout SEC star heading into the 2025 CFB season
Former Notre Dame commit predicted to be SEC star
