Notre Dame is predicted to miss out on a priority 5-star recruiting target, but the timing feels extremely odd
A top Notre Dame 2027 recruiting target was predicted to land elsewhere. How much should Fighting Irish fans read into this update?
Notre Dame football is about to enter a very important part of the college football offseason: Official visitor season for the 2027 recruiting class. With head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish riding strong recruiting momentum right now, there is no reason to believe that a lot more good news isn’t on the horizon over the next couple of months, in theory, anyway.
One of the more official visitors heading back to South Bend in the future is elite 2027 Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou. The California native will make his Notre Dame return on June 15-17, which is preceded by other official visits to Ohio State (May 29-31), Georgia (June 1-3), Texas (June 5-7), and Oregon (June 12-14). Going into the hectic few weeks, the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes are viewed as the top two contenders.
A lot is going to change during these official visits, yet Rivals national recruiting analysts Steve Wiltfong and Adam Gorney both logged expert predictions for Fakatou to land with Ohio State. In the update, they write that the visits will be a large piece of the final decision, but that didn’t stop them from dropping this new prediction. The timing feels a bit odd.
While this update will be unsettling for Notre Dame fans, I wouldn’t read much into it right now. Notre Dame has the final visit, and while I would give a slight lead to the Buckeyes at the moment, it is hard to bet against Freeman and Co. when it comes to official visits. The Fighting Irish have the chance to get this one done in the end.
Marcus Fakatou’s recruiting background
Fakatou is extremely well-liked by the major recruiting services so far. In the early 247 Sports ranking for the 2028 recruiting class, the California native was rated as the No. 3 overall player, No. 1 defensive lineman, and No. 1 player in the state of California. Even with Fakatou reclassifying to the 2027 class, he is still considered to be an elite-level prospect. On the Composite ranking, he is rated as a five-star recruit, the No. 33 overall player, the No. 2 defensive lineman, and the No. 3 player from the state of California.
Even though Fakatou made that reclassification jump, a long list of impressive programs has already been pursuing him. Some of his top offers include the Fighting Irish, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, USC, Penn State, Miami, Auburn, Nebraska, SMU, BYU, Arizona State, Missouri, Utah, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona, Syracuse, and Cal, among many others.
Even as a “freshman” in 2024, Fakatou made a lot of plays for a very talented Orange Lutheran squad. The 6-7, 275-pound athlete managed to record 28 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and five sacks. He was even better in 2025, finishing the season with 69 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, seven sacks, 14 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and eight blocked kicks. The inside-out versatility is tremendous.