Notre Dame football “still setting the pace” for priority defensive tackle target who comes from a very important recruiting area
Notre Dame continues to be in a great spot with one of their more important 2027 recruiting targets.
From the very beginning of the 2027 recruiting board being created for Notre Dame football, Chicago (Ill.) Brother Rice defensive tackle Brayden Parks has been a priority target for the team. Whenever you have a talented player like Parks right in your backyard, you need to be able to close on them. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish staff have certainly been pushing hard over the last several months.
In an article from Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith, he provided the latest on Parks and his overall recruitment. That included Notre Dame, as well as the presence of Ohio State, Oregon, and Illinois. Here is what Smith had to say.
“Notre Dame, Ohio State, Illinois and Oregon are among the schools in the lead group for Parks. At one point it felt like a matter of time before he was in the Notre Dame class. The Irish are still setting the pace here but home state Illinois is giving him a lot to think about.”
As of today, I am confident in Notre Dame’s chances. As Smith mentioned, that isn’t going to stop some other programs from pushing hard. It’s going to be a battle over the last couple of months, but I believe the Fighting Irish can get it done.
Brayden Parks’ recruiting background
Parks is considered to be a four-star player by a majority of the major recruiting platforms, the exception being Rivals, which has him rated as a three-star player currently. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Parks currently sits as the No. 161 overall player and No. 19 defensive lineman in the 2027 recruiting class. He is also pegged as the No. 8 player in the state of Illinois, a very important area for the Irish.
The offer list for Parks is even more impressive than his recruiting rankings. Some of the top programs that have offered Parks includes the Fighting Irish, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, LSU, Ole Miss, Penn State, USC, Miami, Auburn, Nebraska, Michigan State, Indiana, Kansas State, Iowa, Illinois, Washington, Arkansas, Arizona State, Iowa State, Minnesota, UNC, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and Kansas, among others.
The 6-3, 305-pound defensive tackle was a tremendous player for Brother Rice as a junior in 2025. In 13 games that he played in, Parks managed to record 44 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks. His impact is a lot greater than the box score might suggest, possessing an impressive blend of size, power, and movement skills. It is hard to miss big No. 98 on the field for Brother Rice.
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