Notre Dame Weekend Recruiting Preview | 2025 D-Line Prospects
Saturday’s game against Ohio State isn’t just the biggest game on Notre Dame’s schedule this season, it also represents the biggest recruiting event for the Irish this season.
Notre Dame will be hosting dozens of prospects from across the country in multiple classes for the primetime atmosphere.
Here’s a look at some of the top defensive line prospects with Irish offers who are expected to be in attendance.
2025 Kentucky DE Austin Alexander
Alexander proved just how interested he was in Notre Dame when he made multiple trips to South Bend last season. Earlier this month, the Irish showed how interested they are in him when they extended a scholarship offer to him.
When he got word of the offer, Alexander quickly made plans to get to Notre Dame for the home opener as well as the return trip this weekend.
Alexander’s offer sheet also includes schools like Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Purdue. Clemson has also shown some serious interest.
Alexander’s uncle is former Alabama and Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander. His father attended Notre Dame and was in the marching band.
2025 Illinois DE Chris Burgess
Burgess is another defensive end who has not been shy in expressing his sincere interest in the Irish. Burgess has made the trip down from Chicago multiple times already this year, including trips for the spring game, Irish Invasion and July’s Grill & Chill.
The fact that he’s making this trip is notable as well since Simeon has a game of its own on Saturday afternoon. He’s going to have to hustle to get down to South Bend afterward, but he’s told us getting to this game is a priority for him.
Relationships are going to be critical in Burgess’ ultimate decision and he already has a strong one with Irish defensive line coach Al Washington.
Burgess is an elite level prospect with offers from schools like Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, USC and Oregon among several others. With his game schedule, it’s going to be difficult for Burgess to get many other places this fall too, but he’s talked about trips to Colorado and Michigan as well.
2025 Alabama DE CJ May
When we spoke with Deuce Knight after his commitment to the Irish this week, the first defensive prospect Knight pointed to as a target of his was May.
The interest is there on May’s part, but it will be a tough pull.
May dropped a Top 10 over the summer that included Notre Dame, Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Miami and Tennessee among others.
He visited Notre Dame back in June and left impressed. The Irish have done a good job showing him that he’s a priority ever since, especially Al Washington and Marcus Freeman.
2025 Illinois DE Joseph Reiff
Reiff fits the classic “ND kid” mold. Like current Irish running back commit Justin Thurman, it takes all of 90 seconds speaking with Reiff to realize that he’d be a good fit for Notre Dame.
Reiff camped at Notre Dame in June and impressed enough to leave with an offer from the Irish. He returned for the Grill & Chill a month later.
Reiff’s father played at Northwestern, so the recruiting process isn’t a foreign one. His offer sheet also includes schools like Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue, Louisville and Cincinnati. We’re told his commitment would be a welcomed one by Notre Dame at this point, but we also know Reiff has been advised to carefully consider his options before making a decision.
He’s already visited Purdue this season.
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