Notre Dame Early Signing Period Superlatives
It’s time for an ISD yearly tradition on Signing Day.
ISD’s Greg Flammang, Jamie Uyeyama and Matt Freeman have put pen to paper to come up with a few superlatives for the 2025 Notre Dame recruiting class.
HEAD OF THE CLASS
Greg Flammang: OL Will Black - It makes sense the biggest fish Notre Dame landed comes from the offensive line. Notre Dame needs to stack offensive tackles, and Will Black gives them a potential star.
Jamie Uyeyama: Will Black has elite tools, much like Joe Alt did. There aren't that many big men who can move like he can.
Matt Freeman: Dallas Golden is an elite athlete and could play receiver or defensive back at the P4 level and also have a chance to be an All-American. He’s a special talent.
MOST LIKELY TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN MIAMI
Greg Flammang: TE James Flanigan - Freshman tight ends have a way of making their way onto the field at Notre Dame, and Mitchell Evans is likely off to the NFL. And Flanigan is a stud.
Jamie Uyeyama: There isn't an obvious answer here, primarily because of what players will be returning next year. I'm going to go with Elijah Burress, who I think has a shot to make some noise as an early enrollee.
Matt Freeman: Erik Schmidt. Notre Dame, ideally, isn't going to sit around and wait for a scholarship specialist to develop. The Irish need help now. Does that mean they won’t bring in a graduate transfer for competition? No. But Schmidt is ranked as one of the best and it would hardly be a shocker to see him in a starting role in week one.
BIGGEST RECRUITING WIN
Greg Flammang: CB Dallas Golden - A star from Florida who is a skill position player. These guys are tough to land and Notre Dame got him in fold early, and he never wavered. Best kind of recruitment.
Jamie Uyeyama: Considering he's a dynamic athlete from Florida and Notre Dame hasn't exactly had the best track record of holding on to prospects from there, Dallas Golden is no-brainer.
Matt Freeman: Madden Faraimo. Nothing more needs to be said.
HIGHEST UPSIDE
Greg Flammang: OT Will Black - Not sure if we are allowed to list the same player twice, but he can be a first round tackle. Hard to get higher than the first round.
Jamie Uyeyama: I think James Flanigan's upside is up there with Cole Kmet and Michael Mayer when they were recruits who signed with Notre Dame.
Matt Freeman: JaDon Blair is a freaky athlete with unbelievable size and length. Notre Dame will need to develop a little more physicality in his game, but we’ve seen them do a good job with that under this staff.
MOST SURPRISING COMMITMENT
Greg Flammang: QB Blake Hebert - His name and commitment came out of nowhere. I’d personally never heard of him. A quarterback I’d never heard of committing is pretty surprising!
Jamie Uyeyama: I guess Blake Hebert fits because Notre Dame did a great job of keeping that recruitment under wraps, but there was no real shocking commitment in my eyes.
Matt Freeman: Davion Dixon. I was enjoying a beer at the local establishment when Dixon tweeted out of nowhere he had committed to the Irish the night before the Blue-Gold Game in 2023. Proving once again there is no night sacred.
HIGH-RISK, HIGH REWARD
Greg Flammang: WR Antavious Richardson - Richardson is a super athlete, but he doesn’t play wide receiver! Kinda risky!
Jamie Uyeyama: Antavious Richardson has the type of speed that could translate into a ton of explosive plays as a receiver, but he has to adjust to playing the receiver position. It may take some time, but the reward could end up being massive for Notre Dame.
Matt Freeman: Cameron Herron fits the bill for me. He’s by no means a bad player and physicality can never be questioned. Yet, he’s smaller than the typical center, which is a position filled with undersized players. Zeke Correll was a prime example. Quality player, but you can also see where Notre Dame improved with Ashton Craig and Pat Coogan being a little bit longer.
BIGGEST STEAL
Greg Flammang: S Brandon Logan - Prediction= Brandon Logan will have a star career for Notre Dame at the safety position. As good of an athlete as this class has.
Jamie Uyeyama: I know Ko'o Kia doesn't have the rankings that others have, but this kid has a chance to be great. Don't be surprised if he ends up as one of the best players from this class by the time they're finished in South Bend.
Matt Freeman: Nolan James is a really good running back. He might not have breakaway speed of say Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price, but neither did Kyren Williams, who ran for 2,153 yards and 27 touchdowns in essentially two years at Notre Dame and is about to have his second 1,000-yard season in this league called the NFL....Oh his 22 touchdowns in the NFL aren’t bad either.
BIGGEST BADASS
Greg Flammang: OL Cameron Herron - Herron isn’t the biggest guy, but he plays with a streak you want to see from an interior OL.
Jamie Uyeyama: This is also Flanigan. He has Tommy Tremble vibes as a blocker and has the same kind of mentality as his Dad, who was also a bit of a badass.
Matt Freeman: James Flanigan plays nasty and has the talent to embarrass opponents.
MOST LIKELY TO MAKE BRUCE FELDMAN’S FREAK LIST
Greg Flammang: S JaDon Blair - My understanding is Feldman is into players with dimensions and Blair has some of the best dimensions in the class. A couple cycles with Loren Landow could turn him into a beast.
Jamie Uyeyama: Brandon Logan already has freaky athletic testing and he is going to play baseball for the Irish as well. He's a prime candidate.
Matt Freeman: As the person putting this together, I’ll cheat and look at Greg and Jamie’s answers. To be different, I’m going to go with Will Black. He’s got some serious athletic gifts. You can see the best parts of Mike McGlinchey and Joe Alt in his game. High praise, but he has endless potential to tap into and now it’s time to reach it.
THE MARKESE STEPP, BLAKE FISHER, DRAYK BOWEN AWARD
Greg Flammang: QB Deuce Knight - Stepp is included here and he eventually left the class he was seemingly leading. Unfortunately, the player who fits this description best in the 2025 class is Knight.
Jamie Uyeyama: They didn't give out the award this year. There was no one in the same league as those guys that stayed in the class.
Matt Freeman: Owen Strebig was constant presence at Notre Dame before he committed and then after he gave his pledge to the Irish. The big man made sure to take time to spend top targets in 2025 and 2026 on each visit.
TOUGHEST MISS
Greg Flammang: QB Deuce Knight - Unfortunately, LOTS of candidates for this award, but Knight was the centerpiece of the whole class and was seemingly the most bought in. Until he wasn’t. You hate to see that.
Jamie Uyeyama: Deuce Knight and Ivan Taylor are the obvious choices since both were committed at one point. Maybe others would say Derek Meadows, but I have never been sold on him as an elite prospect. It's Jalen Wiggins for me because it's really difficult to land defensive tackles with his dimensions and Notre Dame could have really used a 3-tech like him in the class.
Matt Freeman: Hard not to put Deuce Knight here. The Mississippi native clearly loved Notre Dame, but it’s hard to leave the South. Knight has the talent to be one of those special players at the college level and Notre Dame hasn’t landed enough of those guys at the quarterback position.
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