Notre Dame On The Verge Of Massive Defensive Line Haul

Notre Dame landed 2020 St. Louis (Hawaii) defensive end Jordan Botelho‍ on Thursday evening and it was a significant boost to an impressive start for the Irish. He joins Colorado four-star defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina‍ and German three-star defensive end Alexander Ehrensberger‍ in Notre Dame 2020 recruiting class. 

The four-star prospect gives Notre Dame its second ISD Fab 50 commitment, which should make the entire fanbase pleased as the need elite talent was something plastered all over every message board following the Cotton Bowl.

Brian Polian held a significant part in landing Botelho as his ties in Hawaii are stronger than ever. 

However, it’s now on Mike Elston to go big game hunting and land two more prospects who can turn Notre Dame’s great defensive line class into one of the nation’s best. 

It starts with 2020 Port Huron Northern (Mich.) defensive end Braiden McGregor‍ as you simply can’t have enough edge players. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder has been at the top of the list for Notre Dame for almost a year and it’s coming down to crunch time. 

McGregor will get to Michigan one more time before he commits with trips to Alabama, Clemson and Florida a possibility as well. 

The consensus is McGregor will end up at Michigan, but I still feel Notre Dame is firmly in this race as Elston has continued to hit the right buttons and I know McGregor still talks glowingly about his official visit to Notre Dame. A visit in which McGregor admitted he almost committed to the Irish while on campus.

Elston is expected at Port Huron Northern on Monday to check on McGregor.

2020 Lake Forest (Ill.) defensive lineman Rylie Mills‍ is next as Notre Dame looks to add a big-time player on the interior of the defensive line to pair with Keanaaina. 

The four-star prospect was back at Notre Dame the first weekend of April for his official visit and left knowing he could fit in well with the players and coaches. Mills had every question answered during his visit and I believe Notre Dame set a high bar. 

Mills was at Wisconsin over the weekend for his second official visit and was able to see practice, but also how he’d fit into the Badgers defense. Wisconsin runs a 3-4, so it provides a chance to play somewhat of a different role than Mills would play at Notre Dame or Ohio State. 

The Buckeyes will host Mills for his third official visit on April 26th, which could be his final official visit. Mills plans to take some time off during May and process his visits. He could end up taking another official visit, but I feel he’ll be ready to decide after he gets some time to think about everything. 

Notre Dame is in a good position to land Mills, but the Badgers seem to be hanging around more than most think. 

If Notre Dame can land commitments from McGregor and Mills to go along with Keanaaina and Ehrensberger, it would probably be Notre Dame’s best defensive line haul since Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt and Ishaq Williams.