Irish offense surges with new talent. Dive into the two-year recruiting grades for Notre Dame's explosive offensive acquisitions and see how they stack up.
Notre Dame has completed its 2026 recruiting class and the Irish have added more weapons to the offensive roster. Notre Dame has clearly ascended on offense under Marcus Freeman and Mike Denbrock, and landing a deep and talented group of 2026 prospects has given another huge boost.
One of my favorite ways to evaluate recruiting efforts is to take a multi-year view. It's good to understand what was landed before so we can have proper context of what the objectives and needs were in the current class. With that in mind, I've combined the 2025 and 2026 classes together to put together a two-year grade of Notre Dame's recruiting efforts.
Let's take a look at the two-year grades on offense.
QUARTERBACK#
Grade: B
Signees: Blake Hebert (2025), Noah Grubbs (2026)
Notre Dame hasn't landed a Top 100 quarterback in the last two classes and both signees are relatively raw prospects who need some work. The good news, however, is that both are talented prospects that have a chance to be very productive starters if they are developed. Blake Hebert and Noah Grubbs are also very different quarterbacks, with Hebert being a thick, athletic, dual threat quarterback and Grubbs being more of a pure drop back player.
Notre Dame flipped Hebert from Clemson late in the 2025 cycle. Hebert is an athletic quarterback that rushed for 11 touchdowns as a senior. He possesses a very strong arm and his dual threat ability added a very different, and dynamic, skillset to the offense. The tools are quite impressive, but Hebert still needs a lot of work from a technical standpoint as a thrower, and he needs to develop his ability to process as a passer. Grubbs is more of a pure drop back quarterback, possessing a quick release and a gritty playing style. He's a prolific passer with over 10,000 career passing yards and over 130 career touchdowns.
There is work needed with both players, but the raw tools are impressive. Both have the potential to be impactful multi-year starters and landing two high-upside guys in back-to-back classes gives the Irish good talent to work with at quarterback.
RUNNING BACK#
Grade: A
Signees: Nolan James Jr. (2025), Javian Osborne (2026), Jonaz Walton (2026)
Notre Dame has thrived at landing running backs for several years now and that continued in the 2025 and 2026 classes. Notre Dame has completely restocked the depth chart with this back to back haul and the Irish are prepared to remain outstanding at the position after the expected departures of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Notre Dame has added three dynamic, highly productive players that all have the tools to be difference makers at the next level.
Nolan James is a strong and sudden runner that is also a legit weapon out of the backfield. He rushed for over 4,000 yards in his career, including 19,21 yards as a senior. James also caught 96 passes for 1,120 yards and 10 scores in the pass game. That impressive all-around ability combines with James being a strong, decisive runner with impressive feet to make him a crucial late pickup in the 2025. class.
The 2026 running back duo of Javian Osborne and Jonaz Walton is the best in the country. Osborne is an explosive runner with tremendous vision, and his fit into the Notre Dame run game is obvious. He has home run potential but also the power and frame to be a workhorse. Osborne rushed for over 6,500 yards and had over 100 touchdowns in his prep career. Walton is a smooth runner with an imposing frame, but he also has home run speed and he's a weapon as a pass catcher and return man. Like Osborne, he's a perfect fit for the Notre Dame offense and the duo complements each other very well.
WIDE RECEIVER#
Grade: A-
Signees: Elijah Burress (2025), Scrap Richardson (2025), Jerome Bettis Jr. (2025), Kaydon Finley (2026), Bubba Frazier (2026), Brayden Robinson (2026), Devin Fitzgerald (2026), Dylan Faison (2026)
When you look at these two classes together it is very impressive. Notre Dame added eight wide receivers over the last two seasons and all but one graded out as a 4.0-star player or better on the Irish Breakdown board. The 2025 class is more of a low-floor/high-ceiling group, but there are legit tools. The 2026 class adds a lot of speed and playmaking ability to the roster.
The top prospect in the 2025 receiver class is Elijah Burress, a smooth wideout with outstanding route running ability. Burress was finally healthy as a senior and was highly productive, hauling in 37 passes for 960 yards and 15 touchdowns. As he gets stronger he'll have a chance to be an impact pass catcher in the Irish offense. Scrap Richardson was a high school quarterback that has a lot to learn about playing receiver, but he's a high level athlete that is dangerous with the ball in his hands. Jerome Bettis Jr. showed a lot of improvement as a senior and adds good size to the position.
The 2026 class was loaded and adding five players to the depth chart solidifies the roster from a numbers standpoint. The 2026 class provides an influx of speed and playmaking ability to the roster, both at receiver and in the return game. Texas star Kaydon Finley is the top receiver to sign with Notre Dame in the last two seasons, and he has a chance to provide an immediate impact. He's an athletic, volume pass catcher that can play all three spots in the Irish defense. Devin Fitzgerald had a strong senior season and at 6-2 and 199 pounds he adds some much-needed size and ball skills to the outside spots in the offense. Dylan Faison was the first receiver to commit to Notre Dame in the 2026 class, and on top of being a talented wideout he's also one of the nation's top lacrosse players.
Georgia athlete Bubba Frazier is one of my favorite players in the 2026 class. He's an elite athlete with big time speed and playmaking skills. Despite being just 5-8, he's a strong route runner that can do work down the field and knows how to get open. That is also true for Brayden Robinson, who has topped 1,000 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons. He's a burner with a strong all-around game. Frazier and Robinson are also both dynamic return men and bring a boost in after-the-catch skills to the offense.
TIGHT END#
Grade: A+
Signees: James Flanigan (2025), Ian Premer (2026), Preston Fryzel (2026)
Good luck finding a school that has recruited the tight end position better than Notre Dame the last two seasons. The Irish have landed three big time talents with different skillsets, and the two-year haul gives Notre Dame a chance to get back to playing elite football at the tight end position. Tight end play has been good in recent seasons, but not quite as dominant as it has been in the recent past.
James Flanigan is a throwback tight end that does his best work attached to the line of scrimmage. He's a strong, powerful blocker that thrives in the run game. Flanigan can dominate at the point of attack and that has been missing in the offense the last couple of seasons. But he's not just a run blocker, as Flanigan is also an athletic player that can be a force in the pass game as well. He has very strong hands, he shows good vertical speed and as he improves his route running he'll be a legit force in the pass game in the more traditional offenses.
Notre Dame also signed the best tight end duo in the country in the 2026 class. Ian Premer and Preston Fryzel add big time pass catching skill to the Irish offense. Premer is a five-star prospect and is arguably the top tight end in the country. He's big (6-6, 235), he can run and he's a legit weapon after the catch. Premer also has the blocking tools to play attached if the need arises. Fryzel has outstanding speed for the position and he can be a great movement piece in the Irish offense.
OFFENSIVE LINE#
Grade: A
Signees: Will Black (2025), Owen Strebig (2025), Matty Augustine (2025), Cameron Herron (2025), Grayson McKeogh (2026), Tyler Merrill (2026), Ben Nichols (2026), Sullivan Garvin (2026), Gregory Patrick (2026), Charlie Thom (2026)
Notre Dame has completely rebuilt and restocked its offensive line over the last two seasons. Coming into the last two cycles Notre Dame needed to improve the tackle depth and they wanted and needed to add a lot more size. The staff has certainly done that, landing five players that project best to offensive tackle and five that project inside. Half of the players in the two classes were listed at 300 pounds or more when they signed.
The 2025 class included five-star Will Black, who has the tools to be an elite tackle in the Irish offense. He's long, athletic and has an incredibly high ceiling. Matty Augustine is a late bloomer with a lot of tools as well, as is Owen Strebig. Both have a lot of upside and both project as tackles. Adding Grayson McKeogh and Charlie Thom in the 2026 class was the step needed to fully restock the tackle depth chart, which is currently very thin when you get past the freshmen. Black graded out a tad higher than McKeogh coming out of high school, but their ceilings are almost identical. Both have elite, future All-American, first-round NFL Draft pick potential. The other three tackles also have the talent to become starters along the Irish line.
The guard depth chart didn't get touched in the 2025 class, so you needed to add some talent there in the 2026 class and the Irish hit a home run there. Cam Herron is ideally suited to play center, and that late pickup was key for the Irish as they look to solidify the center depth chart in future seasons. Guard was a different story, and the Irish really needed to hit it big there in 2026 and they did that. Tyler Merrill is a massive (6-5, 330), mauling guard that graded out as a Top 100 player. Add in 6-5, 320-pound Ben Nichols and 6-5, 314-pound Sullivan Garvin and the Irish added three huge, physical, imposing young blockers to the guard position. I love this group of interior players from a size and talent standpoint, but they also bring a nasty demeanor to the game that I like to have up front. Garvin could also play center or tackle, and that versatility is key.
This two-year haul was exactly what Notre Dame needed up front. They added great size (length and girth), they added depth inside and out, they added high upside talent and they added players that could be able to play early if the need arises. Great haul by the Irish.
OVERALL#
Grade: A-
The offense has certainly recruited at an elite level the last few seasons, and that includes the last two classes. Notre Dame has landed arguably the best running back haul, tight end haul and offensive line hauls in the country. They've upgraded the wide receiver position by landing a group of eight players that add skills the current group doesn't have, or doesn't have enough of. The only reason it's not an A is because neither class added a Top 100 quarterback. Both quarterbacks are good football players and have high ceilings, but the quarterback haul doesn't quite match what we saw at the other four positions. But it's still an elite two-year haul that should allow the Irish to continuing playing like one of the nation's top offenses.
GRADE KEY#
A — Elite / College Football Playoff caliber
B — Outstanding / Top 15 caliber
C — Solid / Borderline Top 25 caliber
D — Subpar / Not good enough
F — Disaster
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!