Unpacking John Gay's commitment, assessing the elite 2026 class, and debating overrated quarterbacks. Irish Breakdown delivers the essential midweek insights.
We're at the halfway point in the week here at Irish Breakdown which means it's time for the Notre Dame Football Midweek Rundown. There was a lot to discuss on today's show and we started it off with a breakdown of the commitment from Florida safety John Gay in the 2027 recruiting class. He's a highly touted player that committed to Notre Dame this afternoon. The 9th recruit in the 2027 recruiting cycle adds skill and depth to an already-talented Notre Dame secondary.
We followed that up with a discussion about the 2026 freshman class. They were the highest ranked recruiting class in the country by On3. They've been as-advertised this bring and they're an exceptionally talented group. We wrapped up today's show by breaking down the most underrated and most overrated quarterbacks in the country. You're not going to want to miss this week's mid-week rundown on the Irish Breakdown Podcast.
You can watch the entire show here:
Here are some of the main topics we covered in today's episode:
On John Gay's Commitment To Notre Dame...
"This is a talented football player. Sometimes, when you go to see who commits, you look at their recruiting profile and when I pulled his up, I saw 'three-star recruit' and 'No. 800 player in Florida' and you start to formulate an preconceived notion about a player. But when you pop in the film, it's not a mystery why Aaron Henry wanted to go after this guy. He's a long, talented player with smooth hips and he's a really good athlete and has great instincts. Notre Dame isn't the only school that thinks so. Florida and Ole Miss also offered him so he was getting some big time looks as well."
On The 2026 Freshman Class...
"When we entered the spring, one of the things we were excited to see was this freshman class, a class that On3 ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. In some classes, there's players that you watch and say 'man, he didn't really pan out the way I thought he was going to' and I didn't have that thought with this class. From top to bottom, this class has been what we thought it would be and in some cases, have been even better. Players like Ebenezer Ewetade and Devin Fitzgerald are farther along right now than what I thought they would be. And, oh by the way, we still have yet to see Khary Adams, Ian Premer or Teddy Jarrard. This class is loaded and I'm excited to see where they go from here."
On Jayden Maiava Being An Overrated Quarterback...
"Do I think he's a bad quarterback? No I don't. But do I think he's the No. 5 returning quarterback in the country like ESPN has him ranked? Also no. We need to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt what the things Lincoln Riley did with guys like Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Maiava is who is he, and who he is isn't a top five quarterback in college football. He's turnover prone in big games and has yet to have that signature win as a quarterback. Again, I don't think he sucks; I think he's a quality football player, but he's not the No. 5 returning signal caller in the country this year."
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!