Notre Dame Football: Is this Brian Kelly’s best recruiting class with Irish?
Based upon team recruiting rankings alone, this is one of Brian Kelly’s best hauls on the trail with Notre Dame football.
Notre Dame football just wrapped up hauling in another solid recruiting class for the 2018 cycle. With a few programs under the microscope on National Signing Day, the Irish had a few targets they wanted to reel in before the conclusion of pursuing any 2018 prospects.
Another top 10 class was locked up for the Irish and head coach Brian Kelly. It is one of the higher ranking class that Kelly has pulled in since taking over at the helm for Notre Dame in 2010. He took advantage of some momentum generated from the end of season postseason win over the LSU Tigers.
Yet, the Irish do have some holes to fill, on both sides of the ball, and some upgrades needed on defense. Notre Dame is still expected to be a top 15 program in 2018, despite the losses of stars like Josh Adams and Equanimeous St. Brown.
The wrap up of the 2018 class that included 27 commits was truly impressive for Kelly. They landed 14 four-star signees, five of which have enrolled early. According to the 247Sports team composite rankings, Notre Dame finished with the No. 10 ranked class in the nation.
Make up of the 2018 recruiting class
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football
A key part of this class is that there’s quite a few players that have the ability to make a quick difference for the Irish. Questions at quarterback, for both Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book, gives way to the possibility of four-star dual-threat Phil Jurkovec getting some playing time in his freshman season.
The defense gets a boost as well, with an injection of athleticism, in four-star cornerback Houston Griffith, the top ranked overall player in the class. Two linebackers were added to the class that have extraordinary potential: four-star inside linebacker Jack Lamb and four-star outside linebacker Shayne Simon.
Notre Dame could also use some of the incoming freshmen to take a significant role in the next few years in the receiving corps and the backfield. Departures of Adams, St. Brown, Kevin Stepherson, and Deon McIntosh hurts the offensive depth for the Irish in 2018.
A few wide receivers that are impressive gets for Notre Dame includes Kevin Austin and Lawrence Keys III (committed to Notre Dame on NSD).
How this class can be the best
The impact felt by this class in 2018 is not the main thing that’ll determine the view of their effectiveness. While Notre Dame does carry a lot of hype with them entering the 2018 season, this top 10 class for Kelly needs to develop into something that carries the program for the next few years.
Next: 5 Notre Dame commits who'll make an instant impact in 2018
In terms of recruiting rankings, the 2013 class is the highest ranked class under Kelly. That recruiting cycle featured talented players like current Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith.
It would take 2018 recruits like Jurkovec and Austin to really make their mark with the Irish for this class to ultimately be Kelly’s best during his tenure in South Bend. It’s a great class that will take this program to new heights in the next four years.