Who is biggest threat to Notre Dame Football for 5-star Justin Scott?

Five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott has changed a few things in his recruitment. Here’s the latest on the biggest threats to Notre Dame football. 

Things can change in an instant in the world of college football recruiting and Notre Dame football fans learned that lesson once again this week with the recruitment of Justin Scott.

Scott is a five-star defensive lineman in the 2024 recruiting class. He’s 6-foot-5, 310 pounds, and ranked 20th overall according to the On3 consensus rankings for 2024.

Out of Chicago, Illinois, Scott has already become one of the top recruits in the Midwest and that’s why it made sense that Notre Dame football was gaining traction.

Michigan was certainly right there in the mix before the Jim Harbaugh-NFL rumors seemed to hurt the Wolverines’ cause, although Harbaugh recently saw Scott before his decision to delay his commitment, which seems to hurt the chances of Notre Dame football.

It doesn’t mean he won’t commit to the Irish. But they had to feel like they were on the cusp. Scott was supposed to visit Notre Dame football last weekend but changed it to this weekend, which was just a few days before the original commitment date of Jan. 31.

Then, Scott announced on Tuesday he would be committing later in the process. He told Tom Loy of Irish Illustrated that he was “rushing the process” and wanted to take more visits before making a final decision.

Scott told Loy he would visit Notre Dame football this weekend and C.J. Carr is expected to be on campus. So who is the biggest threat to the Irish in this recruitment? We break it down and look at what’s next with 5-star DL Justin Scott.

Michigan and Georgia appear to be the biggest threats

Georgia and Florida recently jumped into the mix with offers and it’s fair to speculate that interest from the two-time defending national champs is motivation enough to hold off.

However, there are a number of other top schools involved as Notre Dame was joined in the top eight by Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Miami, Michigan, Oregon and Colorado.

That’s a big list of heavy hitters and it’s hard to count out teams like Alabama, Ohio State, and yes Georgia as this commitment isn’t coming to a close anytime soon.

It sounds like official visits will play a key role. Michigan should be in line to get one of those along with Notre Dame football and then, it’s really anyone’s guess. Georgia is a team to watch and Florida is too.

Yet, Michigan and Notre Dame both have strong histories of doing well in Illinois. Michigan has landed Trevor Keegan, J.J. McCarthy, A.J. Henning, Jimmy Rolder, Tyler Morris, and Jyaire Hill from the state in recent years, among others, and there is a solid pipeline.

So Notre Dame football might still be the leader and a positive visit this weekend could help in solidifying that. But it feels like Justin Scott is waiting until making official visits before he makes a final decision and that means it’s pretty wide open.

Yet, Georgia and Michigan are the two teams I’d watch, at least that’s my first impression after the announcement to postpone.