Notre Dame 2025 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

Notre Dame landed another outstanding recruiting class under head coach Marcus Freeman, and once again the class was fueled by an elite defensive class. Notre Dame build on last year's top notch defensive class with another that is filled with strong talent and depth on all three levels of the defense. Notre Dame landed 14 prospects on the defensive side of the ball in the 2025 class.

Notre Dame hit its numbers goals in the class, the depth of talent is top notch and the Irish landed impact players. Six of the defensive players were graded out as Top 100 prospects on the Irish Breakdown board, and three recruits from that group grade out as Top 50 prospects, including two defensive backs. Two more signees graded out as Top 150 prospects and three more graded out as Top 250 prospects.

Notre Dame went all over the country to land this defensive class, but the base played a huge role. Notre Dame signed three defensive players from Illinois, two players from Indiana and another signee was from Ohio. The Irish went south to land a pair of signees from Florida and another from North Carolina. The Irish landed a standout player from Pennsylvania and another from Connecticut. Notre Dame went west to land a linebacker from California, a linebacker from Hawaii and a corner from Arizona.

With the group now signed it's time to hand out grades for the Irish class.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Grade: B
Signees: Christopher Burgess Jr. (DE), Davion Dixon (DT), Dominik Hulak (Vyp), Joseph Reiff (DE), Gordy Sulfsted (DT)

The lowest graded defensive class is the defensive line, but it still grades out as a solid group. Notre Dame signed good numbers by landing five players up front, with three projecting as edge players and two more projecting as interior players. The edge group graded out better, with one signee grading out as Top 100 player and two others grading out as Top 250 prospects. Neither of the interior players graded out as four-star prospects.

All three edge signees are from Illinois, and that group is led by Christopher Burgess Jr., who graded out as a Top 100 recruit. Burgess is a very long and powerful edge player that has continued to improve his game. The tools have always been there, but he's gotten more comfortable with the finer points of the game. There is still a lot of work to be done from a technical standpoint, but his combination of length, power and burst off the edge are really intriguing. Burgess even played some middle linebacker this season for Simeon, if that tells you anything about his athletic talent.

I wasn't all that high on Hulak when he committed to Notre Dame, but his senior film was much better. His grade improved to four-star and he now grades out as a Top 250 caliber prospect. Hulak had a combined four sacks as a sophomore and junior, but he racked up 10 as a senior and finished with 19 tackles for loss. He's long and was always a strong player, but his burst off the edge and motor were really impressive this past season. 

Reiff was arguably the best high school defensive lineman in this group. He is a very productive player that earned an All-American Bowl honor. He played with a good motor, is a quality athlete for his size and should add really good depth to the defensive end position. I'm not certain he has the frame to eventually grow into an interior player, so right now I project him as a pure edge, where he'd fit at the end position along with Burgess. That duo will have a chance to one day be a strong one-two punch at the position.

Dixon was an extremely productive high school player that finished his career with 40 tackles and 11 forced fumbles. He put a lot of weight on the last two years to grow into a nose and he's now listed at 6-1, 316 pounds. He'll need to reshape his body a bit and get some of the closing speed he showed as a sophomore. He's a strong young man that at the very least should be able to eat up space inside. If he can reshape his body a bit, improve his pad level and improve his agility he could become a top pickup in this class.

I was very disappointed that Sulfsted injured his knee prior to his senior season. He was one of the prospects I was most encouraged to see play as a senior. Sulfsted is still quite raw but I love his tools. He's a long and athletic player that was mostly on the edge at St. Xavier but he's better suited for the inside. He's the lowest ranked player in the class because of his injury and the work that is needed, but he has a very high ceiling that has a chance to far outplay his ranking.

LINEBACKERS

Grade: A
Signees: Madden Faraimo, Josiah Kia, Anthony Sacca

Notre Dame continues to recruit linebacker as well - or better - than any team in college football. Notre Dame landed a pair of Top 100 recruits at linebacker for the second time in three seasons, and it's the third straight year that their top linebacker graded out as a Top 50 prospect, which happened when Faraimo surprisingly picked Notre Dame.

Faraimo is one of the nation's best linebackers, possessing an elite combination of size, athleticism, power and production. He's instinctive, productive and his all-around game is outstanding. Faraimo has the tools to be an impact run defender, he's rangy and instinctive in coverage, and he has the explosiveness and length to be a productive pass rusher from the second level and off the edge. Faraimo could thrive at the Mike spot due to his IQ, power and quickness, he could thrive at Will due to his length, athleticism and playmaking ability and I could see him pushing for a third-down pass rushing role at linebacker. Landing him on signing day was a huge coup for the Irish staff.

Sacca is still working on transitioning from safety, but his second year at linebacker saw him make a pretty big jump. He looked more comfortable with the extra weight and he's now listed at 6-3 and 225 pounds. Sacca has the length you want at linebacker and he's a rangy athlete. He's smooth, shows easy change of direction skills and his strength has improved. Sacca could play Rover in the Notre Dame defense but I like his projection at the Will spot. He's still learning the finer points of playing linebacker, but his upside is extremely highly.

Right now Kia has an incomplete grade from be because there just isn't enough film available to make a full grade. What you can see on film is he's a quality athlete, and he's earned the reputation of being a smart, high motor player as well. He racked up 98 tackles and 17 tackles for loss as a senior.

SAFETIES

Grade: A-
Signees: JaDon Blair, Brandon Logan, Ethan Long

Notre Dame needed numbers and impact talent at safety in the 2025 class and they certainly added that. Losing Ivan Taylor was a loss, but replacing him with Logan worked out quite nicely for the Irish. Blair gives the Irish an elite, top level safety and Long is a smooth prospect that at the very least provides good depth. Hard to find holes in the safety class. 

Beating out Michigan and Florida State for Blair was one of the biggest wins for the defensive class. Notre Dame could use a safety to come in and play right away, and Blair can be that player. He has elite size and length at 6-4 with very long arms. He's an exceptionally rangy defender that can fly downhill in the run game, eat up the alleys on the perimeter and a force to be reckoned with against the pass when playing over the top. Blair shows easy change of direction skills and over the last two seasons he's gotten more and more comfortable with the finer points of the position.

Logan is an outstanding athlete that has put up impressive numbers the last two seasons. The Snider standout is a two-sport star that also plans to play baseball for the Irish. He's a physical, downhill safety with top notch speed and playmaking ability. Logan showed off his big time speed this summer at the Irish Invasion camp when he ran a 4.44, and that speed shows up on film as well. I see him being either an impactful alley safety, much like Adon Shuler, or possibly moving down and playing nickel on the second level. That versatility only adds to his value as a prospect.

Long is one of the smoothest and smartest players in the class. His name is fitting, as the 6-1 Long has the kind of range and length you want on the back end of the defense. His combination of intelligence, range and toughness have allowed him to be a highly productive player at the prep level. My only knock on his game is his lack of top end speed. If that improves at the next level he'll turn out to be a steal in this class.

CORNERBACKS

Grade: A
Signees: Dallas Golden, Cree Thomas, Mark Zackery

Notre Dame has completely changed its fortunes when it comes to cornerback recruiting thanks to the presence of Mike Mickens. With Benjamin Morrison's Irish career coming to an end either this offseason or next, and numbers at the position already being low, the Irish needed to land strong numbers and difference maker talent in this class, and they nailed both.

Golden is one of the top players in this class and he's without question one of the best football players in the country. Golden could play both cornerback spots, nickel, both safety spots, running or wide receiver at the next level. He rushed for almost 4,000 yards and had almost 1,000 career receiving yards, but Notre Dame likes him in the secondary. Golden is strong for his size and he's an outstanding athlete. He's explosive, agile, shows great balance and he moves with ease. His raw talent and upside are special, but he's still quite raw as a defender from a technical standpoint. How quickly he can pickup the finer points of the position will determine how soon he gets on the field, but once Golden figures that out he has a chance to be a star for the Irish.

Landing Zackery on the outside was big for the Irish, and he combines with Golden to give the class a pair of Top 100 prospects. Zackery is also a dynamic offensive player that had over 1,000 receiving yards this past season. He's extremely long, athletic and his combination of football IQ and leadership make him a great fit for Notre Dame. Zackery is a smooth athlete that shows easy movement skills on the football field. He's extremely productive and has the athletic traits to thrive in Notre Dame's man coverage schemes. As he gets stronger he should be able to thrive in the boundary in the Irish defense, but like Golden he can play multiple spots on the back end.

In most years Thomas would be the top cornerback in the class, which speaks volumes about how good this corner class is. I liked Thomas based on his sophomore and junior film and felt he was an underrated member of this class. His senior film was even better, with Thomas playing a lot more corner and showing himself to be one of the best players in the class. He's very long, he is extremely smooth and agile and like the other corners he has a very high football IQ. Thomas had 14 pass break ups and nine interceptions during his career, and the scary thing is he's just scratching the surface of how good he can be.

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