Notre Dame Commit Profile: Offensive Lineman Tyler Merrill

Notre Dame came into the 2026 recruiting cycle looking to once again land one of the nation's best offensive line classes. The Irish are off to a great start, and part of that success was landing talented offensive lineman Tyler Merrill, one of the nation's top players. 

TYLER MERRILL PROFILE

Hometown/High School: Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley

Height/Weight: 6-5, 330

IB Grade: 4.0 (Top 100 caliber prospect)
Upside Grade: 5.0

Player Comp: Aaron Banks, Notre Dame

Recruited By: Joe Rudolph

Offers: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Penn State, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Carolina, Auburn, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Boston College, West Virginia, Duke, Syracuse, Rutgers, Iowa State

RECRUITING RANKINGS

ESPN: 4-star - No. 57 overall - No. 10 offensive tackle
On3: 4-star - No. 73 overall - No. 5 interior OL
Rivals: 4-star - No. 84 overall - No. 5 guard
247Sports: 4-star - No. 218 overall - No. 13 interior OL
247Sports Composite: 4-star - No. 61 overall - No. 5 interior OL
On3 Consensus: 4-star - No. 82 overall - No. 5 interior OL

NOTRE DAME FIT

Merrill thrives as a left tackle at the prep level, and there's a chance that down the road he could play tackle in the right offense, but he projects more as an interior player for Notre Dame. Guard seems like a position where he could be a truly dominant player and his game has similarities to former elite interior Irish linemen Quenton Nelson, Aaron Banks and Alex Bars. Notre Dame is a heavy Inside Zone team that will also run Counter variants and Duo. Agility and athletic skill is important to these schemes, but having big, physical movers is a very important ingredient as well, and Merrill is a perfect fit for that run game system.

FILM ANALYSIS

The first thing that stands out about Merrill is his combination of size and power. He's every bit the 6-5 to 6-6 that he's listed at. He is also listed at 330 pounds, and there's no doubt he has the body to be able to play at that kind of weight at the next level. As is the case with a lot of young linemen, Merrill will need to reshape his body and get in better shape, but he can stay within the current size even as he gets in better shape.

Merrill's size allows him to push high school defenders around, and he's exceptionally dominant at the prep level. His combination of size and power projects very well to the next level and he projects to be a physical run blocker in the Notre Dame system. Merrill isn't just big, using his size to bully defenders, he's also extremely powerful. He has very heavy hands and delivers a lot of punishing in that regard. He doesn't shoot his hands as well as I'd like from a technical standpoint, and as he gets better he should be a force in the run game.

Right now Merrill dominates the run game with his size and power, but there is still plenty of room for technical improvement. He doesn't fire off the ball as well as he should and could. There are times you see him show the explosiveness and vertical speed needed to grade out well in this regard, but far too often he'll catch, or not move his feet with the power steps you want from a technical standpoint. As Merrill improves his footwork, does a better job driving through contact and playing with better pace he'll become even more dominant. That's why his projection is so high and why he earned a 5-star upside grade on the IB board. He has plenty of room for growth and there is a lot of room for him to improve his game.

Merrill is a bit tight around the waist and he's not a top level athlete, but he moves well enough to be a dominant player at the next level. That lack of top level athleticism does mean he'll need to do a better job with his footwork and overall technique. He'll also need to make sure he continues working on and improving his agility. If he improves in this regard his game will take off even more. That lack of top level athleticism and change of direction is also why he projects more inside. He's a tight spaces kind of guy, and once he gets inside his ability to thrive as a pass blocker will be enhanced.

Merrill possesses the disposition and demeanor you want and need to be a dominant college blocker. He is physical, he plays through the whistle, he will hustle and he's a dominant finisher. He doesn't just strike high school players and then let them fall. He works though contact and seems to relish putting defenders on the ground.