Notre Dame Commit Profile: Safety Joey O'Brien

Notre Dame picked up a huge commitment with the addition of safety Joey O'Brien to the class. O'Brien was a must-get player for the Irish in the 2026 class, and adding him gives the Irish arguably the best secondary class in the country. Let's take a look at the recruiting profile for O'Brien.

JOEY O'BRIEN PROFILE

Hometown/High School: Philadelphia, Pa./LaSalle College

Height/Weight: 6-4, 185

IB Grade: 4.5 (Top 75 caliber prospect)
Upside Grade: 5.0 (Top 35 caliber prospect)

Player Comp: Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame

Recruited By: Mike Mickens

Offers: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, Florida State, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, UCLA, Indiana, Boston College, Syracuse, Duke, Stanford

RECRUITING RANKINGS

247Sports: 5-star - No. 30 overall - No. 4 safety
On3: 4-star - No. 99 overall - No. 8 safety
ESPN: 4-star - No. 102 overall - No. 4 safety
Rivals: 4-star - No. 136 overall - No. 7 safety
On3 Consensus: 4-star - No. 40 overall - No. 5 safety
247Sports Composite: 4-star - No. 65 overall - No. 6 safety

NOTRE DAME FIT

Mickens likes versatile players for his secondary and O'Brien certainly is that. He has the length, range and tackling ability to play field cornerback and the skills to play in the boundary. That was the original plan when he was being recruited, to play cornerback, and the tools remain. As a safety, O'Brien projects extremely well into the Irish defense. He can play either safety position, which is ideal since Notre Dame wants its safeties to be interchangeable. O'Brien can cover at an elite level as safety, his range and instincts should allow him to be a ballhawk and he's a quality tackler.

FILM ANALYSIS

There is no doubt that the first thing you'll notice when you watch O'Brien play is his elite length. He's listed at 6-4, but sources indicate he might now be closer to 6-5. O'Brien has the arm length and wingspan to match that height, and it helps make him an extremely rangy and disruptive safety. O'Brien is quite thin and adding more weight will be key moving forward. He'll never be massive defender, but he has the frame to get to at least 200 pounds.

O'Brien is a long-striding and smooth athlete. He shows easy movement skills on the football field and natural change of direction skills. O'Brien isn't as explosive as some smaller players, but his easy change of direction skills and his length (and long strides) allow him to cover a ton of ground. O'Brien comes downhill in a hurry and his over the top range is outstanding. He could be a top notch corner, but his range and ability to cover so much ground makes him extremely well suited for the safety position at Notre Dame.

I don't think O'Brien has elite speed, and if you wanted one thing to knock him on that would be it. His lack of elite speed doesn't bother me, however, because he's such a smooth athlete, his range is so good and he's so instinctive he plays very fast. His feel for the game and football smarts are very important ingredients to what make him a top football prospect. Those traits also allow him to easily overcome the one aspect of his skillset that doesn't grade out at a high level.

O'Brien has the potential to be an elite ballhawk on the backend. As I stated, he has a high football IQ and shows top notch instincts. He makes strong reads on the ball, he shows a great feel for reading routes and he shows patience when it is needed. When you combine that with his length you get a sense as to why he had so many pass break ups last season, and those skills translate very well to the next level.

The LaSalle standout will need to add a lot of strength, especially to his upper body. Despite his lack of current strength, O'Brien is a strong tackler at the high school level. He goes low, he's a form tackler and he shows some good pop when he arrives at the ball. The fact he understands the need to go low is important, as being 6-4 could be a problem in that area, but it's not an issue for O'Brien. As he gets stronger this part of his game will be even better, and a strength for him in a Notre Dame uniform.