Notre Dame Commits Make Moves In The Latest Rivals Rankings

Notre Dame has an outstanding recruiting class in the 2026 cycle, and the class is just getting started. Notre Dame has the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the country according to Rivals, and the class is going to go up after the latest recruiting update from the outlet.

Most of the recruits in the class made small drops due to other players making a jump, but a trio of Irish commits made huge jumps in the latest Rivals update.

Davison (Mich.) High School offensive lineman Ben Nichols made the biggest jump. Nichols was an unranked four-star recruit in the last update by Rivals, but after a strong showing at a recent camp he vaulted up the rankings. Nichols is now ranked as the nation's No. 124 overall player in the country and the No. 7 interior offensive lineman.

Nichols is the highest ranked newcomer to the rankings, making him the biggest riser in the rankings.

Garner (N.C.) South Garner defensive end Ebenezer Ewetade also made a huge jump, rising up 79 spots in the latest update. Ewetade now ranks as the nation's No. 139 overall player in the country. He is also ranked as the 14th best edge defender in the class. 

Another North Carolina edge - Rodney Dunham - also saw a jump in the latest rankings from Rivals. The Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park standout jumped up 21 spots and is now ranked as the No. 106 overall player in the country. He is also ranked as the 11th best edge player in the class. Notre Dame is currently the only team in the country with a pair of Top 15 edge players in their class.

Notre Dame's highest ranked commit is Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Cumberland Valley offensive lineman Tyler Merrill, who ranks as the nation's No. 81 overall player, which is up two spots from the last ranking. He is also ranked as the fourth best interior offensive lineman in the class.

The most recent pickup for Notre Dame was Forney (Texas) High School running back Javian Osborne, and he's the second highest ranked player in the Irish class according to Rivals. Osborne is ranked as the No. 91 overall player in the country and the sixth best running back in the country.

A spot behind Dunham is Lake Mary (Fla.) High School quarterback Noah Grubbs, who ranks as the nation's No. 107 overall player and the No. 12 quarterback in the class. 

Chattanooga (Tenn.) McCallie School standout cornerback Chaston Smith ranks as the nation's No. 150 overall player and the No. 13 cornerback in the 2026 class.

Matthews (N.C.) Weddington linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. fell six spots to No. 172 overall in the 2026 class. Davis is also ranked as the 13th best linebacker in the country.

Winter Park (Fla.) High School cornerback Ayden Pouncey was previously ranked as the No. 244 overall player but he dropped out of the latest rankings.

Notre Dame has seven players ranked among the Top 150 players in the country according to Rivals, which is tied for LSU with the most in the class. USC is on top with eight players. Notre Dame and LSU have a combined 24 players committed in the 2026 class while USC has 27 prospects committed, which means a much smaller percentage of their class is ranked.