Best of the best: The highest-ranked Notre Dame LB and DL classes of the last 10 years

The Notre Dame class of 2022 is complete, and expectations for the newcomers are understandably high after they finished as the No. 6 class in the nation. According to the On3 Consensus Football Team Rankings, the Irish just signed their highest-ranked recruiting class since the 2013 signees finished No. 4, a 10-year span.

Below is the second piece of a four-part series, one which examines the highest-rated recruits Notre Dame has signed at every position group between 2013 and 2022. The measures are according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. 

While Sunday’s piece looked at the secondary, Monday’s rendition examines the front seven. Which Notre Dame classes had the best linebacker and defensive line recruits coming out of high school, and how did they pan out for the Irish?

Note: The following rankings are done based on how the player was listed by On3 at the time he signed. Notre Dame may have used him in another position once he arrived on campus.

Linebacker – 2022

According to On3 Consensus, Jaylon Smith is the highest-rated recruit Notre Dame has signed in the last 10 years. He was the No. 1 player from Indiana and at the linebacker position and the No. 4 player nationally in the 2013 class. Additionally, he is the only five-star plus recruit (all four recruiting services had him as a five star) the Irish have signed in 10 years.

Thanks in large part to Smith, the 2013 class of linebackers was well-ranked, coming in with an average recruiting ranking of 92.475 between Smith, Doug Randolph, James Onwualu and Michael Deeb. The latter three recruits were four-star prospects.

Obviously, Smith panned out well for Notre Dame. He was a surefire first-round NFL Draft selection prior to an ACL tear in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State to conclude Notre Dame’s 2015 season. He was ultimately taken in the second round by the Dallas Cowboys.

PROMOTION: Sign up for just $1 for first year at Blue & Gold

Onwualu had a nice career in South Bend as well, particularly during his senior season. The former No. 1 recruit from Minnesota and 2016 co-captain registered 77 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles and two sacks in his final year. He was an undrafted free agent out of college and spent a few years around the NFL.

Both Randolph and Deeb saw limited action for the blue and gold.

The good news for Notre Dame? As a whole, the 2022 class is supposed to even better. Headlined by On3 five-star recruit Jaylen Sneed, the four linebackers in the newest class have an average recruiting ranking of 92.913. Sneed’s position mates in the freshmen class are Joshua Burnham, Niuafe Tuihalamaka and Nolan Ziegler.

They are already getting to know each other as early enrollees, and they will work under head coach Marcus Freeman, a former linebacker. The future is bright for this group.

Defensive line/EDGE – 2022

Like the safety rankings from Sunday, the 2013 class technically had the highest ranking because it had just one recruit in Isaac Rochell (93.200). Rochell was a two-year starter for Notre Dame taken in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He remains active on the Indianapolis Colts’ roster.

Because of the one-man class in 2013, the second-best class deserves some attention. That award goes to the incoming freshmen. The Notre Dame class of 2022 includes Tyson Ford, Aiden Gobaira and Donovan Hinish, and they have a collective recruiting ranking of 91.225.

Ford leads the group with an individual ranking of 94.025, the second-highest rating a Notre Dame defensive line recruit has had in the last 10 years. That top spot belongs to 2016’s Daelin Hayes (94.233).

Two other classes have reached the 90+ mark in the last 10 years. The 2016 class of Hayes, Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara and Ade Ogundeji had a combined ranking of 90.167. All four players are currently on active NFL rosters. Kareem, the only one of the four not listed on their present roster as an outside linebacker, will play in a Super Bowl with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Pretty impressive group.

PROMOTION: Sign up for just $1 for first year at Blue & Gold

Just ahead of them is the class of 2019, which includes standout Isaiah Foskey plus NaNa Osafo-Mensah, Howard Cross, Jacob Lacey and Hunter Spears. The average of their recruiting rankings was 90.640. They are all on Notre Dame’s current roster with the exception of Spears. He retired from football in August.

Foskey had the second-best recruiting ranking out of high school of the five players, is the leader of the crew on the field at Notre Dame, and is expected to be a high-level draft selection in 2023 after electing to return to Notre Dame for his senior season. His On3 college rating is 96.000, which makes him the No. 6 EDGE in the rankings nationally. PFF recently recognized the defenseman as the No. 8 returning EDGE in the country.

Notre Dame has a new defensive line coach this year in Al Washington, but his track record is just as impressive as former coach Mike Elston. If the 2022 class is as good as advertised, the Irish are in good shape.