Published Feb 15, 2022
All nine Notre Dame commits ranked in updated Rivals250 for 2023 class
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Tyler James  •  InsideNDSports
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Rivals won’t be done releasing all of its updated football recruiting rankings for the 2023 class until Friday.

Notre Dame’s verbal commitments won’t have to wait that long to find out how they stack up against the rest. That’s because all nine of Notre Dame’s commitments were included in Tuesday’s release of the new Rivals250.

Tight end Cooper Flanagan, who committed to Notre Dame in September, received the biggest rankings bump of Notre Dame’s commits in the latest rankings update. Flanagan was not included in the last Rivals250 in November, but he moved up to No. 225 overall as the No. 11 tight end in the 2023 class.

Defensive end Keon Keeley was the only other Notre Dame commit to receive a rankings boost this week. On Monday, Keeley was named a five-star prospect as the No. 1 weakside defensive end and No. 14 overall. He was previously ranked No. 26 overall.

The rest of Notre Dame’s commitments slid only slightly in the new Rivals250. None of them fell more than 10 spots in the overall ranking.

Brenan Vernon dropped three spots to No. 17 overall as the No. 3 strongside defensive end. He’s the highest-ranked four-star recruit in the country.

Here’s how the rest of Notre Dame’s commits were impacted.

• No. 34 Drayk Bowen: down two spots overall as the No. 2 outside linebacker.

• No. 53 Justyn Rhett: down four spots overall as the No. 7 cornerback.

• No. 83 Peyton Bowen: down seven spots overall as the No. 6 safety.

• No. 206 Adon Shuler: down eight spots overall as the No. 12 safety.

• No. 221 Preston Zinter: down seven spots overall as the No. 13 outside linebacker.

• No. 236 Sedrick Irvin: down 10 spots overall as the No. 12 running back.

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Class comparisons

Notre Dame’s 2023 class remains the top-ranked class in the country.

No other program has more than six commits included in the new Rivals250. The Irish have nine.

Notre Dame is one of only two schools with a five-star commitment (Keeley). Five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson is verbally committed to USC. The other 14 five-star recruits remain undecided.

Notre Dame’s 2022 class of 21 signees didn’t include a five-star recruit and finished with 13 recruits in the Rivals250.

Targets on the rise

Two Notre Dame targets made significant jumps in the Rivals250: quarterback Christopher Vizzina and cornerback Christian Gray.

Vizzina, from Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian, moved up 83 spots to No. 54 overall as the No. 6 pro-style quarterback.

Gray, from St. Louis De Smet Jesuit, moved up 66 spots to No. 102 overall as the No. 15 cornerback.

A pair of Notre Dame targets headed elsewhere also made big leaps: Oklahoma quarterback commit Jackson Arnold (up 103 spots to No. 66 overall) and expected Ohio State offensive tackle commit Luke Montgomery (up 44 spots to No. 38 overall).

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