The newest edition of the Rivals250 for the 2025 recruiting class was released on Tuesday, and Notre Dame football has several commits present across the rankings.
Last December, the Irish placed five commits in the Rivals250, which served as the first update of rankings after the prospects' junior seasons. This time around, Notre Dame has increased its total to six commits in the top 250, with the states of Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi and Wisconsin represented: Defensive end Christopher Burgess Jr., offensive tackle Owen Strebig, quarterback Deuce Knight, safety Ivan Taylor, cornerback Cree Thomas and defensive end Joseph Reiff.
Notre Dame's 2025 class has 17 commitments and holds the top spot in the Rivals recruiting team rankings with a 1,918-point total. The Irish are joined by Clemson (No. 4), Penn State (No. 5) and Oklahoma (No. 6) with class sizes currently larger than 10.
One commit, four-star running back Daniel Anderson, fell out of the Rivals250 after coming in at No. 205 overall last December. An ankle sprain limited Anderson to five games last fall, but the Bryant (Ark.) High recruit has fully recovered and is participating in offseason conditioning at 100%.
In the 2024 recruiting cycle, head coach Marcus Freeman and director of recruiting Chad Bowden helped the Irish sign 10 Rivals250 players: LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, OT Guerby Lambert, WR Cam Williams, QB CJ Carr, RB Aneyas Williams, SAF Brauntae Johnson, DE Loghan Thomas, DE Bryce Young, OL Peter Jones and CB Leonard Moore.
Inside ND Sports looks at each commit's movement in the rankings, their performance last season and latest news regarding their Irish commitments.
Four-star DE Christopher Burgess Jr.
New ranking: Moved up 23 spots to No. 39 overall
Season statistics: Burgess' season was shortened to six games due to injury but the 6-foot-4, 241-pound defender still managed 12 tackles, including four for loss and two sacks. He also recorded at least one pass deflection from the line of scrimmage.
Recent visit history: July 30, 2023, Sept. 23 (Ohio State game) and Jan. 20, 2024
The rundown: Not shortly after announcing his commitment during NBC's Army All-American broadcast on Jan. 6, Burgess felt it was important to attend junior day and spend more time with Freeman and defensive line coach Al Washington. The Chicago Simeon defender has reported three new offers from Arkansas, Florida State and Vanderbilt since committing, but isn't looking around and feels comfortable with Notre Dame from a football, academic and familial standpoint.
Burgess brought his father and brother along for junior day last month, attended the Ohio State game with his mother and father, and has commented under recent commitment posts on X/Twitter with emojis congratulating ND's recent commits like offensive tackle Matty Augustine and wide receiver Shaun Terry.
Four-star OT Owen Strebig
New ranking: Moved up 22 spots to No. 44 overall
Season statistics: N/A
Recent visit history: July 30, 2023, Sept. 23 (Ohio State game), Oct. 14 (USC game) and Jan. 20, 2024
The rundown: The 6-8, 295-pound Waukesha (Wisc.) Catholic Memorial recruit committed to the Irish over USC, Wisconsin, Florida State and Miami (Fla.) earlier this month and is one of two commits from Wisconsin — along with TE James Flanigan — in Notre Dame's class. Freeman and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph pitched Strebig with the 4-for-40 plan, but also on replacing Joe Alt, a projected first-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft this April.
Four-star QB Deuce Knight
New ranking: Moved down 18 spots to No. 52 overall
Season statistics: After beginning the season at Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy, Knight returned to Lucedale (Miss.) George County High — his original school — completed 84 of 168 passes for 1,420 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran 64 times for 340 yards and eight touchdowns.
Recent visit history: July 27, 2023, Sept. 23 (Ohio State game), Oct. 14 (USC game), Nov. 18 (Wake Forest game) and Jan. 20, 2024
The rundown: Alabama, Colorado, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina are still reaching out to Knight despite his commitment, and the 6-4, 190-pound quarterback is listening, but not wavering in his verbal pledge to the Freeman and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli. Knight plans to visit the Irish from March 21-24 before taking an official visit on June 14-16 and has no scheduled trips to other schools. Knight has been an ambassador for Notre Dame's class since joining last September and that continued on social media after Augustine's commitment last week.
Four-star S Ivan Taylor
New ranking: Moved down 21 spots to No. 111 overall
Season statistics: Taylor roamed Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange's secondary and totaled 45 tackles, including 22 solo and six for loss. He also caused four fumbles, made an interception and registered with one pass breakup.
Recent visit history: July 30, 2023, Oct. 28 (Pitt game), Nov. 18 (Wake Forest game) and Jan. 20, 2024
The rundown: Safeties coach Chris O'Leary's decision to bolt for the NFL on the Los Angeles Chargers coaching staff has Taylor praying about his decision, but it hasn't resulted in a decommitment to this point. The 5-11, 170-pound recruit, who is the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers Ike Taylor, originally committed to Notre Dame because of his faith, but also the relationships with the coaching and recruiting staff. Taylor is expected to set a visit date this spring before an official visit this summer, where he said his goal is to build more familiarity with defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator Mike Mickens and defensive coordinator Al Golden.
Four-star CB Cree Thomas
New ranking: Moved down 10 spots to No. 233 overall
Season statistics: Thomas attends Phoneix Brophy Prep, the same school that produced Irish cornerback Benjamin Morrison, and tallied 43 tackles, including 34 solo, along with five interceptions (one pick-6) and four pass breakups last fall.
Recent visit history: Oct. 14, 2023 (USC game), Oct. 28 (Pitt game) and Jan. 20, 2024
The rundown: Thomas hasn't taken any visits or reported new offers after last November's commitment, and is locked in with Mickens as ND's only cornerback commit heading into the spring and summer. Thomas was a prospect that the Irish offered while he was unranked and unrated, but a strong junior season elevated him to one of the highest-ranked players in Notre Dame's class.
Four-star DE Joseph Reiff
New ranking: Moved down nine spots to No. 234 overall
Season statistics: Reiff anchored Elmhurst (Ill.) York's defensive line and finished with 76 tackles including 20.0 for loss. He added 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery and pass breakup, respectively.
Recent visit history: July 30, 2023, Sept. 23 (Ohio State game) and Jan. 20, 2024
The rundown: Reiff received interest from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin in his recruitment, but those schools never extended offers and Reiff jumped into Notre Dame's class on the Sunday after an unofficial visit for the Ohio State game. Reiff returned for junior day with family and holds a similar positional versatility at this stage as Rylie Mills. FIST Football Academy, who is responsible for training the 6-5, 235-pound Reiff, communicated with Inside ND Sports via text message earlier this month and said Reiff's offseason is going well. FIST is working to invite Strebig into the Chicago area for a workout alongside Reiff and other trainees this winter, spring or summer.
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