Notre Dame’s 2022 Class Is Top-Five In Early Team Rankings
In the past seven days, Notre Dame has added two new tight end commitments to its 2022 class, giving the Irish 13 overall pledges. West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley’s Eli Raridon pledged to the Irish last Sunday, while Atlanta Westminster’s Holden Staes announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Saturday evening.
National Signing Day for the 2022 class is seven months away, and there will be plenty of movement in the Rivals recruiting rankings from now until then. Notre Dame could finish in the top five or slide down to the teens. There is no telling the future, but as things stand today, Notre Dame has a top-five class.
With Raridon’s pledge on May 2, Notre Dame moved past Oklahoma for the No. 4 spot in the Rivals team rankings, and that’s where they remain today. The Irish have 1,398 points per the Rivals formula, which is 170 points ahead of Oklahoma, which has 1,228.
As a four-star prospect ranked outside of the Rivals250, Staes’ commitment gave the Irish 105 points to its class total.
Notre Dame’s class trails Ohio State, LSU and Georgia, respectively, in the Rivals rankings. Ohio State has one less commitment than Notre Dame but has a sizable lead in the rankings, as the Buckeyes have 1,868 points. Ohio State has three five-star prospects, which holds a great deal of weight, while the Irish do not have a five-star commit.
Notre Dame has an average star ranking of 3.69, which is the third lowest among schools in the top 10 (above Florida State and Kentucky). For comparison’s sake, only two programs finished in Rivals’ top 10 signed classes with lower than a 3.6 star ranking per commitment in the 2021 cycle — Michigan (No. 9, 3.57) and Notre Dame (No. 10, 3.44).
Notre Dame finishing with a top-five class is not out of the realm of possibility, but it seems more likely that Notre Dame finishes somewhere in the 7-11 range.
For more details on the Rivals rankings formula, click here.
Rivals ranks Staes as the No. 32 player in Georgia and the No. 14 tight end in the country.
“I’m a leader,” Staes noted. “I’m a guy who’s going to put his head down and work. I’m going to do whatever is needed to help the team win. I’m a versatile tight end who can make plays all over the field.”
He held right around 30 scholarship offers, including Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, USC and Wisconsin.
Staes had his season cut short due to a minor injury and played in just six games, but before that, he totaled 14 receptions for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 23 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and one interception playing defense for Westminster. He had eight receptions for 214 yards and two touchdowns for his team that rarely threw the ball during his sophomore campaign.
Staes was named to the 2020 Georgia 5-AAA All-Region first-team offense.
Notre Dame has 13 commitments in the 2022 class — seven play on offense, while six will line up on defense. 13 pledges ties LSU for the most in the country.
| Team | Commits | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Ohio State |
12 |
1,868 |
|
2. LSU |
13 |
1,801 |
|
3. Georgia |
12 |
1,760 |
|
4. Notre Dame |
13 |
1,398 |
|
5. Oklahoma |
9 |
1,228 |
|
6. Penn State |
10 |
1,091 |
|
7. Kentucky |
10 |
1,027 |
|
8. Florida State |
9 |
1,023 |
|
9. Texas |
8 |
1,016 |
|
10. Texas A&M |
8 |
1,003 |
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