Notre Dame Slides Past Oklahoma In Early 2022 Rivals Recruiting Rankings
Notre Dame added commitment No. 12 of its 2022 class on Sunday afternoon when West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley tight end Eli Raridon pledged to the Fighting Irish.
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.
As a prospect with a 5.7 recruit ranking, Raridon's commitment gave Notre Dame 90 points to its class total, giving the Irish 1,293 points. This moved Notre Dame past Oklahoma for a (temporary) claim to the No. 4 spot.
On Friday, the Sooners added a pair of commitments to move them past Notre Dame for the No. 4 spot, but Raridon's pledge flipped things back into Notre Dame's favor for the time being.
Notre Dame has the No. 4 class in the nation, trailing Georgia, LSU and Ohio State, respectively. Ohio State has one less commitment than Notre Dame but has a sizable lead in the rankings, as the Buckeyes have 1,750 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 3.67, which is the third lowest among schools in the top 10. 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).
For more details on the Rivals rankings formula, click here.
Raridon also held offers from Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Virginia and West Virginia.
Raridon is Notre Dame’s lone tight end commit in the 2022 class. The Irish recently lost a pledge from Milton (Ga.) High’s Jack Nickel at the position. With Nickel out and Raridon in, there is likely one more tight end spot for Notre Dame in the class. Atlanta Westminster’s Holden Staes is considered a Notre Dame lean and could join the class.
Rivals ranks Raridon as the No. 5 player in Iowa and the No. 22 tight end nationally. During his junior season, Raridon caught 22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns.
| Team | Commits | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Georgia |
13 |
1,850 |
|
2. LSU |
13 |
1,801 |
|
3. Ohio State |
11 |
1,750 |
|
4. Notre Dame |
12 |
1,293 |
|
5. Oklahoma |
9 |
1,228 |
|
6. Texas |
8 |
1,016 |
|
6. Penn State |
9 |
1,016 |
|
8. Texas A&M |
8 |
1,003 |
|
9. Rutgers |
11 |
989 |
|
10. Mississippi State |
11 |
960 |
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