Notre Dame Sophomore Class Is Overlooked - Biggest Sleepers In 2026
The goal of any program is to continuously stack recruiting classes. For Notre Dame , they've been on a hot streak under head coach Marcus Freeman who took over the program in 2022. Since then, they've landed several Top 10 recruiting classes including the No. 1 class per On3 this past recruiting cycle in 2026. Unfortunately, not every class gets viewed the same, despite their high level of potential impact on the ensuing season. The 2025 Notre Dame recruiting class has been overlooked.
That's been true during the 2025 recruiting cycle and it's true now when you look at the total make-up of the roster. On today's show, we break down the level of impact that this talented class could potentially have this fall. After, we breakdown the players being overlooked on the Fighting Irish roster and wrap everything up with a look at some of the sleeper teams across the country this year. You can watch all of that and more in today's episode of the Irish Breakdown Podcast.
You can watch the entire episode here:
Here are some of the main topics we discussed on today's show:
On Dallas Golden 's Outlook On 2026 ...
"Out of every defensive player in the 2025 class, I think Dallas is the only player that has to have some level of breakout this season. His emergence in the secondary would mean wonders for multiple positions, field corner and nickel corner. For some of the other guys, it would be nice for them to breakout, and they're more than capable of that happening. But for Golden, he's someone that needs to emerge and has the opportunity to be either a starting nickel, a starting field corner or a key rotational guy at both spots. There's a lot of youth in the secondary but Golden is the only player who has started a game at nickel on the entire roster. They'll need him in 2026."
On Micah Gilbert Being Slept On This Offseason ...
"Look, there's a lot of highly reputable players in Notre Dame's receiver corps. They return Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse , they picked up Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter from Ohio State and everybody has been waiting on a breakout from Cam Williams or Elijah Burress . But Gilbert has quietly had one of the better, if not the best, offseason from a Notre Dame wideout thus far. There's this notion that he's just a place holder for Porter until he's ready and healthy enough to step into the boundary. I don't believe that's the case. Gilbert is a player than Irish fans need to be on the lookout for this season."
On Luke Talich Being Slept On This Offseason ...
"The 'walk-on stigma' around Talich will probably never go away. But don't let that distract you from the fact that he's a very talented football player who held offers from Utah and Washington State coming out of high school. He's a 6-4, 222-pound safety who's rangy and isn't afraid to make plays around the line of scrimmage. He's also been a force on special teams, just go ask the returner from Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Everyone is ready for Ethan Long or Joey O'Brien to breakout this season, and both things could happen, but Notre Dame will need Talich to help solidify their safety rotation."
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