Notre Dame had a hell of a week of recruiting last week with five commitments in six days, but the news hasn’t been as glowing this week. Dante Moore, who the Irish have been fading for since the commitment of CJ Carr, and Jason Moore, who the Irish were thought to be the leaders for at the beginning of the week, both announced decision dates for this week with the Irish looking like they’ll miss out on both.
Since CJ Carr committed to Notre Dame, giving the Irish a 5-star QB for 2024, they have been fading for Dante Moore. In the spring, the 5-star QB for 2023 was thought to be a heavy Notre Dame lean, if not on commit watch, but as his recruitment lingered, Notre Dame’s chances kept fading. That is why the staff was willing to take a 2024 quarterback commit before Moore decided.
Heading into Dante Moore’s decision, which will be tomorrow, Oregon is now expected to be the selection. Even with Oregon looking like a program without a decided home in conference realignment after the B1G said no thanks when they tried to follow USC and UCLA’s coattails into the conference, the Ducks recruiting hasn’t taken a hit yet. All predictions on On3 and 247 point to Oregon being the selection tomorrow when Moore announces.
While it’s been assumed for a couple of weeks now that Moore would likely not be in Notre Dame’s class of 2023, the silver lining here is that Moore doesn’t appear to be headed to either LSU or Michigan. We don’t really want either Brian Kelly or the Wolverines to have nice things, and potentially missing out on Moore is an even more significant loss for both since neither has a 5-star QB commit lined up for 2024 like Notre Dame.
At this time, there’s no indication that CJ Carr has any plans on reclassifying for 2023, but there have been rumblings about it as a possibility for weeks. Assuming reclassifying is off the table, look for Notre Dame to explore new 2023 quarterback offers if Moore does not select the Irish tomorrow.
Ohio State Surging for Jason Moore
More surprising this week was the news that defensive end Jason Moore appears headed to Ohio State. Notre Dame was long considered the leader for Moore. Experts felt the Irish led before and after Moore wrapped his official visits, but on Monday, 247 Sports’ Tom Loy predicted that Moore would land at Ohio State. Since then, more experts on both 247 and On3 followed suit, and now it would be an upset if Ohio State wasn’t Moore’s pick when he announces on Sunday.
Unlike quarterback, where the Irish have no 2023 commits, the Irish are stocked with one of the best defensive line classes in the country already committed. Keon Keeley, Brennan Vernon, Boubacar Traore, and Devan Houstan give Notre Dame and elite set of linemen for the class.
Notre Dame is still pursuing 5-star EDGE Samuel M’Pemba, but predictions for Georgia for M’Pemba were placed earlier today. The Irish could pursue some other defensive ends later in the cycle, but as of now, there aren’t any other ends that Notre Dame is at least publicly pursuing at the moment. The staff has the luxury of only targeting an elite player at this point if they want because of the stacked set of linemen already committed.
