FWIW, the latest On3/Rivals ranking has

Grayson McKeough up to number 13 overall.

Grain of salt and all.

QB Dia Bell at #2 overall. Mike Frank broached this topic a few weeks ago. Does ND have an "elite" (5 star) class.

Nope. "Elite" means exceptional across the board. You can't call a class elite when arguably it's top recruit didn't get an invite to the elite 11 camo. Or to phrase it differently, if you call this class "elite". What would you call a class with a consensus top 3 QB? CJ Carr wasn't consensus top 3.

There are standards here. Its an excellent class, it's just not elite.

https://www.on3.com/rivals/news/counting-down-the-top-25-prospects-in-the-rivals300-ran...

He was apparently VERY interested in ND some time ago, but Gino and Co chose to look elsewhere. Mike Frank and others have suggested that ND should circle back to him and gauge his interest.

The chances that this happens, or that it comes to anything, are probably so small that it barely bears mentioning. But still...

I see to recall Grubbs committing pretty early in the cycle, when ND had a commit from Deuce Knight. At the time, it felt like ND didn't want to "go big" on 2 QBs in a row.

Bell is obviously highly rated, but folks are acting like Grubbs is a Rees-tier QB recruit. He's a top 200 guy and consensus 4*.

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I'm a bad take machine!

Since we didn't end up getting Knight, I think the gnashing of teeth is because, though Grubbs is a solid, non-Rees prospect, he has a limited ceiling and we now have two QB recruits in a row who are not regarded as elite in the vein of Carr. And that is compounded by what some (not me, mind you) have interpreted as a slow, overly deliberate start to 2027 QB recruiting.

why labels like 'elite' mean jack fucking shit to a program that was just on the precipice of winning a title behind classes rated around (if not below) tenth. Fun for a podcast topic but not especially relevant.

What I do care about is that the staff fills available slots with the prospects they targeted as priorities, which they appear to have done across the board here with the '26 group. I trust our coaches to make those determinations over anybody else. Their asses are riding on it.

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Not really sure where Mike is coming up with elite. But when you land 6 top 50 guys, I'm not quite sure I'd know what to call it.

[tweet]1944791241561940034[/tweet]

of the class.

And although I agree with you generally about rankings, I can't help but be skeptical when our commit at the most important position on the field wasn't regarded as being in the top 20 guys at his position. I'm personally higher on Grubbs than I was on several ND QBs who have made prior E11 events. But that's at least a yellow flag to me.

I'm not picking on him here, as I've certainly heard him say the same. But we're now at a point where we can actually see what the finish line looks like in more than theoretical terms, and we're not that far away. Probably not as far as we thought we were. It does mean having a few more difference-makers on the team, but that's already being addressed.

I am not that hung up on QB because I dig who we've got competing now and anything beyond that is purely speculative. And the portal fundamentally changes what it means to even have a succession plan in the traditional sense.

On paper, we need to do better on a 2 class than we have done with 25-26.

But for maybe 10 years, it seemed like every team that won the title had an elite QB. And that sparked the Death Star/Jedi discussion.

We will certainly always be closer to "Need a Jedi" than we ever will be to building a Death Star. But the last couple years have certainly shown that you don't need a Lawrence/Hurts/Burrow to win it all. Michigan and OSU have won the last two years with "good" QB play. And we can certainly get there.

We've already shown that 1) ND can make it work with a one-year rental at QB, and 2) ND can make it very attractive for portal QB targets to come to South Bend for a year, both monetarily and for national exposure/name recognition.

We should never expect to rely on the portal to fill a need, but if we miss on QB for a cycle or two, its not the end of the world to hop into the portal for a one-year rental while the younger guys continue to marinate.

But finding a 5* top notch QB out of HS that will wait and has the talent is a damn near unicorn.

We did find 2: Dante Moore, who is already on his second school after one season. And Deuce Knight, who damn near decommitted twice in his recruiting cycle.

Shit, Ian Book is ND's all-time leading QB for wins. Would I prefer something better? Probably. But I trust Denbrock/Gino in getting a guy who is a pretty high caliber QB that will thrive in this offense. I realize you always have to go after a QB in every class, but we have about as good of a 1-2 situation as you could ask. Plus, as Jeremy details below, QB is a spot we can plug in and fix with high quality pretty easy. Easier than getting Deuce to stay for 2-3 years.

Add Stetson Bennett to the "good but not spectacular" list, as well. The clarification there was always about how badass Georgia's defense was to carry the day, but ND could be entering that chat before long.

The Death Stars have amassed an insane amount of talent. Maybe ND can get that much talent, but a jedi at QB would make the path far easier.

FWIW, I think there's probably significant value in trying to identify a backup QB who will stay for 5 years and be serviceable in case of injury. For a backup, that may be a more reliable route than the transfer portal.

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as other recent first round picks at QB. And having watched their big games that year, without having made hardly any plays on par with what guys like Lawrence, Hurts, Burrow, et al. did in the years before.

Time will tell whether Michigan did, in fact, have an elite QB on the field that year. But they didn't have elite college QB play relative to this era.

going into 2025, at least compared to ND. The portal and NIL have eroded the advantage of certain schools hoarding depth. OSU paid thru the nose to get the band back together last season. Hope they enjoyed it. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Going forward, we're on a much more level playing field w/r/t talent distribution. The days of being able to beat ND with superior athleticism are over.

combined with the ND brand makes for a very powerful pairing. Here’s to a beautiful Renaissance.

My post was more about the past couple of years, not sure what the future will bring.

To add to your argument, ND could have won the NC last year, despite not having a Death Star or a Jedi.

the median outcome for this class is only 3 first round picks.

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I'm a bad take machine!

https://x.com/Deadspin/status/629442943183667200

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the Polo Grounds - 20250422

Speaking of Bell

what's the lore on Grubbs/Bell?

I think your first paragraph is correct

I guess someone will need to explain to me

but which tier are they in

No Fullbacks

This. 100x this.

Mike also made exactly your point when praising the rest

Yeah

I'd say a couple things about QB.....

The portal helps here too

I see where you are coming from and don't disagree

Exactly.

McCarthy was a 1st round pick.

yes, but why?

But without remotely the same production or "use rate"

I don't think anyone has an insane amount of talent

The confluence of Freeman Rising along with NIL Ascendancy,

Maybe, the Robot's post is interesting.

I mean

Is Joe Flacco a ELITE Quaterback?

Elite Dragon.