Class Impact: Notre Dame Lands Cornerback Khary Adams

Yahoo

24-06-2025

Class Impact: Notre Dame Lands Cornerback Khary Adams originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Notre Dame remains a red hot team on the recruiting trail, this time landing Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield cornerback Khary Adams. The Irish beat out Penn State, Oregon, Michigan and South Carolina to land this elite cornerback. Let's break down what this commitment means for Notre Dame and how it impacts the Notre Dame 2026 recruiting class.
NOTRE DAME CLASS IMPACT
Adams is the 18th player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2026 recruiting class. He's also the eighth defensive player to commit to the Fighting Irish and the third cornerback in the class. He joins Florida defensive back Ayden Pouncey and Tennessee cover man Chaston Smith.
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Numbers wasn't really the focus for Notre Dame at the cornerback class in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Notre Dame landed three very talented cornerbacks in the 2025 class (Dallas Golden, Mark Zackery, Cree Thomas) and two talented players in the 2025 class (Leonard Moore, Karson Hobbs). The focus in this class was more about impact talent than it was about numbers, and the Irish actually met their numbers goal when it landed Pouncey and Smith.
Despite meeting those numbers, Notre Dame continued to make Adams a major priority because impact talent was more important than numbers, and Adams is simply too good to not keep recruiting. Moore being a likely three-and-done player means this class will only be on campus for one season with him. Notre Dame is also doing more looks where three corners can be on the field .Combine all that with the elite upside that Adams possesses and you understand why the staff continued to push so hard for him.
Adding to the unique nature of this class is that Pouncey not only grades out as a high-level cornerback, he also has the tools to potentially move to safety and thrive there if the need arises. That means that Adams, Pouncey and Smith could play together either in three-cornerback looks but also with the potential of Pouncey playing on the back end if the need was there.
NOTRE DAME FIT
There are several attributes that Mike Mickens has consistently looked for at the cornerback position, and Adams grades out well in each of those areas. His combination of length, speed and football IQ all grade out well. He has all the tools you want in a high-level pure cover player. Mickens also likes two-way players and Adams is also an impact high school wide receiver. Adams has the range, cover instincts and tackling potential to thrive as a field cornerback. He also has the length, speed and instincts to grow into a dominant boundary cornerback. That positional flexibility is a big reason why Adams fits so well into the Notre Dame defense.
FILM ANALYSIS
The length that Mickens has added to the secondary in recent recruiting cycles has been incredibly impressive, and that continues with the pickup of Adams. At 6-2 he certainly has excellent height, but Adams also has the arm length to match. That makes him an incredibly difficult player to throw the ball over or around. Adams is on the lean side right now and he's listed at 180 pounds, but he has a solid frame that reminds me a lot of former Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart, who was 6-3 and skinny in high school but grew into a 205-pound player for the Irish. I could see Adams eventually getting to the 200-pound mark as well.
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Adams is an excellent all-around athlete that has all the physical traits you want in a cornerback. He has top notch foot quickness and agility, which allows him to change direction with ease and impressive quickness. He can plant and drive on the football as well as any cornerback in the class. Adams has loose hips and transitions with ease as well, showing the kind of open-and-run skills you need to play man coverage. Adams also has elite speed, both from an initial quickness standpoint and second gear. When he commits to going full speed he gets to his top gear in a hurry, and his long speed is tremendous. He covers a ton of ground and he's able to overcome mistakes much easier than most cornerbacks because of his combination of elite length and speed.
With Notre Dame potentially looking to play more zone coverage, Adams also needs to be able to handle that part of the game as well. One could argue that his unique skillset projects just as well to being a zone defender. His length and speed allows him to cover a ton of ground in off zone coverages (Cover 3, Cover 4), and his ability to redirect and close so well should allow him to be incredibly difficult to throw at in those zone looks. His length and foot quickness also gives him traits to be a difficult player to throw over in the tighter zone looks like Cover 2. That all-around ability is why his upside is so high.
Adams will need a lot of technical at the next level, which is why picking Notre Dame is such a good move for him. That's where Mickens thrives, and Adams will benefit greatly from that tutelage. Adams gets by on elite talent right now, but he's a two-way player for his high school, which makes it harder for him to master the technique at one spot. That's not a knock on his prep coaching, as the coaches should absolutely use him both ways. It just means he'll have more to learn once he focuses on one position. He'll also need to learn to better use his length to his advantage when playing press and re-routing receivers.
Adams is a willing tackler but he's more of a form tackler than a thumper like Hart or Moore. He'll need to not only fill out but also improve his upper body strength. His play strength is one of the areas where he grades out the lowest. That will come in time as he gets into the college weight program and continues to physically mature. The fact he's not afraid to stick his nose into traffic is important, because once the strength comes his impact in the run game will be much improved.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.