WR Kaydon Finley chooses Notre Dame over father's alma mater Texas

New York Times

4 days ago

Four-star receiver Kaydon Finley committed to Notre Dame over Texas on Friday night as the Irish pulled off a recruiting trick that's been virtually impossible, taking a Longhorns legacy out of the Lone Star State. Finley's father, tight end Jermichael Finley, starred in Austin before a six-year career with the Green Bay Packers that included a Super Bowl win.
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Notre Dame will open Finley's freshman season at Lambeau Field, where his dad starred in his professional career, against Wisconsin.
Finley's commitment is Notre Dame's 23rd this cycle, with the Irish haul ranked in the top five on all four major services. Finley is the second receiver in the class and could be the first of three to fall to Notre Dame this weekend. The Irish are expected to land Devin Fitzgerald on Saturday, and Brayden Robinson is scheduled to commit on Sunday. Fitzgerald is the son of legendary former NFL wideout Larry Fitzgerald, an 11-time Pro Bowler who spent his entire 17-year career with the Arizona Cardinals.
A weekend sweep would give Notre Dame four wideouts in the class — Bubba Frazier of Savannah, Ga., committed in April — as assistant Mike Brown continues the long rebuild of a position group that's struggled to keep up with other College Football Playoff contenders.
In their past 10 recruiting classes, the Irish have signed 30 receivers and have produced more draft picks at defensive back (two) from that group than actual wideouts (one). Chase Claypool is the last receiver signed by Notre Dame who developed into an NFL draft pick, 10 recruiting cycles ago. The Irish turned Cam Hart (cornerback) and Xavier Watts (safety) into draft picks after position switches.
During that barren run, Notre Dame has signed just three Top 100 overall prospects at receiver. Sophomore Cam Williams is expected to be a reserve this season. Jordan Johnson transferred to Central Florida after his freshman year and didn't play at future stops. Kevin Austin's career was stunted by injury before becoming an undrafted free agent.
Finley will hope to buck that trend, with the Irish projecting he turns out more like junior Jaden Greathouse, another four-star prospect signed out of Texas. Greathouse led the Irish with 592 receiving yards last season on 43 catches with four touchdowns. The Irish haven't had a wide receiver lead the team in receptions, since Claypool's senior year, six seasons ago. Claypool was also Notre Dame's last 1,000-yard receiver.
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Considering his NFL heritage and prep production — Finley posted 81 catches for 1,432 yards and 21 touchdowns at Aledo last season — he's a good bet to reverse some of those trends. In addition to Notre Dame and Texas, Finley also listed offers from Texas A&M, Georgia, Miami, Oregon and Penn State.
The 6-foot, 200-pound athlete is a unanimous four-star prospect across the four services, ranging from No. 93 overall on Rivals to No. 216 overall on 247 Sports. He's also the 13th Top 200 overall prospect to commit to Notre Dame, per the 247 Sports Composite. The Irish have never signed more than a dozen Top 200 overall prospects, per the 247 Sports Composite, in a single class during the Rivals/247 era. Notre Dame signed 12 Top 200 prospects in the 2013 and 2006 classes, both regarded as the high-water marks for Brian Kelly and Charlie Weis.
With two more receivers likely to commit this weekend, and three-star safety Nick Reddish and four-star defensive lineman Elijah Golden scheduled to make announcements later this month, this haul built by Marcus Freeman could be the best since Lou Holtz.