What exactly is Notre Dame getting from 2026 Five-Star Edge Rodney Dunham?

AtoZ Sports

Ryan Roberts and Joe Deleone break down 2026 Five-Star Pass Rusher Rodney Dunham and what he will bring to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Transcript

00:00Notre Dame just landed a massive 2026 commitment in five-star defensive end, Ronnie Dunham.

00:06Folks, forget the recruiting rankings, forget the stats.

00:09Let's talk about what makes Dunham so special next.

00:15Ryan Roberts from A to Z Sports, breaking down everything Notre Dame football.

00:18Folks, Notre Dame just landed a huge commitment in the 2026 class,

00:22a five-star defensive end, Ronnie Dunham,

00:24ranked as number 19 overall player on the on-three industry ranking,

00:27ranked as number 14 overall player nationally on 247 Sports.

00:31I didn't want to break this one down myself.

00:34I have my co-host from the A to Z Sports film room, Joe DeLeon,

00:37here to break down why this is so important.

00:40Joe, five-star defensive end out of the state of North Carolina.

00:43How excited are you about the Ronnie Dunham pickup for Notre Dame?

00:47Well, incredibly, and I think that this is now pushing Notre Dame

00:51into a completely different category,

00:52that they're able to attract five-star pass rushers.

00:56That is what separates the premier teams in college football

00:59from just the simple great ones that are at the conversation of the top 10.

01:03It's how you enter that upper echelon.

01:05And it has been a criticism of Notre Dame under the Brian Kelly era early on

01:09under Marcus Freeman that they were getting attractive players at various positions.

01:13We're used to seeing good offensive linemen.

01:15We're used to seeing good running backs.

01:17But those future first-round pass rushers have always been missed by Notre Dame.

01:22Now they've got a guy like Dunham who has the tools and the traits

01:26to go on to be not only very productive in college,

01:28and if he develops, could be a future first-rounder.

01:31This is what helps Notre Dame go from becoming a national championship conversation team

01:36to an actual national championship winning one.

01:39So we're going to watch some film here in a second, folks.

01:42A little bit of the background.

01:43Like I said, five-star defensive end, 6'4", 227 pounds,

01:47listed between 227 and 230, depending on what recruiting platform you look at.

01:51But, Joe, this is also a pretty cool one.

01:54He's also a dynamic baseball player from Myers Park.

01:57I'm interested to see if he explores playing baseball on the college level

02:01because he throws over 90 miles per hour on the mound.

02:03So he's a pretty dang good pitcher, just a good baseball player overall.

02:06But, Joe, I did some background research.

02:09We know how big Keon Keely was as far as an overall commitment to Notre Dame

02:13before he ended up flipping to Alabama.

02:16But this would be, if Rodney Dunham's ranking stays the same

02:19and he signs with Notre Dame, this would be the highest-ranked defensive lineman

02:23to sign with Notre Dame since Aaron Lynch in the 2011 recruiting class.

02:29I know some of you are saying, what about Bryce Young?

02:32Just a couple years ago, Bryce Young was ranked in the 20s.

02:35He was ranked as a five-star by at least one platform.

02:38But let's be honest, getting Bryant's young son to come play football at Notre Dame

02:42was not this just incredibly huge moment as far as making a statement nationally.

02:50You just took, and Ronnie Dunham, and again, we're going to consider

02:54that he was going to sign with Notre Dame because anything could happen.

02:57But if he does, you just stole one of the premier pass rushers

03:01in all of high school recruiting out of the state of North Carolina.

03:05By the way, among his finalists, Georgia, Tennessee,

03:09a lot of SEC schools were hot on the trail.

03:11But Joseph, the highest-ranked recruit Notre Dame has had on the defensive line

03:16in the last 15 years.

03:21Yeah, you just mentioned there that getting Bryant Young's son, Bryce Young,

03:24was huge because he ended up finishing as a five-star on some platforms.

03:28But I would have been stunned if Bryce Young didn't pick Notre Dame

03:32because of that family connection.

03:33We know that Notre Dame has not only done a good job

03:35of recruiting former Notre Dame players' sons,

03:37but just NFL players in general.

03:39They trust Marcus Freeman.

03:42I think overall what makes this just so massive

03:45that you're going and getting a player like Dunham,

03:47and if you're able to keep him and his final commitment,

03:50is that you're able to then prove to the rest of the recruiting community

03:54that, hey, this is a destination to get developed,

03:57get on the field early, get playing time,

03:59and go on to become one of the better players in college football.

04:02That was a big talking point for me during the national championship run

04:06is that this did so much for marketing for Marcus Freeman and for Notre Dame.

04:11A lot of people were saying how Notre Dame is now cool to go play for,

04:14and some people scoff at that, but that's the reality now.

04:17It is not the same stuffy institution that it was described as under Brian Kelly.

04:23This is now a unique destination for players that are incredibly gifted

04:27that can take that next step forward and get great coaching

04:29from the entire Notre Dame coaching staff and for Marcus Freeman.

04:33And if you don't trust the recruiting rankings, you don't trust the offer list,

04:37you don't trust our analysis, let's roll some film right now.

04:40As you can see, 6'4", 227 pounds, Joe.

04:44The thing that first pops off about Dunham for me is his first step explosiveness

04:50is something truly to behold.

04:52Now, obviously, he has the prototypical frame, right?

04:54He's 6'4", he's got pretty long arms,

04:57but that first step explosiveness, that closing speed to be able to finish on plays,

05:01those are a few of the things that really pop to me

05:04when we really take a deep dive into what Rodney Dunham is such a special football player.

05:09I think outside of that first step, which that immediately caught my attention,

05:13there's two other things that make him a premier player.

05:16The length shows up on film constantly.

05:18He doesn't have the pass rush moveset that we look for in a prospect,

05:22but he's a high school recruit.

05:23He doesn't need it.

05:24He's able to win with his athleticism,

05:25but the length shows up as he's able to get extension on these smaller,

05:29undersized offensive linemen, easily win, press them completely off of him.

05:34But the other thing that I was just enamored by was the motor.

05:37Getting a motor in a five-star recruit is something that sometimes can be hard to come by.

05:42Some guys just don't have that internal clock, if you will,

05:45to know that, like, hey, I got to keep going until this whistle.

05:48I got to keep playing until after the play is over.

05:50There are so many plays on his highlights that show he chases down running backs.

05:56He falls.

05:57He stumbles.

05:58He maybe doesn't win off the initial rip.

06:00And then he tracks down a quarterback as the play develops,

06:03and that quarterback tries to evade pressure.

06:05So that motor is exactly what Notre Dame needs

06:08and something that Notre Dame naturally covets in its prospects.

06:12And this is a player also that I think some context is needed out there

06:16as we wrap this guy up.

06:17He was kind of banged up as a junior as well.

06:19So if we're just looking at the highlights for what they were,

06:22the big-time plays that he was able to make in 2024,

06:26we do need to understand that we may not even have seen Rodney Dunham

06:29at 100% for the majority of this season.

06:32So if we're talking about five-star upside,

06:34I also must say, Joe, as we wrap up this film,

06:36this is huge for Notre Dame to continue to tap into the state of North Carolina,

06:40a state that puts out a lot of talent regularly, especially recently.

06:44They got, obviously, Bryce Young out of the state of North Carolina.

06:47They got Jack Larson out of the state of North Carolina.

06:49They got Micah Gilbert in the 2024 class out of the state of North Carolina.

06:522026 right now.

06:54You just got a commitment from Ebenezer Ewutade.

06:57You also are trying to get Akini Ogboko,

06:59the star offensive lineman in the 2026 class out of the state of North Carolina.

07:03Rodney Dunham really tapping into that North Carolina pipeline

07:06that Marcus Freeman and the staff is really trying to tap into.

07:10Folks, if you liked this breakdown,

07:12make sure to go join me and Joe over at A to Z Film Room.

07:15You can find that on YouTube right now.

07:17Go search it.

07:18We obviously stay more into the NFL draft space,

07:21but as we get after this 2025 NFL draft class,

07:25we're going to start really tapping into some high school recruiting as well,

07:28breaking down some big commitments,

07:30official visitors, and everything in between.

07:32Make sure you hit that like button,

07:33subscribe to the channel,

07:34and as always,

07:35Go Irish!

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