Kaydon Finley is the CAN'T MISS prospect for Notre Dame in the 2026 recruiting class

AtoZ Sports

Ryan Roberts discusses Notre Dame's 2026 recruiting class and talks about why Kaydon Finley is the one prospect the Fighting Irish can't afford to miss out on!

Transcript

00:00The Notre Dame 2026 recruiting class is filling up quickly but there are still several key targets

00:05left on the board. Let's talk about my number one can't miss prospect remaining in the 2026 class

00:11for the Fighting Irish. Ryan Roberts from A to Z Sports breaking down everything Notre

00:18Day football. Folks if you don't follow recruiting regularly you may have missed that Notre Dame is

00:24on quite a tear on the 2026 recruiting class. Obviously just got star running back out of the

00:29state of Georgia Jones Walton. They've gotten JV on Osborne in recent weeks. Ronnie Dunham a few

00:34weeks ago as well. The star five-star pass rusher out of the state of North Carolina Ebenezer

00:39Ewutade, Jacoby Clapper. It has been quite the run for the Fighting Irish but there are still several

00:45key targets left on the board but I really wanted to highlight one who I consider the biggest can't

00:50miss prospect remaining can't miss target on the board for Notre Dame for the rest of the 2026 class

00:56and that is Aledo Texas wide receiver Caden Finley and this is the reason why. First and

01:02foremost Caden Finley is awesome. Six foot, 200 pounds, 80 plus receptions over 1400 yards last

01:08year, 21 touchdowns in a very strong section of high school football obviously out of the state

01:13of Texas. He is the son of former Longhorn and Green Bay Packer tight end Jermichael Finley

01:19so obviously has some deep ties to Texas. Notre Dame is fighting right now with Texas, with Texas

01:25A&M to hopefully pull him out of the lone star states. He's a top 100 recruit being viewed by

01:31several people as one of the most highly productive and highest floor wide receivers in the 2026

01:37recruiting class and this is the biggest reason that I think that Caden Finley is such a can't miss

01:41prospect for Notre Dame outside of him being fantastic football player is that when I look at this wide

01:46receiver class for Notre Dame as of today you have commitments from Dylan Faison who of course is

01:51the younger brother of Jordan a good toolsy player that also plays lacrosse I think has developmental

01:56upside you also have Bubba Frazier out of the state of Georgia who's kind of your do-it-all gadget space

02:02type player who can do some great things after the catch really like both of those pickups and really

02:07like the potential of both but neither one of those are who I would call difference makers day one for a

02:14Notre Dame offense I think that Notre Dame just for them to make that next step they have done a

02:18great job of flipping the script Al Washington has done a tremendous job on the defensive line

02:23recently after some early struggles they're recruiting well at linebacker they're recruiting

02:28great in the secondary recruiting well a quarterback recruiting great at offensive line running back is

02:32obviously has been tremendous under Juwan Sider so far the one missing link I believe in this offense

02:38or just this team in general is wide receiver recruiting still needs a little bit of an uptick and we were

02:43talking about the targets that are realistic on the board right now for Notre Dame I like where

02:47they stand for Cohen Brown who is the wide receiver out of the state of Texas friend of JV on Osborne

02:51who just committed from USC I also think they're in a pretty good spot with Braden Robinson the dynamic

02:56space player out of Texas but here's the thing while all those players are a really good part of a wide

03:03receiver class none of the players I just mentioned are foregone conclusions to mean maybe a wide receiver

03:09one somewhat early in their college careers Braden Robinson is a great space player departmentalized

03:14pass catcher I believe that Cohen Brown brings speed and an athleticism to the table to be a

03:19developmental player I think all those players that I named including Faison including Bubba Frazier

03:24could end up being very good at least secondary options on the college level but are any of them

03:30true number ones or any of those guys that coming in as a freshman can play a significant role in a pass

03:37heavy offense potentially and obviously Notre Dame is not a is a more of a run centric offense

03:41but if they do change their ideology and become more of a passing threat or passing offense just in

03:47general they need some more dynamic pass catchers I think that's Caden Finley he's the only player on

03:52the board in my opinion right now of realistic options I'm not talking about the entire board

03:56because obviously there's some great wide receivers on there of realistic options that I think day one

04:01can come in and be a dude for you and I believe that he could end up being a wide receiver one

04:06in an offense this is the conversation we had in the 2023 recruiting class when people are debating

04:12who's the better receiver Jaden Greathouse Braylon James you having those different those difficult

04:18conversations but in the end of the day it ended up that the best receiver in that class that

04:23included Rico Flores and KK Smith it's Jaden Greathouse is he the most dynamic athlete of the

04:27bunch no is he the highest upside player of those bunch no but what he is is he's the best wide receiver

04:34in that class in 2023 and I believe that's also what Caden Finley is so I'm I'm losing a little

04:40bit of positivity on that end because I think that Notre Dame has been in a good spot with Caden Finley

04:44but the longest longer that this kind of rides out I do think that Notre Dame's chance is less than a

04:50little bit so hopefully Notre Dame is able to close this one out if not I think you're looking at a

04:55solid to good wide receiver class but if you get Caden Finley I think that Mike Brown and this

05:01offensive staff for Notre Dame takes a step forward so Caden Finley my can't miss prospect folks put in

05:07the chat right now are there any other players that you think are can't miss prospects in the

05:102026 class make sure you hit that like button and subscribe on the way out and as always go Irish

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