Notre Dame secured a second offensive line commitment just this week with four-star offensive tackle Elijah Paige (Pinnacle High School; Phoenix) joining the Irish class of 2023 on Friday afternoon.
Paige chose Notre Dame over UCLA, Michigan State, USC and Washington, though his official visit to South Bend at the start of the month effectively ended his recruitment, canceling planned visits to those latter three schools.
At 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, Paige has the makings of a prototypical tackle, ranked the No. 36 tackle in the class, per rivals.com.
He unsurprisingly towers over much of his high school competition, and his width is nearly impossible to get around at that level. Paige simply has sheer size, though by no means is he plodding.
His hand placement already shows an understanding of the fundamentals of the position, often a track toward early playing time at Notre Dame, though the Irish will be set at offensive tackle when he arrives in 2023 with Joe Alt and Blake Fisher and likely have 2024 candidates in Tosh Baker and Michael Carmody.
Paige is the fourth offensive lineman in the Irish class, joining four-stars Sam Pendleton (Ronald Reagan H.S.; Pfafftown, N.C.) and Sullivan Absher (South Point; Belmont, N.C.), along with three-star guard Joe Otting (Hayden Catholic; Topeka, Kan.), who committed Tuesday. With 15 total commitments in the Notre Dame class, it ranks No. 1 in the country, per rivals.com. The further into the cycle, the more legitimacy that ranking holds.
“It’s obviously great to be a part of this class,” Paige said to Inside ND Sports. “This class is special. I know this class is going to win a national title.”
Some of that No. 1 class ranking derives from many traditional powers not yet building their classes as broadly as the Irish have. For example, Ohio State ranks No. 4 with just 10 recruits. Clemson and Georgia come in at Nos. 11 and 12 with eight commits apiece. Texas A&M is all the way down at No. 19 because only five players have joined its class to date, and Alabama is at No. 30 with four commitments thus far.
Nonetheless, Notre Dame is clearly well positioned in 2023 recruiting.