{"id":75014,"date":"2025-07-05T15:38:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T19:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=75014"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:13:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:13:48","slug":"four-star-receiver-kaydon-finley-commits-to-notre-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/07\/05\/four-star-receiver-kaydon-finley-commits-to-notre-dame\/","title":{"rendered":"Four-Star Receiver Kaydon Finley Commits to Notre Dame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four-star wide receiver Kaydon Finley from Aledo, Texas, committed to Notre Dame on Friday night. According to On3.com<\/em>, Finley is the 120th<\/sup>-ranked player in the country. The Irish beat out Texas, Texas A&M, and Arizona State for one of the leading recruits in the 2026 class. The commitment from Finley gives the Irish a total of 23 commits in the 2026 class, which also includes Bubba Frazier, Dylan Faison, Preston Fryzel, and Ian Premer.<\/p>\n

Finley is the son of former Texas tight end and Green Bay Packers standout Jermichael Finley. A third-round selection by the Green Bay Packers in the 2008 NFL Draft, Jermichael officially retired in 2015. All told through 70 games during his NFL regular season career, the elder Finley logged 223 receptions for 2,785 yards and 20 touchdowns. In four playoff appearances, he added 241 yards on 15 catches.<\/p>\n

Hoping to follow in his father\u2019s footsteps, Finley is ranked as the No. 33 wide receiver in the country and the No. 32 overall prospect in Texas, according to 247Sports<\/em>. The commitment from Finley gives the Irish a total of 23 commits in the 2026 class, which also includes pass catchers Bubba Frazier, Dylan Faison, Preston Fryzel, and Ian Premer.<\/p>\n

\"Kaydon
Photo courtesy: MICHAEL CLUBB\/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kaydon Finley: Pro Level Skills<\/h3>\n

Gabe Brooks of 247Sports<\/em> says of Finley, \u201cMassively productive receiver with a solid, sturdy build in the 6-foot, 200-pound range and gifted with big hands. Strong football pedigree as the son of a former standout pass-catching tight end at the high-major college and NFL level. Know-how shows in route-running acumen, in-the-air ability, and run-after-catch toughness. Three-sport experience that includes basketball and track and field. Explosive testing numbers in the broad jump and vertical categories. Build and run strength suggests a possible wildcat option, if desired. Projects as a valuable asset in a high-major receiver room who could follow family footsteps to the pro level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Prister of Irish Illustrated<\/em> offered his take on Finley, saying, \u201cI like everything about Finley\u2019s skillset outside of the fact that he does not have blazing speed. But the completeness of his game, possessing Will Fuller-like speed, is relatively inconsequential. Throw him the football from the red zone into the end zone, and he\u2019ll use his physicality to create space between himself and a defender. What looks like a challenging jump ball in the end zone is made easy by his physical separation from the defender and his strong hands. Finley can align virtually anywhere and be effective. He has slot\/field receiver height at the present time, but a boundary receiver\u2019s strength, which will come in handy since many, including Notre Dame, believe he\u2019s still trending toward, if not up to, his father\u2019s height. Boundary wideout looks to be his best position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irish Wide Receiver Room<\/h3>\n

Expecting to lead the Irish pass catchers this season is Jaden Greathouse<\/a>. The junior wide receiver broke out last year and was especially integral to the Irish\u2019s success in the postseason. Against Penn State in the Orange Bowl<\/a> and Ohio State in the National Title game, Greathouse hauled in 13 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock are hopeful that Greathouse continues his progress this season.<\/p>\n

Bolstering this year\u2019s receiving corps is senior Malachi Fields<\/a>. A transfer from Virginia, Fields was named third-team All-ACC in 2024. He started all 12 games for the Cavaliers a year ago, making 55 catches for 818 yards and five touchdowns. He had a field day against Wake Forest last year, catching a career-high 11 passes for 148 yards, also a career best.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Kaydon Finley\u2019s commitment to Notre Dame is more than just a significant addition to the 2026 class. It\u2019s a statement. By venturing into the heart of Texas and pulling a talent of Finley\u2019s caliber away from in-state powerhouse programs like Texas and Texas A&M, the Fighting Irish have demonstrated their national recruiting prowess. With his NFL pedigree, Finley is the kind of dynamic playmaker who can elevate an offense. The future of the Irish receiving corps looks brighter with Finley committing to donning the blue and gold.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four-star wide receiver Kaydon Finley from Aledo, Texas, committed to Notre Dame on Friday night. According to On3.com, Finley is the 120th-ranked player in the country. The Irish beat out Texas, Texas A&M, and Arizona State for one of the leading recruits in the 2026 class. The commitment from Finley gives the Irish a total […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4854,"featured_media":75019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,11,17,35676,7316],"tags":[35275,35276,35278,35279,6850,6781,259,35277,4877],"class_list":["post-75014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-fbs","category-independents","category-news","category-notre-dame-fighting-irish","category-recruiting","tag-bubba-frazier","tag-dylan-faison","tag-ian-premer","tag-jermichael-finley","tag-marcus-freeman","tag-mike-denbrock","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-preston-fryzel","tag-will-fuller"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75021,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75014\/revisions\/75021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}