ALL YOUR LEGACY ARE BELONG TO US
We are in the middle of a historic summer recruiting run for Notre Dame Football, and the firworks for the second half are loud and bright on the Fourth of July. during a ceremony on the Independence day, 4-Star wide receiver Kaydon Finley gave his public commitment to Marcus freeman and the 2026 Irish recruiting class.
Kaydon is the son of former Texas Longhorns and Green Bay Packers tight end, Jermichael Finley. Despit this, Kaydon chose the Irish over Texas and a long list of suitors such as the Florida Gators, Texas A&M Aggies, Arizona State Sun Devils, and others.
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Massively 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 (Jermichael Finley). 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 broad jump and vertical categories. Physical pass catcher who transfers that play style to RAC situations. Still developing more juice at the top end, but initial juice consistently eats up cushion to get on top of DBs. Capable of playing outside or in the slot. Could potentially excel as a short-to-intermediate chain mover who can break chunk plays with that aforementioned RAC ability. Build and run strength suggest 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.
Finley is the 23rd commitment for Notre Dame’s 2026 class and the 3rd from the state of Texas. Notre Dame is pushing hard in several hot recruiting areas in this cycle, and Texas is definitely one of them. With Finley’s commitment, the Irish slide back up into 3rd according to the 247 Team Composite Rankings.
Notre Dame now has three wide receivers in its 2026 class — but we are expecting more before this is all said and done. Wide receiver is a position the irish are always dipping into the portal to help better its roster, but with how things are shaking out on the trail — that might be a much less common thing in the future.
It’s not just that Kaydon has great NFL bloodlines and comes from a competitive football state like Texas — it’s that he’s a really good receiver in his own right, and has been incredibly productive. Notre Dame needs to sign more receivers like this to help the offense become more explosive, but I’m happy with this one.