The Notre Dame football team has benefited greatly from the number of former NFL player dads who trust their kids to Marcus Freeman and his program. After a weekend visit, one more might be nearly ready to call South Bend home.
RJ Wyms attended the Fighting Irish’s 27-10 win over Michigan State this past weekend, and according to AtoZSports, those close to Wyms believe he really liked what he saw. Analyst Ryan Roberts said the staff, including defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, has caught Wyms' attention over the last several months, and the Irish have a chance to keep moving toward the top for one of the best defensive linemen in the 2028 class.
Wyms’ father, Ellis Wyms, went to Mississippi State, rather than Notre Dame, before spending eight years in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, and the Minnesota Vikings. Of course, a player’s dad not playing for the Irish hasn’t stopped Freeman and his staff from landing several NFL legacy prospects.
Wyms is a 4-star defensive lineman in the 2028 recruiting class. The 6-foot-1, 255-pound defensive tackle plays for College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas. Wyms is ranked as the No. 57 player in the 2028 class, the No. 6 defensive lineman, and the No. 5 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
Notre Dame football impresses NFL legacy prospect RJ Wyms during Michigan State visit
In addition to Notre Dame, Wyms has collected more than 30 scholarship offers despite still being relatively early in the cycle. His known offer list includes Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Duke, Kansas, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Tennessee, UCLA, and Wisconsin, among many others.
It’s not hard to see why the Fighting Irish want to try to land the defensive lineman. As a sophomore in 2025, Wyms tallied 49 tackles, a whopping 25 tackles for loss, six sacks, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He also earned District 13-6A Defensive Newcomer of the Year honors while helping College Park finish 11-2.
The kind of player who gets into the backfield as Wyms has already done in a relatively young career is obviously someone Partridge has to be very interested in. And while the defender is smaller than the stereotypical player at his position, Partridge has been gravitating toward that type more since arriving in South Bend.
While Wyms is still quite a ways away from committing, it’s clear he really enjoyed his visit to South Bend. A perusal through social media shows that the defensive lineman has more than a few photos from his trip to see South Bend beat Michigan State, and he said he was blessed to get the chance to see everything up close and personal.
Notre Dame has just started building its 2028 class and has just three commitments. However, if RJ Wyms decides South Bend is where he wants to play his college ball, he’d join 4-star EDGE Darieon Prescott out of Illinois in Charlie Partridge’s position group. The Irish also already have another NFL legacy prospect in the 2028 class in Andre Jones, the son of former ND running back Julius Jones and the brother of 2027 commit Julius Jones Jr.
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