One of the top uncommitted linebackers in the 2023 recruiting class will make his verbal pledge live Wednesday on CBS Sports HQ. Drayk Bowen, a five-star linebacker out of Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana, will make his choice at 9 p.m. ET. You can watch the announcement live. in the video at the top of this page, on the CBS Sports App or via your connected device (Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV). 

Auburn, Clemson, Indiana, LSU and Notre Dame rank among Bowen’s finalists. The in-state Fighting Irish are considered the favorite to land the talented linebacker, according to the 247Sports’ Crystal Ball projections. 

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Bowen boasts great speed and strength that should allow him to play multiple positions at the next level. The industry standard 247Sports Composite ranks Bowen as the No. 28 player in the nation and No. 2 linebacker in his class. 

If he commits to Notre Dame, Bowen would join what is becoming one of the nation’s top 2023 recruiting classes. His addition would cement the Fighting Irish as a top-three recruiting class as Notre Dame’s sixth commitment in 2023. Notre Dame also has a top-five recruiting class in 2022, which would be its first such class since 2013 — the group that immediately followed Kelly’s trip with the Irish to the BCS championship game following the 2012 season. 

247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Allen Trieu provided the following scouting report on Bowen: 

Physically strong player who is a weight room warrior. Multi-sport athlete who excels on the baseball diamond also. Has great play speed. Pursues and closes to the football with effort and has explosiveness off the ball and as he closes to his target. Can play a couple of different roles as he has been used as a stand-up edge rusher or he can shift further outside and play out in space over a slot. Might not be as long as schools want in an edge-rusher so he projects more as a traditional outside backer who can blitz off the edge when needed. We have not seen him asked to drop back and cover as much so that is a part of his game that needs to be furthered evaluated although he looks like a good enough athlete to do that.