ND has areas for whatever reason they can recruit with that ELITE clientele. O-line, TEs and RBs. Every now and then they hit a home run with a WR or LB but not for other positions and not at overall quality of depth. What I have seen with Freeman recruiting so far gives promise though. QB to me is crazy, the name alone should guarantee one or two 4/5 star QB recruits each year.
The other things that may lead to this, is style of play, coaching and overall team speed. Style of play equates mainly to weather, team strengths and personal. ND needs to factor these in each year and play to their strengths, this is why ND is a run first team and in my opinion always should be because their best recruits center around it. ND will never have the speed of USC or the overall depth of Bama, UGA and Ohio State. What they have however is something in between, run first pound the ball and play action off of it. Once ND lands that 5 star QB then other things can come into play and just to be clear not just a 5 star but a legit superstar player.