It was known from the very beginning the class would be small. The Irish signed 27 players last season, they over-signed if you wish to call it that, and the scholarship numbers would be untenable if they did something like that again.
And while the class was going to be small, they still had needs to fill, mainly on the offensive line, defensive line, and in the secondary. Thus they had to be efficient in filling those spots, and they couldn’t simply address them with numbers. They couldn’t mess around with multiple offers or go “big game hunting” in other areas with flashy players.