On Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame football will take the field in front of fans for the first time since the College Football Playoff (CFP) national championship in the annual Blue-Gold Game. Many players will see the gridiron for the Irish – some household names carrying high expectations into 2025, others depth pieces aiming to announce their presence as impact players. Here’s a breakdown of Notre Dame’s roster in terms of what to expect from each position group this weekend.
Quarterbacks
It remains a quarterback competition, and that’s no secret. If we can say anything with certainty about the signal-callers right now, it’s probably that one of them will hit the transfer portal shortly after the Blue-Gold Game, just like Tyler Buchner did in 2023.
Senior Steve Angeli and sophomore CJ Carr figure to have the best looks at the starting job week one at Miami. Angeli leads the group in terms of experience, having played 21 games with one start. He’s done no wrong with his opportunities and sparked Notre Dame’s offense just before halftime in January’s Orange Bowl Win. Carr and junior Kenny Minchey each appeared once this past year at the end of the Purdue game, but Carr profiled higher than his classmate as a prospect and at this point looks to have a better shot at battling Angeli for the starting job.
Freshman Blake Hebert, a flip from Clemson on the heels of Deuce Knight’s move away from Notre Dame, and sophomore Teddy Rezac round out Notre Dame’s rostered quarterbacks.
Running backs
For now, it’s a loaded position group, one that may slim down just a bit when the portal opens up next week. Junior Jeremiyah Love, a highlight-reel Heisman candidate, will lead the backs no matter what after an 1,125-yard, 17-touchdown season. Senior Jadarian Price may not stick around given he could start practically anywhere else, but sophomore Aneyas Williams’ breakout at the end of last year should make Irish fans feel a bit better about that possibility. Williams became Notre Dame’s true third-down back for the CFP run, tallying 66 receiving yards in the Orange Bowl.
Senior Gi’Bran Payne is set to return from a season-long injury after totaling 168 rushing yards two years ago, adding depth to the room. If he or Price heads to the portal, expect sophomore four-star Kedren Young to see a bit more action in 2025.
Wide receivers
With bonafide rushing quarterback Riley Leonard gone, Notre Dame’s wideouts will have to do a bit more. Good thing junior Jaden Greathouse is primed to become the No. 1 guy after amassing over 100 yards in both the Orange Bowl and the national championship game. He and slot-based junior Jordan Faison will spearhead a group of pass-catchers that still does have more questions than answers behind them.
Though we won’t get a look at senior transfer pickups Will Pauling (Wisconsin) and Malachi Fields (Virginia) on Saturday, we will see the group of youngsters Notre Dame needs an emergence from. It includes junior KK Smith and sophomores Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert and Logan Saldate. None of them did a whole lot outside of blowout games last season, so keep an eye on their performances and chemistry with their different quarterbacks in the Blue-Gold Game.
Tight ends
Not disrespecting projected starter Eli Raridon, but rather tipping the cap to recent Irish anchors like Michael Mayer and Mitchell Evans, it’s hard to say for sure that tight end will be a major strength for Notre Dame in 2025. Raridon, a senior, just hasn’t proven that much since his two ACL tears, recording only 90 yards on 11 catches last year. It also doesn’t help that junior Cooper Flanagan’s fall status is in question due to an achilles injury picked up in the Sugar Bowl, leaving the Irish to look elsewhere for their No. 2 guy.
They can begin with Arkansas transfer Ty Washington, who will play at his old stomping grounds with Notre Dame on Sept. 27. The former Razorback operated as more of a pass-blocker in Fayetteville, never topping 170 receiving yards in a season. Incoming freshman James Flanigan should see a good amount of action in the fall behind those two, as he checks into South Bend as Wisconsin’s top-ranked player.
Offensive linemen
Losing Rocco Spindler, Pat Coogan and Sam Pendleton to the transfer portal a few months ago shouldn’t concern Irish fans in the short term. None of those guys were expected to occupy starting roles in 2025 after stepping up out of injury-related necessity in 2024. Instead, the Irish should roll with sophomore Guerby Lambert, junior Charles Jagusah, senior Ashton Craig, senior Billy Schrauth and senior Aamil Wagner from left to right on the line.
There’s some fluidity to that projection given that Lambert may not be ready to start and Craig’s timeline of recovery from last September’s ACL tear. Sophomore Anthonie Knapp, a 15-game starter at tackle in the fall, could patch up one of those holes by playing at guard or center early in the season. Additionally, if the Irish need to deploy Jagusah at guard and leave the left tackle spot vacant, they’ve got a five-star in freshman Will Black coming in to potentially inherit that position.
Defensive linemen
The losses of Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III up front won’t just take care of themselves, although the Irish last year didn’t have both of those guys on the field fully healthy for the full season and still held their own up front. They retain strength on the ends with junior Boubacar Traore, who flashed last September and returns from a torn ACL, and senior Joshua Burnham, who has gotten better each year in an Irish uniform. With sophomore freak of nature Bryce Young and experienced senior Junior Tuihalamaka also in the mix, the Irish shouldn’t have much issue generating pressure off the edge.
The larger question lies on the interior, where vocal leaders Mills and Cross leave significant voids to fill. Graduate Gabriel Rubio, who took over for Mills in the postseason due to an injury, will get his first look as a full-time starter. Sixth-year Louisville transfer Jared Dawson lines up to join him, making for a respectable top pair of defensive tackles. However, because they don’t carry the same upside as their predecessors, the Irish will need depth at the position, beginning with senior Donovan Hinish, graduate Jason Onye and USC transfer Elijah Hughes, among others.
Linebackers
Even with the loss of Notre Dame games played record-holder Jack Kiser, the Irish have a lot to like at this position. Highly-touted junior Drayk Bowen, coming off his first full year as a starter, should inherit Kiser’s role in the middle of Notre Dame’s defense and thrive. Junior Jaiden Ausberry makes the most sense to line up beside him in the fall, but sophomore Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa has the disruptive capacities to be just as involved. Senior Jaylen Sneed, who was around for every game last season, should mix in well with those three.
If you’re looking for a true freshman to impact the Irish defense sooner rather than later, keep an eye on Madden Faraimo. A high-end four-star joining a handful of five-stars in the linebacker lineup, Faraimo might have the splash-play ability that rendered guys like Viliamu-Asa and Young such active first-year defenders in 2024.
Cornerbacks
Despite the departures of superstar Benjamin Morrison to the NFL and Jaden Mickey to Boise State, it’s hard not to feel excited about a Notre Dame cornerback room in this day and age. Arguably the program’s strongest position during the Marcus Freeman era, the cornerback position welcomes back sophomore stud Leonard Moore – now wearing No. 2 – and junior Christian Gray. You can count on Moore as the lockdown guy, but the high-upside Gray showed all sorts of inconsistency down the stretch last year, most notably against pass-heavy USC and Ohio State. If his game stabilizes in a positive sense, Notre Dame’s secondary goes from great to elite.
Alabama transfer DeVonta Smith should operate as the third Irish corner after recording 30 tackles for the Crimson Tide last season. Fellow Cincinnatian Karson Hobbs, a sophomore, projects to lead the second string with true freshmen Dallas Golden and Mark Zachary IV, who won’t arrive on campus until the summertime.
Safeties
Notre Dame will certainly feel the absence of two-time All-American Xavier Watts here (how could you not?), but there are worse options than sophomore Adon Shuler for handing the keys over. Shuler broke out next to Watts in 2024, racking up 59 tackles and intercepting three balls. He’ll likely line up with fifth-year Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Stroman, who comes off an injury-riddled season but tallied nearly 100 tackles between 2022 and 2023. We won’t see Stroman this weekend, though, due to a surgical procedure that addressed his broken clavicle.
On account of his recently spotty track record, Stroman could cede a fair amount of fall playing time to any one of juniors Luke Talich and Ben Minich, sophomores Kennedy Urlacher and Tae Johnson and freshman JaDon Blair. The faster a few guys in that group can take a step forward, the better, as Shuler (NFL Draft) and Stroman (loss of eligibility) may both be gone by the summer of 2026.
