We’re doing a quick check in with Notre Dame’s roster makeover this winter. Lots of players have left the team and many more have transferred in, along with the incoming 2026 recruiting class of freshmen. Are we keeping track of all the movement? Don’t be silly, of course we are. Nearly half the roster will turn over heading into the new season. With spring practice around the corner let’s take a look at a preview of the depth for the Fighting Irish heading into Marcus Freeman’s 5th season.

Players Gone

QB Kenny Minchey – Kentucky
QB Tyler Buchner – Graduation
QB Anthony Rezac – South Dakota State
RB Jeremiyah Love – NFL
RB Jadarian Price – NFL
RB Gi’Bran Payne – Cincinnati
WR Malachi Fields – Graduation
WR Will Pauling – Graduation
WR KK Smith – Michigan State
WR Scrap Richardson – Transfer TBD
TE Eli Raridon – Graduation
OL Aamil Wagner – NFL
OL Billy Schrauth – NFL
DE Josh Burnham – Indiana
DE Jordan Botelho – Graduation
DE Junior Tuihalamaka – Graduation
DE Preston Zinter – Rice
DT Jason Onye – *awaiting waiver for 2026*
DT Donovan Hinish – Retirement
DT Jared Dawson – Graduation
DT Gabriel Rubio – Graduation
LB Bodie Kahoun – Boston College
LB Anthony Sacca – UCLA
CB DeVonta Smith – Graduation
CB Cree Thomas – Colorado
CB Karson Hobbs – Florida State
CB Chance Tucker – Transfer TBD
S Jalen Stroman – Graduation
S JaDon Blair – Missouri
S Ben Minich – Miami (OH)
S Taebron Bennie-Powell – Boise State
K Noah Burnette – Graduation
K Marcello Diomede – Transfer TBD
P James Rendell – Graduation

We have to note that defensive tackle Armel Mukam initially left for the transfer portal but decided to come back. He still has two seasons of eligibility remaining heading into his redshirt junior season. A bit of a weird situation here. Mukam naturally was moving up the depth chart due to attrition ahead of him but also only played 69 snaps in 2025 and may have overestimated his value both at Notre Dame and on the market in terms of contract talks. Such is life these days in college football.

Jason Onye’s waiver will be interesting to watch. He took a redshirt in 2021, only played in 1 game in 2022, played full seasons in both 2023 and 2025, but left the program after just 5 games during the 2024 season due to personal reasons. By the letter of the law should he get an extra year? In the spirit of competition it seems like he should, especially in this wild west era of college eligibility.

Have you adjusted to the NIL and transfer portal era? Notre Dame is losing about 2 players per position! As we’ll get to below, I don’t think the team is completely done losing players, though.

New Incoming Transfers

Ohio State WR Quincy Porter – Redshirt Freshman
Ohio State WR Mylan Graham – Redshirt Sophomore
Pittsburgh DT Francis Brewu – Redshirt Sophomore
Oregon DT Tionne Gray – Redshirt Sophomore
Alabama DE Keon Keeley – Redshirt Junior
Colorado CB D.J. McKinney – 5th Year Senior
Michigan CB Jayden Sanders – Sophomore
Purdue PK Spencer Porath – Junior

Following an 11-day wait, where (reportedly!) the walls were closing in on the program, the Irish come through with an extremely impressive portal haul. If you’d like more on the process, check out Brendan’s recent look at Marcus Freeman & Co. completing the transfer window.

2026 Notre Dame Winter Depth Chart

Twenty-one years of eligibility coming in through the portal is insane, no matter how long it took for everyone to commit.

How did we end up liking the singular 2-week transfer portal window? We used to have a couple of seasons of a winter window (it opened in early December and closed after the National Championship) and then a spring window for 2 weeks in late April.

We’ll now wait 11 months or so to see what CJ Carr’s decision will be on returning for 2027 and whether Notre Dame will want to go into the portal for a quarterback next off-season. Offensively, the numbers look really nice and balanced where I wouldn’t expect a ton of targets in the market. Of course, that could change very quickly. On defense, my early targets would be just about every position. There could be 7 to 9 key players leaving that side of the ball following 2026.

Injuries

RB Kedren Young (knee)
WR Micah Gilbert (hand)
WR Jaden Greathouse (thigh)
OL Charles Jagusah (arm)
OL Peter Jones (ankle)
OL Ashton Craig (knee)
LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (knee)
LB Drayk Bowen (hip)
S Brandon Logan (shoulder)

Several of these injury situations should be cleared up by the time spring practice begins. Gilbert’s hand injury came late last season, Greathouse is long past his leg issues, the Jones ankle injury popped up back in October, and Logan was ruled out back in August. I’m guessing all of these players will be fully healed soon if not already.

There was a setback with Jagusah’s recovery but he’s now 6 months after his initial surgery.

Kedren Young (ACL in August), Ashton Craig (ACL in October), KVA (ACL in November), and Drayk Bowen (labrum surgery recently) are all guys I’d place on the long-term injury list this off-season.

Notes/Thoughts
  • Should Notre Dame had fought harder to bring in a veteran quarterback? I don’t know, where is the team headed in 2026 without Carr anyway? They made a decision to bring Jarrard (and his salary because that’s a thing we have to account for these days!) in super early for enough bodies. Do we win an extra game along the way with a scrappy Ivy League 23 year old backup compared to a freshman so we can debate going to the WD-40 Bowl? I think so, but it’s hardly a needle mover for me.
  • Remember back in the fall when none of the backup running backs were playing and it seemed like a sealed fate Aneyas Williams would get upset and leave? I think it’s normal and correct to feel a little uneasy about the running back situation at the moment. The coaching staff seems to have made two significant bets for 2026. One, Williams can be a certified 1A option at this level. Two, at least one of the highly touted freshmen will be in the mix right away.

Aneyas Williams’ patience may pay off in 2026.

  • I’m not really making a “predictions” depth chart at the moment this winter. For example, with the offensive line Absher played quite a bit last year after the Schrauth injury and probably gets first crack at guard. A healthy Jagusah can slot into the right tackle position vacated by Wagner, or maybe not!
  • Let’s also not forget Joe Otting gaining a ton of experience at center and continuing that path during the spring, as well. There are plenty of options for Notre Dame to choose from in 2026. The limited reports were extremely high on Will Black and while he preserved a year of eligibility (also dealt with a concussion mid-season) I’m not sure how long you can keep him off the field. But, where does he fit in for 2026?
  • Speaking of offensive line, 20 players is ridiculous. I don’t even know how you hold practices with that many linemen. Plus, 4 of the incoming freshmen are enrolled early! It makes me wonder if we’ll see several transfers out after spring with some of these players waiting to graduate and finish out their final term on campus. I mean, if you recruited 6 freshmen wouldn’t the expectation be that more players would be leaving besides Schrauth/Wagner for the NFL?
  • Notre Dame briefly appeared interested in Tulsa tight end transfer Brody Foley before that quickly fizzled out and he ended up at Louisville. This is probably a position where Tight End U relies on its own. I know Jamie Uyeyama is extremely high on rising redshirt freshman James Flanigan and believes he’ll be an impact player in 2026. Based on his recruiting hype, I can see it happening. If something like this occurs, this could be a pleasantly surprising season–a bright new young star surrounded by solid veterans.
  • The spotlight is going to be all over the receivers during this off-season, especially with Carr coming back and offering continuity with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. Like I mentioned with Absher, I am guessing Micah Gilbert (if healthy) gets first crack at the boundary position when spring opens up. Whether he’s starting worthy and can hold that position down will be a major talking point this season.

Porter’s the body-type Notre Dame needed.

  • Of course, Notre Dame bringing in two wideout transfers from Ohio State is significant. A pair of former 5-stars at that, and they’re both still young. Both Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham had similar stats with the Buckeyes this past season playing behind some Monstars, but I tend to like Porter a little more. If only because he’s one year younger and Notre Dame absolutely needs his physical body-type on the boundary from the moment he puts on that gold helmet. I’d bet Porter is a top 4 receiver on the team in terms of snaps.
  • I don’t love the depth at slot receiver, which is odd because Greathouse had found success there but has also jumped outside plenty in his career, and Faison looks like a slot but has consistently played outside for most of his career. I highly doubt they lured Graham away from Columbus with intent to play him sparingly. Can we pencil in Greathouse/Faison/Graham to play a ton and figure out where they play at a later date? I will point out that Carr has shown to be excellent throwing to the outside while there’s plenty of room for improvement over the middle. Someone playing slot all the time might not be highly valued.
  • I don’t want to forget Elijah Burress (he showed some flashes of talent already) or incoming freshman Kaydon Finley–the latter who I’m super high on as a recruit. Can they get in the mix? Look at all the bodies right now, 14 in total! Normally I’d say there should be a spring graduate leaving (are we sure about Greathouse??) but there aren’t really a bunch of players who can do that right now. Maybe going more than 4-deep is the new normal?
  • A week or so ago the potential return of Jason Onye was looking awfully make or break-ish. Now, the interior has been supplemented with a couple of good players in the portal, Mukam reversed course, and we can hope some young high ceiling player (like Chris Burgess) is going to make a significant jump this fall. This is looking like a really good group, even without Onye. But, I hope Onye gets to come back.
  • Defensive end is strengthened as Keeley comes home to his first love and easily slots into a top 4 rotation. Is he good enough to push Bryce Young out of a starting spot? Will it really matter if they all rotate a lot? Perhaps the more interesting look will be in the players further down the depth chart where we have almost no information on the progress on some young guys. The Irish were hoping on quality player development from that class of Reiff/Hulak/Sulfstead and in this portal era there isn’t going to be a super long time to figure out if they can make it.

Three years after committing, Keeley is back at Notre Dame.

  • I was a little surprised safety wasn’t discussed more as a portal pickup this off-season. But even I have to admit that’s a tough position to grab a transfer right now with Tae Johnson looking like a future star, Adon Shuler coming back to be a 2-time captain, and Luke Talich perennially underrated and solid. Perhaps a Jalen Stroman type would’ve been nice as a depth piece. Although, word around South Bend is that they are really high on Ethan Long. Either way, if there’s a long-term injury at safety the defense is relying on all freshmen to step up.
  • It seems to be one of the most common tropes in depth chart engineering and it rarely comes to fruition. Could one of the corners transition to safety if needed? Initially, there was some puzzlement why Notre Dame was intent on bringing in two corners this off-season and with the depth chart laid out like this it seems obvious they needed to do this. The roster looks so, so deep at so many positions and the depth at corner is only okay at the moment. With Moore and Gray set to leave after 2026, I bet Freeman goes right back into the portal for two more corners again.
  • I just stuck both of the incoming transfers in McKinney and Sanders at the nickel spot. I trust Uyeyama’s scouting reports and it sounds like he thinks McKinney could be a candidate to cover the slot, but Sanders less so. Either way, I expect the nickel position to be one of the most closely watched battles this off-season. It’s been a while since there wasn’t a clear indication of someone returning and/or coming in from the portal to play nickel exclusively.
  • Linebacker looks so awesome and yet two of the best players will be out long-term with injuries. Nothing to panic about yet for the actual season, though. How about Bowen playing through a hip injury? That’s a captain for you. Even with him and KVA sidelined there are still 3 excellent players (Sneed, Ausberry, Faraimo) with experience to carry the defense at this position through spring. Something to monitor is the back half of the depth chart where there really aren’t any big-time recruits waiting in the wings. None of them were inside the top 250 nationally in their respective classes. This has been one of Notre Dame’s biggest “homegrown” positions on the roster but I’d keep an eye out on the program looking for a big catch here in next year’s transfer portal.
  • Jordan Faison is my placeholder at kick returner but he doesn’t have the long speed to be the right player at the position. Guessing on who will win the job right now is tough. Aneyas Williams has a little bit of experience but if he’s running back #1 will they keep him away from this role? Or is it such a low frequency job these days that it doesn’t matter? I mean, it’s wide open and we could name 10 different players to be in the mix. I would like to shout out incoming 5-star safety Joey O’Brien as an intriguing option. He was a weapon on offense in high school, I love when a defender makes plays with the ball in their hands on special teams, and this could be a good way to get him on the field while slowly getting his feet wet at safety.

O’Brien is one to watch at safety and maybe elsewhere on the field.

  • As we found out in 2025, the holder position is kind of important. Someone will have to step up and win that job. I’ve placed quarterback Blake Hebert in there as this is traditionally the role of the backup who isn’t a threat to see the field.
  • Erik Schmidt was a top-rated punter coming out of high school, so I suppose I should’ve placed him on that depth chart too. Be that as it may, Notre Dame just effectively recruited over him at both kicker and punter, so he’s on notice. From what we saw in his freshman season I can confidently say he won’t be beating out Porath for the placekicking duties although going up against an Aussie punter who is new to the sport is a friendlier battle and perhaps Schmidt will win it after all.
  • Let’s hypothetically say you have $5 million to lure any player/position from across the country to come to Notre Dame–which direction do you go? I bet 85% of our readers would pick a spot on offense. I’d go with a proven elite receiver for sure. And if not that an All-American type at defensive tackle, especially if Onye isn’t able to return.