Notre Dame Football Scholarship & Roster Update: Fall Judgement

It’s been a few months since our last update back in the middle of the summer. Since then, the 2027 class has been wrapped up (unofficially, but it appears to be sewn up) and we’re slowly turning our attention to the 2028 cycle. Entering Notre Dame’s bye week we have a full assessment of the roster moving forward and some predictions about what to expect from the transfer portal this off-season.

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Out of Eligibility Following 2026:

TE Ty Washington
OL Ashton Craig
DT Jason Onye
LB Jaylen Sneed
CB DJ McKinney

Remember the new “5 for 5” rule has impacted Notre Dame’s roster in a big way and leaves the Irish with just 5 players who are definitely done with eligibility after this 2026 season.

A quick housekeeping note on the current roster. A few ‘walk-ons’ were removed from the spring roster heading into the football season. That includes wide receiver Alex Whitman who transferred to the University of San Diego, plus tight end Kaleb Johnson and safety Patrick Downes–the latter two presumably still at Notre Dame set to terrorize interhall football.

That leaves the current roster with 111 players at the moment. With the grandfather clause, Notre Dame won’t have to be at 105 players until the start of the 2028-29 season. Although it’s possible the Irish will get down to 105 well before that time the current sophomore class (2025) are the last ones to qualify for being grandfathered into the roster.

2027-28 Academic Classes:

23 Verbal Commits
31 Sophomores
26 Juniors
28 Seniors
21 Graduates
129 Total Roster Spots

Using this year as an example, we can expect a further 20 to 25 more players to be gone in 2027 from this current roster. That seems like a lot but remember that will include a couple walk-ons being gone most likely, plus any early entry NFL candidates and 5th year guys not planning to come back. Notre Dame had 15 players transfer out following the 2025 season so a handful more following 2026 is probably likely–especially as key “5 for 5” players may be willing to return in 2027. The roster is packed, not everyone can play, and greater attrition is to be expected. I’ll have more on this below.

Notre Dame is making summer the big recruiting time.

Only a couple of 2027 recruits have committed since our last roster update back in early July. That includes defensive tackle Brayden Park (0.9236) and linebacker Roman Igwebuike (0.9376)–both from good old Chicago. Back in the old days, roughly 8 or 9 cycles ago, we’d still have four action-packed months left in the 2027 cycle. No more!

The 2028 class sits at only 3 players right now with edge rusher Darieon Prescott (.9853) being the only recent commit. He’s a composite 5-star, and also from Illinois.

ND Commits Per Month 2025-27 Cycles

The recruiting calendar continues to evolve, especially at Notre Dame. Take a look at the table above and some patterns have emerged. One big thing is that recruiting during the season has been severely curtailed and is not as big or important as it once was. The recruiting staff may beg to differ as official visits are still happening, but in terms of pressuring kids to commit there’s been a large drop off during the season. The looser restrictions on official visits introduced 2-3 years ago are making it easier to get juniors in early for fall visits for commitments later the next calendar year.

In general, this is starting to look a lot more like a NFL model. Programs are holding tight during the season and waiting until after spring practice to get a better sense of their roster. Spring is still an important time, especially for official visits. But, Notre Dame seems to be making a concerted effort to push for commits during the warmer months. This especially makes sense in a transfer portal world where you can re-load in December or January with veterans.

List of Eligible 2027 Grad Students:

Tier 1

WR Jordan Faison
WR Jaden Greathouse
TE Cooper Flanagan
OL Sullivan Absher
DL Armel Mukam
DE Boubacar Traore
DE Keon Keeley
LB Drayk Bowen
LB Jaiden Ausberry
CB Christian Gray
S Adon Shuler
S Luke Talich

I moved Mukam up into tier 1 as he’s done enough on the field to deserve that spot after briefly entering the portal last off-season. We effectively have 10 starters among this group. With the 5 for 5 ruling the return of some of these players could really make or break the 2027 season.

Tier 2

OL Charles Jagusah
OL Joe Otting
DL Elijah Hughes

I hate to do it, but I’ve moved Jagusah down into tier 2. He’s very likely going 2 full years without playing, and maybe not even practicing. I can’t see Notre Dame forcing him out or anything but in this NIL era it may be a more complicated conversation. I suppose I have in mind that a medical retirement is on the table, too.

Otting looked close to becoming the starting center with Craig moving over to right guard in such a plan. However, despite the Absher/Augustine combo at right guard this plan to have Otting on the field hasn’t unfolded in 2026. He’s a good bet to start in 2027, though.

Hughes seems to do good things when he’s on the field but he’s not playing a huge amount. He’s already transferred once from USC, would he leave again?

Tier 3

RB Matt Williams
WR Alex Whitman
TE Henry Garrity
OL Chris Terek
OL Devan Houstan
LB Kahanu Kia
LS Andrew Kros

In the third tier we have 3 walk-ons, a long snapper, and three others. I’d have to go back and look but in earlier cycles we almost never saw tier 3 players coming back for another season although in the 105 era (with these players grandfathered into the system) perhaps a couple will return. How much does a long-snapper make in NIL?

Most Likely to Transfer

I’m not including any players who could transfer with one season remaining as they are covered above. I’m also not including any first year players as those decisions will be more of a crapshoot. So this list is exclusively second and third year players who could leave with multiple years of eligibility remaining:

QB Blake Hebert
RB Kedren Young
WR Cam Williams
WR Logan Saldate
OL Peter Jones
DT Cole Mullins
DT Davion Dixon
DE Gordy Sulfsted
DE Dominik Hulak
DE Joe Reiff
LB Madden Faraimo
LB Ko’o Kia
S Brandon Logan

Most would expect Hebert to leave after falling down to 4th string quarterback with a pair of freshmen above him right now.

Kedren Young’s situation is interesting. He looked to be a much bigger part of the offense in camp and early in the season but now has the rising star of Jonaz Walton taking away reps. Young did get 3 carries against Stanford but those are his only runs over the last 5 games.

Both Williams and Saldate don’t appear to be serious contenders for playing time anymore. Saldate caught 3 passes in garbage time against Rice and the bench really needs to empty for him to play. Williams has not seen the field much if at all in 2026.

More offensive linemen could transfer out, although the sophomore class is well placed. Will Black is starting, Matty Augustine could be starting full-time soon, Cam Herron could be the future center a little further down the road, and Owen Strebig is technically backup tackle right now. Maybe you could add Styles Prescod (it doesn’t feel like he’s only in his third year!) who might leave for a better chance to start somewhere else.

A bit of a mystery over Faraimo. 

I think we’ll see a pretty large exodus from the defensive line after 2026. I’ve included 5 players who were 3-star recruits and have essentially been recruited over, especially in terms of the transfer portal.

We knew it would be tough to see the field at linebacker this year, and while Faraimo continues to work on special teams, he’s playing less now on defense than he did as a true freshman. A big role could be there in 2027, or maybe he’ll leave for greener pastures if some veterans opt to return at this position.

I could see both Kia brothers leaving together for the same school. Logan is at the bottom of the safety depth chart and while he is tied to the baseball program in South Bend, perhaps that dual sport life makes him more likely to transfer.

Remaining 2028 Needs

We’re looking at about 20 more commits to come with the 2028 class so lots of work still to do! Be that as it may, I’ll highlight a few positions that I think need special attention this far away:

Quarterback

The grind never stops at this position and there’s a little more urgency after 2027 commit Wonderful “Champ” Monds suffered a season-ending torn shoulder labrum surgery last month. He’s a reclassified senior who is also enrolling early at Notre Dame. That means he’ll be turning just 17 shortly after arriving on campus. Monds started as a true freshman back in 2024 (12 games) but will come to South Bend with just 103 passes over the last 2 seasons and a worrying injury history to overcome.

Notre Dame briefly held a commitment from the Composite no. 15 quarterback Trey Tagliaferri but he’s since given a verbal to Oklahoma. So far, 8 out of the top 10 quarterbacks in the 2028 Composite have already committed.

Wide Receiver

Numbers are in a great spot (7 players for the 2026-27 classes) but you have to keep spamming signings at this position until you hit on an elite wide receiver. There’s no other path.

Linebacker

The days of signing 3 or 4 linebackers are probably over in the modern game. Still, the Irish are only bringing in 1 commit for the current cycle and 2026 signees Thomas Davis, Jr. and Ja’Kobe Clapper have much to prove. The 2028 cycle looks like one where Notre Dame will want at least 2 top-notch recruits at linebacker.

Safety

This might be the only position for Notre Dame that doesn’t have a nice deep depth chart in the 105 player era. Current freshman Ayden Pouncey has been cross-training at safety and probably settles there long-term. That would bring 5 safeties for the 2026-27 classes which is fine. Still, a really talented safety class should be a priority as Joey O’Brien enters his third year on campus.

Portal Sneak Peek

I’ve mentioned this before, the transfer portal has become far more interesting and intriguing to discuss than high school recruiting. What are Marcus Freeman and staff looking to do for the 2027 roster in the portal in just a couple months??

Offensively, there’s a Hail Mary that maybe an elite tight end would transfer in which would be kind of funny given Notre Dame’s history at this position. I doubt they will try though given the young talent coming up. There’s maybe a chance a veteran quarterback would be sought out if CJ Carr does leave but the market doesn’t look great right now. Reports are that Kenny Minchey coming back won’t happen and then who would be left?

Will we see a big exodus at receiver? Or will pretty much everyone be coming back? I’m curious if this will change the outlook for the coaching staff and the need to rectify what’s been, so far through half the season, a big swing and a miss in the portal with the two Ohio State targets. Realistically, will they throw around a huge NIL contract to at least one new transfer if the top 5-6 leading receivers from this 2026 all come back?

A defensive end and a pair of defensive backs are the bare minimum for the defense. The roster could be scary young at linebacker, especially if KVA turns pro, so that is another position to keep an eye on. That might also mean Faraimo doesn’t have any intention to transfer as he could be playing 800 snaps next year.