Incredibly Specific Offseason Predictions About Notre Dame's 2025 Roster
Spring practice and the Blue-Gold game means practice reports, sound bites from coaches and players, and the perfect time to project Notre Dame's 2025 starters and rotation
It’s a strange and compressed spring session for Notre Dame football, with just a couple months separating the national title game and the start of spring practice. A large group of players have been held out or limited as they recover from injuries and the grind of a 16-game season.
But the offseason is a long stretch of fasting, and the Blue-Gold game - even without many stars and weird rules - is a feast. Instead of simply checking in on position battles and offseason storylines, let’s get bold and make forecast how each group will play out.
Quarterback
The battle between Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey, and CJ Carr is a true three-man competition, with no clear favorite. It’s the most wide open competition since 2012, when returning starter Tommy Rees was challenged by a trio of blue chippers with upside - Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson, and true freshman 5* Gunner Kiel1.
If anyone has a leg up, it’s Angeli. Despite lots of public praise for Kenny Minchey, he locked up QB2 behind Riley Leonard last season without much drama, and has the edge in proven experience. His Orange Bowl relief stint nicely encapsulated his value - a strong and accurate arm, solid processing, but potential red flags with sack avoidance. On 36 attempts in 2024, an 83% adjusted completion percentage is incredible. A 31% pressure to sack ratio is also incredible (derogatory).
While Angeli brings a sturdy floor of QB play, Carr is being projected to win the job by many national analysts. The redshirt freshman has the recruiting pedigree, shined in last year’s Blue-Gold game, and appears to be fully healthy after a spooky elbow injury last fall. Publicly, Freeman assured fans they were being overly cautious with Carr’s recovery, but nevertheless it’s encouraging to see him healthy and operating at 100% this spring.
Minchey is the wild card, sandwiched between Angeli’s experience and Carr’s presumed ascent. He couldn’t pass Angeli to win the second string battle last year, but has banked another year learning with Mike Denbrock. His arm strength and athleticism give him an edge in the physical tools department. But the “wild card” label also applies to Minchey’s reputation as a bit of a gunner, who may put the ball in danger a little too often for the staff’s liking. Can he make the case his upside and performance outweighs those risks?
The most fascinating question for me - is the QB that gives Notre Dame the best chance to win a title the same one that gives them the best chance to make the playoffs? It’s a ceiling versus floor debate that the staff would have to wrangle with, made even more challenging by a schedule where the first two games project to be the hardest of the year.
Wildly Specific Prediction: The competition is so close that no QB transfers in the spring portal window. Despite Minchey’s tools, in fall camp the fight becomes an Angeli-Carr battle. It goes down to the wire - close enough that the Miami depth chart lists an “OR” next to both contenders.
It’s ultimately Carr that takes the field in Hard Rock Stadium as QB1, with Angeli as the backup yet again. Minchey plans to enter the portal, ultimately landing at Vanderbilt with our old friend Clark Lea as the Diego Pavia replacement. With Carr the clear long-term answer, Angeli also leaves next offseason, landing at Virginia Tech.
Running Back
Things are very quiet this offseason - in a good way.
Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price earned the right to take it easy this offseason. They may add a few new tools to their belts with new RB coach Ja’Juan Seider on campus, but time getting their bodies right after a grueling year and getting 100% for Miami is the #1 priority.
As a rising sophomore, Anyeas Williams should see an expanded role and get a lot of reps. His classmate Kedren Young will also benefit from Love and Price’s reduced workloads. It will be good to get a look at early enrollee Nolan James, and see where Gi’Bran Payne’s health is after missing 2024 with an ACL tear.
Wildly Specific Prediction: Jeremiyah Love taking receiving reps in the spring actually translates to the fall - the junior takes a career high 10 snaps lined up in the slot and motioned out wide against Miami. Many of these are on 3rd downs, where Aneyas Williams continues to be featured thanks to his versatility.
Despite transfer speculation, Payne stays and carves out a consistent role in the deep RB rotation (a rotation that’s especially deep after the marquee opening games to keep stars fresh). Instead it’s Kedren Young that’s a surprise portal entry, lured by clearer paths to early playing time after failing to pass up Payne and Williams on the depth chart.
Wide Receiver
Jaden Greathouse, Malachi Fields, and Jordan Faison project as the likely starters. Greathouse and Faison were the 2nd and 3rd most targeted WRs last year, and 1st (Beaux Collins) and 4th-7th (Kris Mitchell, Jayden Thomas, Jayden Harrison, Deion Colzie) are all moving on. Fields was a jewel of Notre Dame’s portal haul, with 193 targets over the past two seasons for Virginia.
Will we see or hear much from that trio heading into the season? Greathouse has the chance to continue his CFP breakout in the reps he gets against Notre Dame’s top-flight corners. But Fields won’t enroll until the summer, and Faison will split his time again with lacrosse.
Much of the excitement - at least in the near term - is limited to the next tier of guys competing for bigger roles. Wisconsin transfer Will Pauling reunites with his old position coach Mike Brown and could force his way into a bigger role. All eyes will be on his hands after a horrendous 20% drop rate in 2024 for the Badgers - if he’s reliable, he’s an overqualified #2 at slot WR that adds a level of proven production far beyond what Jayden Harrison provided last year.
Among the underclassmen, Micah Gilbert was in the spotlight at boundary receiver before a hand injury. Between the #2 slot behind Greathouse and the field position there will be lots of competition between speed guys like KK Smith, Logan Saldate, and Cam Williams.
Wildly Specific Prediction: Greathouse builds on the CFP breakout performances to firmly grab WR1 status and is named a captain. Fields is impressive once he suits up in the fall, building optimism this is Notre Dame’s best starting receiver group since 2018.
The young guys - mainly Micah Gilbert and Cam Williams - flash enough to earn some competitive snaps and show they will be future contributors, but not enough to displace the more experienced guys ahead of them.
The biggest surprise is Pauling, who pushes Faison for the 3rd most WR snaps after a fall breakout and becomes an important big-play target.
Offensive Line
Rarely do you see a group where there are such high expectations and yet so much uncertainty. Joe Rudolph’s group is brimming with young talent, yet there are so many questions about who the best five linemen will be by this fall and how they fit together by position.
Let’s briefly break this down by position, in descending order of confidence we know how things will shake out.
Right tackle: Aamil Wagner shined in his first season as a starter. PFF rated him as the 5th best tackle heading into 2025. Unlike other tackle candidates, he’s not a candidate to bump inside, and switching him to the left size doesn’t make much sense. The only questions here should be who backs Wagner up.
Left guard: You can write Billy Schrauth in here in erasable pen. After a mid-season injury he took over at LG (replacing Sam Pendleton2) against Navy and never looked back, playing every competitive snap there the rest of the season. Crazier things have happened, but this feels like a fairly stable spot.
Center: A decent drop-off in confidence level in how things shake out starts here. This group would be higher, but the incumbent starter, Ashton Craig, is missing the spring as recovers from an ACL injury. There was some offseason speculation that Anthonie Knapp could shift inside here, but he’s been limited in the spring and Joe Otting and redshirt sophomore Sullivan Absher have seen the majority of reps.
Right guard: Rocco Spindler and his 745 snaps at RG are heading west to Lincoln. Charles Jagusah looked terrific at the position in relief duty in the Orange Bowl against Penn State - could he or Knapp bump inside here? Or could young guys emerge like Pendleton last fall, like Sullivan Absher or Chris Terek?
Left tackle: Knapp was a freshman All-American with 843 snaps and experience against some incredible defensive lines. Jagusah was the original Plan A at LT last year and was terrific in the CFP Final against Ohio State. And redshirt freshman Guerby Lambert is a former top-100 recruit with a massive frame - listed at 6’7, 323 (UPDATE: Lambert had labrum surgery this spring). True freshman (and borderline composite 5*) Will Black won’t arrive until summer, but would have to be phenomenal right away to force his way into the lineup even if he enrolled early.
Wildly Specific Prediction: After all the dust settles with spring rotations and everyone healthy again, it’s Knapp-Schrauth-Craig-Jagusah-Wagner that start from left to right. Absher and Lambert get some brief first team looks in the fall, but ultimately become quality depth.
Tight End
This is a group that’s both thin on depth and low on offseason competition. Eli Raridon has a firm hold on TE1 with Mitchell Evans departing for the draft. Two of the more exciting guys to watch for offseason development - Arkansas transfer TyTy Washington (enrolling this summer) and Cooper Flanagan (recovering from an Achilles tear) - are missing the spring.
This creates lots of work for redshirt freshman Jack Larsen right now, and potentially for true freshman James Flanigan in the fall. Veteran Kevin Bauman is returning for a 6th year - a nice leadership boost and body to a thin room - but played just 22 snaps on offense as a 5th year last season.
Wildly Specific Prediction: Raridon emerges as an impact receiver, giving the staff confidence he’s a target comparable to a healthy Mitchell Evans. With Washington getting acclimated and Flanagan recovering, the rotation is Raridon-heavy and features few two TE formations early in the year (the use of more WRs also helps open up more space for the running game).
Defensive Tackle
Every preseason article will raise this concern - how do the Irish replace Howard Cross and Rylie Mills? The silver lining to last season’s injuries is that Notre Dame rarely had that elite combination healthy in 2024.
That makes last year’s production easier to replace and also opened up valuable opportunities for the tackles returning this year. If Cross and Mills had dominated the snaps at the position last year this would be a more significant concern, but DT has been shored up - both through the emergence of rotation pieces like Donovan Hinish and Gabe Rubio and transfer portal additions.
DT is so intriguing because there are so many potential answers to “Who will be the best DT for the Irish in 2025?” Hinish emerged down the stretch as a fantastic interior pass-rusher, nicely complementing Rubio’s run-stuffing strength. Jason Onye was on a breakout tear (per this excellent breakdown by Jamie Uyeyama, leading P4 interior DL in pass rush win rate) before leaving the team last season. At his spring press conference Freeman referred to Onye’s absence as a mental health injury - it’s terrific to see him back with the team and hopefully on a good path back to football and in life.
Two portal additions were massive for depth and assuring quality play at the position. Former Louisville DT Jared Dawson is a proven high-level contributor, with 800+ snaps in the ACC under his belt and coming off a career-best season in sacks and run stops. USC transfer Elijah Hughes might be able to fight his way into the early rotation too, but Dawson’s arrival and Onye’s anticipated return to the team means he doesn’t have to. He fought his way into a quality Trojan DT rotation, has two years of eligibility left, and will be an intriguing watch this spring.
Finally, we’re monitoring some possible breakouts from younger guys, highlighted by Armel Mukam and Sean Sevillano Jr. Two of the biggest bodies in the room, this duo isn’t being counted on but can push veterans and raise the ceiling. Plus, if last year taught us anything, quality depth on the lines is so important over the course of a long season.
Wildly Specific Prediction: By the start of the season, sources around the program are confident that defensive tackle is a position of strength despite the personnel churn. It’s a balanced group where snaps fluctuate by down and distance and opponent, but Onye and Dawson are the guys who come out with the first team. Hinish, Rubio, and Mukam rotate in heavily to start the year, pushed by Hughes (who plays a lot of second half snaps later in the year).
Defensive End
Another defensive position with strong depth and a lot of potential competition! The offseason goals look very different for a few categories of players:
Please get healthy: Jordan Botelho, Boubacar Traore
By fall camp a lot of eyes will be on the health of two of the team’s best pass rushers. Will they be near 100% by August, or be phased back into the rotation more slowly?
Proven veterans pushing for more: Josh Burnham, Junior Tuihalamaka
Burnham and Tuihalamaka both had nice 2024 seasons, and will have chances to step into leadership roles and keep pushing to maximize their talent this year. They’ll need to fend off some of the young guys below - what can they add to their arsenal later in their careers?
Emerging talents on “leap” watch: Bryce Young, Logan Thomas
With Bryce Young, if feels like when, not if, he starts reaching All-American levels. The physical toolbox is loaded, and the upside of injuries at DE was 350+ snaps for Young as a true freshman (including four playoff games!).
Thomas was thrust into more playing time than expected with the Vyper injuries and had a sack in a playoff game. He’s earlier in his development, with a ton of competition coming this fall, but will also see tons of reps in spring.
Wildly Specific Prediction: This group is an embarrassment of riches for Al Washington. Botelho is the “starting” Vyper but it’s a true 3-man rotation with Tuihalamaka and doses of Traore increasing over time (as he’s phased in more cautiously).
Burnham, another captain, is also giving the starting nod as a veteran leader but Young is already seeing the same number of total snaps or more in September. The pass rushing unit is as good as it’s been since 2018 with Julian Okwara, Daelin Hayes, and Khalid Kareem.
Linebacker
Jack Kiser will be missed. But whew, this group is still extremely loaded.
Drayk Bowen’s step into a bigger role his sophomore year couldn’t have been scripted better. He’s Pro Football Focus’s 9th best returning LB in college football, with some nice fancy stats to back it up:
Then there’s Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who casually stepped in as a true freshman and was playing key downs in College Station and 43 snaps in the national championship (while less than 100%!). The second year leap for KVA feels like an inevitability.
Jaylen Sneed has also been a star of the spring, adding weight while keeping speed and athleticism. Jaiden Ausberry is flying under the radar relative to others, but is coming off a year with 40+ tackles and 400+ downs played.
All of this sets the bar extremely high for the many talented players behind this quartet. Madden Faraimo enrolled early as a true freshman and was a highly regarded blue chip. Bodie Kahoun and Teddy Rezac are high upside, athletic options waiting in the wings and being molded by Max Bullough. Kahanu Kia and Preston Zinter are older voices in this room that would be contending for big roles many years, but are battling for meaningful time in this group.
Wildly Specific Prediction: Bowen is a captain and clear starter at Mike LB. Sneed’s continued breakout is real, but he’s listed as a co-starter / OR with KVA at Will. Both will play a ton, as Sneed will often line up closer to the line of scrimmage on passing downs.
Ausberry is the nominal starter at rover but functionally is a second team rotation piece. No surprise rotation guys here, as Madden Faraimo is the 5th guy but doesn’t see the field much until after Texas A&M.
Cornerback
Leonard Moore, Christian Gray, and Bama transfer nickelback Devonta Smith are locks to start. Getting an early peek at Smith (wearing #0 - immediate stock up!) is a highlight of the spring and fall, while Gray and Moore should take the offseason easy after a grueling 2024 workload.
There’s really just one player where this feels like a make-or-break offseason - sophomore Karson Hobbs. The job as 3rd outside corner is his for the taking, with really only early enrollee Cree Thomas as spring competition (veteran Chance Tucker would compete but is out recovering from an ACL tear). Can he take advantage of the early session to run away with that role, or will he leave the door open for a newcomer?
Interest in this group increases this summer when true freshmen Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery arrive. Can either break out and join the recent trend of first year Irish corners forcing their way into early playing time?
Wildly Specific Prediction: There are no surprises on the first team depth chart, but confidence in Christian Gray is reinforced as he looks rested and confident by fall. Way-too-early season prediction - Gray leads the team in interceptions with 6+ picks.
The proclamations that Cree Thomas is the next Benjamin Morrison / Leonard Moore turn out to be a bit premature. By the fall it’s his classmate Dallas Golden that is seeing the most hype and forcing his way into the CB rotation. And after last year’s grind, it is a real rotation with Hobbs and Golden taking a few possessions per game.
Safeties
One starting spot has no drama - Adon Shuler is locking down strong safety. But there’s a ton of intrigue filling out the rest of the rotation and seeing how new DC Chris Ash uses this group.
Across the defense, there few starting spots where it’s unclear what Notre Dame will have, both in terms of level of play and who will start. Free safety is the rare position where those are both question marks, with several true contenders in the mix.
Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Stroman is the newcomer in the spotlight, bringing a wealth of P4 experience (300+ snaps for the Hokies in 2022 and ‘23). He’s recovering from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for virtually all of last year, but reportedly had scouts debating him as a potential Day 2 or 3 pick pre-injury. There are Rod Heard parallels here in terms of his role as a veteran option providing a high floor if he returns to form.
There’s a deep group of younger contenders hoping to jump in and push Stroman. Rising junior Luke Talich is long and athletic, flashing last year on special teams and with his late pick-six against FSU. Tae Johnson took advantage of the thin cornerback depth as a freshman to see some late-season snaps but preserve his redshirt. He’s back at safety this spring and turning heads with his athleticism and instincts, despite less seasoning at the position relative to the others. Sophomore Kennedy Urlacher was an encouraging surprise last spring and quickly compiled a nice garbage-time highlight reel last fall.
Talich, Johnson, and Urlacher we know will be in the mix because they had already cracked the two-deep and seen some less competitive reps in 2024. Ben Minich and Taebron Bennie Powell are on the watch list . Will will they emerge as contributors, or fall behind the pack?
Early enrollee JaDon Blair seems more likely to redshirt or be a special teams contributor, but has special size (6’5 / 195). Can he show enough to prove he’s a “hit” and future building block?
Wildly Specific Prediction: Shuler is not a captain but emerges as more of a vocal leader for this unit and a top-10 safety nationally. Stroman holds off strong competition from Johnson and Talich to start at free safety, but by the end of the year it’s Johnson who steals that job and the majority of snaps in the rotation.
Specialists
Another year, another new transfer kicker. Former Tar Heel Noah Burnette arrives in South Bend having converted 79% of field goals on 62 career attempts. That’ll work!
No worries, your favorite giant 25-year old Australian punter is back. James Rendell had a rocky start to his CFB career but found his footing down the stretch (boosting his yards per punt from 40.1 to 43.6 yards, and punts inside the 20 rate from 40% to 56% from Navy onward).
Wildly Specific Prediction: Burnette will have a fall practice session in front of the media that causes temporary message board concerns. He will be fine for the regular season. Rendell will boom a 75-yarder in the Blue-Gold game that gets the people going.
Digging into the archives of 2012 spring practice coverage is wild. A lot of people thought Gunner Kiel or Andrew Hendrix were the future! A lot of very bad predictions were made (this one is my favorite)
If you missed it, Pendleton is transferring to Rocky Top where he will likely start. Pretty good when your second string OL is starting for a 2024 CFP team!