Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1535097
12 SUMMER 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NUMBERS AND QUOTES BY STEVE DOWNEY 10 New QB1s who could be massive stars in 2025, per On3: Arch Manning of Texas; Bryce Un- derwood of Michigan; Demond Williams Jr. of Washington; Gunner Stockton of Georgia; CJ Carr of Notre Dame; Austin Simmons of Ole Miss; Julian Sayin of Ohio State; Jake Merk- linger of Tennessee; Beau Pribula of Missouri; and Mark Gronowski of Iowa. 1994 Was the last time that Notre Dame had two de- fensive backs selected in the first three rounds of the same NFL Draft, prior to cornerback Benjamin Morrison (No. 53 overall in the second round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and safety Xavier Watts (No. 96 overall in the third round by the Atlanta Falcons) achieving that feat in 2025. Thirty-one years ago, cornerback Jeff Burris went No. 27 overall in the first round to the Buffalo Bills, and cornerback Willie Clark went No. 82 overall in the third round to the San Diego Chargers. 3 Notre Dame players were projected to be se- lected among the top 20 picks of the 2026 NFL Draft by CBS Sports in its first mock pick re- leased after the conclusion of the 2025 event in late April: wide receiver Malachi Fields at No. 8 to the Cleveland Browns, running back Jeremiyah Love at No. 14 to the Dallas Cow- boys and offensive lineman Charles Jagusah at No. 19 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Surprised? Fields is of the most im- pressive players I've watched this offseason who I had scant idea existed a few months ago. Fields, who transfers to Notre Dame from Virginia, is a huge receiver built more like a tight end that can not only stretch you vertically but also catch the 5-yard hitches and break arm tackles for huge chunks. He's a D.K. Metcalf starter kit and is my top wide receiver in the draft. He goes here to a Cleveland team that can pair its new QB with a new weapon." — Blake Brockermeyer of CBS Sports on project- ing Notre Dame wideout Malachi Fields to be taken with the eighth overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft 8 Notre Dame players have been selected in the top five of the WNBA Draft in pro- gram history: No. 1: Jewell Loyd (2015) No. 1: Jackie Young (2019) No. 3: Devereaux Peters (2012) No. 3: Skylar Diggins-Smith (2013) No. 3: Kayla McBride (2014) No. 3: Sonia Citron (2025) No. 5: Ruth Riley (2001) No. 5: Arike Ogunbowale (2019) Citron, who was selected by the Washington Mystics, is the 11th Irish player to be selected in the first round. Forwards Maddy Westbeld and Liatu King brought the overall total of drafted Irish players to 23, going No. 16 overall in the second to the Chicago Sky and No. 28 overall in the third round to the Los Angeles Sparks, respectively. UNDER THE DOME After two seasons of veteran-QB rentals — one of which ended in the national title game — Notre Dame is tak- ing the homegrown route. Coach Marcus Freeman hasn't indicated whether he'll start Carr or Kenny Minchey, but this is a bet that the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr gets the nod. "Carr probably has a bigger arm than last season's starter Riley Leonard, but Leonard came ready-made with starting experience. Carr will have to learn on the job, but he should be protected by one of the nation's best offensive lines." — Andy Staples of On3 PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS 3 3 ACC award winners and six honorees on the all- conference team for Notre Dame men's lacrosse, which captured at least a share of the league crown for the fifth time since joining in 2014. Senior attackman CHRIS KAVANAGH was tabbed as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore defenseman Shawn Lyght was selected as ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and midfielder Matt Jeffery was named ACC Freshman of the Year as voted on by the league's coaches. Kavanagh and Lyght were joined by graduate student at- tackman Jake Taylor, senior short-stick defensive midfielder Ben Ramsey, junior long-stick midfielder Will Donovan and junior goalie Thomas Ricciardelli on the All-ACC team. The Irish have now had 20 all-conference selections over the last three seasons, the most of any ACC team. Kavanagh, who paced the Irish in points (53), goals (31) and assists (22) during the regular season, is the third Irish player to be named ACC Offensive Player of the Year, joining his brother Pat (2024) and Bryan Costabile (2019). Lyght is the program's seventh player‚ the most in the ACC since it was created in 2012, to take home the defen- sive award, joining Matt Landis (2015, 2016), John Sexton (2018), Jack Kielty (2021) and Liam Entenmann (2023, 2024) as Irish players to earn the distinction. Jeffery is just the second Irish player to be recognized as ACC Freshman of the Year, joining current assistant coach Ryder Garnsey (2016).