Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2026 25 Talich added a pair of special teams touchdowns late in the season by re- turning a partially blocked punt for a 22-yard score and taking a fake punt pass for an 84-yard score. 24. WR WILL PAULING Pauling didn't waste much time mak- ing an impact at Notre Dame, which was reflected by his teammates voting him a captain months after transferring from Wisconsin. Pauling started his lone sea- son with the Irish relatively slow, but he emerged as the top slot option when Greathouse was injured. Two non-receivers, Love and senior tight end Eli Raridon, finished the sea- son with more receptions than Pauling (26), but he deserved a spot in the top 25 after leading Notre Dame in touchdown receptions (6) as WR3. 23. DT JARED DAWSON Notre Dame's defensive tackle depth was tested in 2025. Thankfully for the Irish, Dawson lived up to his potential as a graduate transfer addition from Lou- isville. A midseason injury to redshirt senior Gabriel Rubio made Dawson's presence that much more important. And if Dawson wasn't able to rise to the occasion, Notre Dame would have been left with a lot of unproven options asked to contribute. He earned a higher spot on the list. 22. RB JADARIAN PRICE Price was never going to be able to unseat Love as Notre Dame's top run- ning back option. But Price still made a strong case to be one of the top running backs in the country as the Irish's sec- ond running back. He played a promi- nent role in the offense, which should push him higher on this list. When Notre Dame's regular season ended in November, only 21 running backs na- tionally had rushed for more touch- downs than Price's 11. Price added a pair of receiving touch- downs and a pair of kickoff return touchdowns. His well-rounded game with 1,211 all-purpose yards earned him some All-America honors. 21. DT JASON ONYE Onye finished his fifth season at Notre Dame as the most valuable ver- sion of himself. So much so that the Irish are hoping he can return for a sixth with an NCAA eligibility waiver. He became a well-rounded player on the interior with Pro Football Focus crediting him with 16 pressures and 13 defensive stops. A slightly higher rank- ing would be justified. 20. WR JORDAN FAISON Faison used his junior season to tran- scend from intriguing talent to undeni- able weapon in Notre Dame's offense. He became an extremely reliable receiving target and led the Irish with 49 receptions and 640 receiving yards, and was third on the team with 4 touchdown grabs. He routinely allowed Carr to make easy throws by creating so much sep- aration with his route running. Based on his output, Faison belongs in Notre Dame's top 10 for the season. 19. C ASHTON CRAIG Craig's second season as the full-time starter was cut short by injury again. Craig, who tore the ACL in his left knee three games into the 2024 season, suf- fered another left knee injury six games into his redshirt junior season. Though Craig provided a steady pres- ence in the middle of the Notre Dame offensive line, his spot on this list was probably justified. Redshirt sophomore Joe Otting capably filled in for Craig in the second half of the season, so it would be hard to put Craig a lot higher. 18. LB JAYLEN SNEED Sneed remained a bit of a role player in his redshirt junior season, but he still contributed plenty in Notre Dame's linebacker rotation. He finished fourth among the linebackers with 35 tackles, second with 5 tackles for loss and tied for second with 3 sacks. The Irish continued to use him as a versatile defender, but he didn't warrant a higher ranking in the top 25. Redshirt sophomore Jaiden Ausberry could argu- ably be ahead of Sneed. 17. DT GABRIEL RUBIO Rubio might have been playing the best football of his career through the first six games of his redshirt senior season, but he was sidelined the rest of the year with an elbow injury. He would have earned a higher spot on a retroac- tive top 25 if he was able to finish the season healthy. PRESEASON Rk. Name, Pos. 1. Jeremiyah Love, RB 2. CJ Carr, QB 3. Leonard Moore, CB 4. Drayk Bowen, LB 5. Adon Shuler, S 6. Boubacar Traore, DE 7. Malachi Fields, WR 8. Jaden Greathouse, WR 9. Aamil Wagner, OL 10. Eli Raridon, TE 11. Anthonie Knapp, OL 12. Christian Gray, CB 13. Billy Schrauth, OL 14. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, LB 15. Bryce Young, DE 16. DeVonta Smith, NB 17. Gabriel Rubio, DT 18. Jaylen Sneed, LB 19. Ashton Craig, OL 20. Jordan Faison, WR 21. Jason Onye, DT 22. Jadarian Price, RB 23. Jared Dawson, DT 24. Will Pauling, WR 25. Luke Talich, S POSTSEASON Rk. Name, Pos. 1. Leonard Moore, CB 2. Jeremiyah Love, RB 3. CJ Carr, QB 4. Boubacar Traore, DE 5. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, LB 6. Jordan Faison, WR 7. Tae Johnson, S^ 8. Malachi Fields, WR 9. Eli Raridon, TE 10. Billy Schrauth, LG 11. Anthonie Knapp, LT 12. Jared Dawson, DT 13. Drayk Bowen, LB 14. Jadarian Price, RB 15. Adon Shuler, S 16. Aamil Wagner, RT 17. Christian Gray, CB 18. Jason Onye, DT 19. Will Pauling, WR 20. Bryce Young, DE 21. Donovan Hinish, DT^ 22. Guerby Lambert, RG^ 23. Jaylen Sneed, LB 24. Joshua Burnham, DE^ 25. Luke Talich, S BGI'S TOP 25 PLAYERS RANKINGS The preseason list was voted on entire BGI staff, while the revised postseason list was put together by Tyler James. ^ Did not appear on the preseason list