Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 SUMMER 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC HANSEN A Notre Dame offense that went through most of its 15 spring practices with little or no reps from five of its potential start- ers in 2026, nevertheless, emerged with only first-world kinds of problems. And a much higher expected ceiling than the unit that grew into the second-high- est-scoring offense in the FBS last season. That's not to say that it's only a mat- ter of plugging in Ohio State transfer wide receiver Quincy Porter, center Ashton Craig, guard/tackle Charles Ja- gusah, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and the fully medically cleared version of running back Aneyas Williams to max out its potential. But the answers to the lingering ques- tions feel more like matters of when than if. And Marcus Freeman redesigned his team's offseason blueprint to go looking for problems, so they wouldn't be ex- posed by someone else when the bottom lines on the scoreboard matter in the fall. What he and the Irish also unearthed, while looking for warts, was an offense that had a distinct gear of physicality and toughness that it sometimes lacked in short-yardage and red-zone situations in 2025. And it's a perfect complement to the emerging dynamic passing game. BACK IN THE RUNNING That spike in physicality starts with the offensive line, but touches a number of position groups, notably the running backs. The expected summer return of red- shirt sophomore thumper Kedren Young (5-11, 234), just finishing the last phase of his ACL rehab, will add another layer. But this spring, the two healthy scholar- ship running backs — redshirt freshman Nolan James Jr. and true freshman Jonaz Walton — set the bruising, bashing tone. And a player who was supposed to be limited this spring but defied his recov- ery timeline, Williams, personified that physicality, showing that life after NFL Draft first-rounders Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price won't be so bad after all. Following offseason elbow surgery, Williams wasn't supposed to have any contact in spring practices, and he was required to wear a protective red jersey in practices 1-14 as a reminder to his teammates. But in practice No. 12, the jersey scrimmage April 18, Williams en- tered the game late and did take contact, lots of it. And in the Blue-Gold Game a week later, he got rid of the red jersey all to- gether and ran for a game-high 38 yards on 10 carries, with a touchdown. He also caught 3 passes for 13 yards in the Blue team's 41-40 victory. "The position that I'm finally in, that I've been waiting for the last two years," Williams said of why he wasn't willing to be patient this spring, "I couldn't just sit there and watch. I felt really good. I felt like I could go. I don't know if my medical staff would agree, but I just felt better on the timeline than where I was." Williams and James figure to start and finish August training camp RBs 1 and 1A. The questions will be: How deep that rotation gets and who's in it? Young and Walton will vie with freshman Ja- vian Osborne, who missed spring with a wrist injury. "I've been asked a lot, with the two tailbacks that went in the draft in the first round, what do you expect from the running back's room?" offensive co- ordinator Mike Denbrock said after the Blue-Gold Game. "And Aneyas, obvi- ously, is going to be a major part of that. "It's going to look different. Jeremi- yah and JD have moved on to the NFL, but it doesn't mean that our expectation or the production in that room neces- sarily has to be less. My anticipation for Aneyas is the same as it's always been. "Every time we've given him an op- portunity and he's stepped into a foot- ball game, he's made something positive MULTIFACETED A Notre Dame offense built for speed in 2026 leans into a resurgence in physicality as well Junior Aneyas Williams performed like a No. 1 running back whenever given opportunities this spring. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER