Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2026 21 happen. And I don't see that being any different." STRAIGHTENING THE LINE Given that Notre Dame finished tied for third in the country last season in yards per rush (5.69) but 45th in its team run-blocking grade, per Pro Football Fo- cus, speaks to how much Love and Price were able to do a lot with a little some- times as well as quarterback CJ Carr making changes at the line of scrimmage to get the Irish into a better play. This offensive line figures to be able to move people off the ball more in 2026 as well as being an elite pass protection team. The spring starters from left to right for most of the spring were redshirt freshman Will Black, junior Anthonie Knapp, redshirt junior Joe Otting, red- shirt junior Sullivan Absher and redshirt sophomore Guerby Lambert. And if that was the lineup that opened up at Lambeau Field Sept. 6 in Green Bay, Wis., it would have the potential to contend for the Joe Moore Award, by most accounts and observers this spring. But starting center Ashton Craig is ex- pected back from an ACL tear and guard/ tackle Charles Jagusah also is tracking for a return. If he does, he'd be a starter somewhere on the line. And redshirt freshman Matty Augustine, who trained at guard and tackle this spring, is an even- tual starter either this season or next. TIGHT END REVIVAL? The Blue-Gold Game statistics tend to be as distorted as the play on the field can be, but zero tight end catches in a game that featured 21 completions still raised some eyebrows. Denbrock admitted getting the tight ends more involved in the passing game would be a summer/training camp pri- ority, but they came through with the physical aspect in spades led by redshirt junior Cooper Flanagan and redshirt freshman James Flanigan. Both have receiving capabilities, and adding June enrollee Ian Premer fig- ures to heighten that aspect even more. Redshirt senior Ty Washington, redshirt sophomore Jack Larsen and 225-pound freshman Preston Fryzel round out the tight end corps. AIR OF CONFIDENCE What has acted as the parking brake on some otherwise promising Notre Dame offenses in the past is suddenly the throttle this season. As in full throttle. And that's the Irish passing game, particularly involving its supercharged wide receiver corps. Returning starting quarterback CJ Carr's underwhelming performance in the Blue-Gold Game couldn't have been more disparate that what he showed in the 14 practices leading up to it. In fact, you could make a case that the nation's No. 5 player in pass efficiency in 2025 might be Notre Dame's most improved player. And this is a quarterback who came into the offseason with a very high floor in that regard. Around him will likely be a top of the receiving rotation of Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse and Ohio State trans- fers Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham. Faison and Graham were the only two of those four who were healthy enough to get a full run of spring practices. The field of players battling to join those four in the likely six-deep rotation only figures to get deeper and more competi- tive in August when freshmen like Devin Fitzgerald, Kaydon Finley and Bubba Fra- zier continue to assimilate and ascend. The same can be said of the derby to be Carr's primary backup and get a leg up on being his eventual successor. Reclassified freshman Teddy Jarrard, who graduated after his junior year in high school April 28, enrolls at Notre Dame in June and joins fellow freshman Noah Grubbs and redshirt freshman Blake He- bert in person after taking in quarterback meetings this spring via Zoom video calls from his home in Kennesaw, Ga. Another piece of Notre Dame's sig- nal-caller future fell into place May 1 when four-star prospect Champ Monds verbally committed in the 2027 class. So, not just first-world problems, but first-world solutions and successes. ✦ Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's projection for how Notre Dame's 2026 scholarship depth chart on offense after the conclusion of spring practices. Quarterback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 13 CJ Carr 6-2 215 R-So./3 12 Blake Hebert 6-2 216 R-Fr./4 or 10 Noah Grubbs 6-4 209 Fr./4 or — Teddy Jarrard 6-3 190 Fr./4 Running Back 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr./2 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 212 R-Fr./4 or 21 Kedren Young 5-11 234 R-So./3 26 Javian Osbourne 5-9 200 Fr./4 or 20 Jonaz Walton 5-9 214 Fr./4 Boundary Receiver 0 Quincy Porter 6-4 207 So./3 14 Micah Gilbert 6-2 205 R-So./3 17 Cam Williams 6-2 201 R-So./3 11 Devin Fitzgerald 6-2 208 Fr./4 8 Jerome Bettis Jr. 6-2 199 R-Fr./4 Field Receiver 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr./1 17 Elijah Burress 6-1 190 R-Fr./4 19 Logan Saldate 5-11 185 R-So./3 16 Dylan Faison 6-2 180 Fr./4 Slot Receiver 3 Mylan Graham 6-1 192 R-So./3 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 R-Jr./2 33 Matt Jeffery 5-11 195 R-So./3 4 Bubba Frazier 5-10 182 Fr./4 15 Brayden Robinson 5-7 168 Fr./4 18 Kaydon Finley 6-1 207 Fr./4 Tight End 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 250 R-Jr./2 88 James Flanigan 6-6 251 R-Fr./4 7 Ty Washington 6-4 253 R-Sr./1 85 Jack Larsen 6-3 248 R-So./3 — Ian Premer 6-6 235 Fr./4 84 Preston Fryzel 6-4 225 Fr./4 Left Tackle 74 Will Black 6-7 316 R-Fr./4 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 298 R-So./3 65 Grayson McKeogh 6-7 298 Fr./4 Left Guard 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-5 304 Jr./2 52 Devan Houstan 6-4 305 R-Jr./2 77 Peter Jones 6-5 315 R-So./3 — Ben Nichols 6-5 320 Fr./4 — Gregory Patrick 6-5 275 Fr./4 Center 70 Ashton Craig 6-5 310 R-Sr./1 64 Joe Otting 6-4 305 R-Jr./2 57 Cam Herron 6-2 291 R-Fr./4 50 Sullivan Garvin 6-5 315 Fr./4 Right Guard 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 320 R-Jr./2 55 Chris Terek 6-5 321 R-Jr./2 68 Charlie Thom 6-7 280 Fr./4 56 Charles Jagusah 6-5 330 R-Jr./2 66 Tyler Merrill 6-6 330 Fr./4 Right Tackle 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 325 R-So./3 58 Matt Augustine 6-8 310 R-Fr./4 78 Owen Strebig 6-8 302 R-Fr./4 BGI POST-SPRING 2026 NOTRE DAME SCHOLARSHIP DEPTH CHART