Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2026 37 by the use of the transfer portal to fill obvious holes, and — starting last sea- son — expanded scholarship numbers doing the same. Just four Irish freshmen played in enough games in 2025 to be ineligible for a redshirt season — linebacker Mad- den Faraimo, cornerbacks Mark Zackery IV and Dallas Golden, and kicker Erik Schmidt. Still, some in Notre Dame's current freshman class are in play to earn signif- icant roles in the season ahead, but most still would benefit from back-burner maturation. Some land in the gray area in between. For fun, we've included in parentheses the recruiting ranking out of 30 for each freshman within the class. Here's the breakdown of how their playing time is likely to play out this season: CLEAR PATH AND THE TALENT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN • Punter Jasper Scaife (29): The 21-year-old Aus- tralian import is the only freshman in the class on a trajectory to be a starter. His primary competi- tion is sophomore Erik Schmidt, who was Notre Dame's main kickoff man most of the 2025 season and injury replacement placekicker in the second half of it. • Defensive end Rodney Dunham (1): The 6-foot-4, 242-pound former five-star prospect worked his way into the two-deep depth chart during spring practice and figures to be a strong rotational piece behind Notre Dame's 2025 sack leader, Boubacar Traore. • Tight end Ian Premer (2): He was one of only five members of the freshman class who didn't enroll early in January, but rather in June. But Premer made an immediate strong first impression in June OTAs. Redshirt junior Cooper Flanagan and redshirt freshman James Flanigan figure to be tight ends "1 and 1A" in a core group of three that will get regular use. Premer is the heavy favorite to grab that third spot in 2026, and someday evolve into a starter and then a star. TWISTED PATH, BUT PERHAPS A MID- TO LATE-SEASON EMERGENCE • Quarterbacks Teddy Jarrard (15) and Noah Grubbs (23): These guys almost need their own category when it comes to their 2026 projections. Barring injury, this is about jostling for position when it comes to the No. 2 quarterback spot and, to some extent, getting the pole position to be starter CJ Carr's successor in 2027. But as Freeman reiterated in July, the backup quarterback on Sept. 6 for the opener against Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wis., may not be the guy who is No. 2 in October or during Notre Dame's presumed playoff run or the 2027 frontrunner, should Carr — as expected — declare for the 2027 NFL Draft. Both Jarrard, a June enrollee, and Grubbs, a spring practice participant, headed into August training camp likely to leapfrog redshirt freshman Blake Hebert during the month. • Running backs Jonaz Walton (7) and Javian Osborne (8): Running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider is open to going as deep as four on game days in the five-man running back room, but he stuck with a two-man rotation of fellow All-Americans Jeremi- yah Love and Jadarian Price in 2025. The magic number in 2026, with Love and Price off to the NFL, likely will end up being three, with Walton and Osborne having the longest odds to be included. Walton did get plenty of exposure via practice reps in the spring, when Kedren Young was held out in the late stages of his ACL recov- ery, projected starter Aneyas Williams had some contact limitations, and Osborne was sidelined by wrist surgery. That left redshirt freshman Nolan James Jr. and Walton to get most of the spring work, along with some walk-ons, two of whom migrated from the Irish rugby team. Walton and Osborne could also both carve out prominent special teams roles if they can't crack the Williams-James-Young rotation. • Wide receiver Bubba Frazier (18): Frazier is another strong special teams candidate who has the elite raw speed to make a move up the depth chart. But he runs into a tough numbers game un- less an injury opens a door this season. • Defensive end Ebenezer Ewetade (6): The 6-4, 240-pounder made strong weight/strength gains in winter conditioning, and he flashed those on the field during the final week of spring practice. Had the Irish not added Keon Keeley through the trans- fer portal in January, Ewetade's path to significant playing time would be a little clearer. As it stands, he could make a case for the defen- sive end rotation to go three deep with his play in training camp and early in the season. • Safety Joey O'Brien (4): O'Brien figures to have some kind of rotational role in what might be the best safeties room in the country, but how large? Brauntae Johnson and Adon Shuler, the starters, have All-America potential and experience to go with it. Senior Luke Talich would be a starter on most teams. And then redshirt freshman Ethan Long was Notre Dame's highest-graded defender, per Pro Football Focus, though in a small sample size. Still, the 6-5, 203-pound former five-star has that aura of "too good to sit." • Cornerbacks Khary Adams (3) and Ayden Pouncey (5): Ditto for these two cornerbacks, who might have been in the mix to be starters as fresh- men in the years before former defensive backs coach Mike Mickens supercharged recruiting in the Irish secondary. There's potential to contribute in defensive niche packages and on special teams, and they have the talent to step in in case of injury or to save some wear and tear on All-American Leonard Moore and projected field corner starter DJ McKinney in runaway wins. AHEAD OF THE DEVELOPMENT CURVE, BUT NO CLEAR OPPORTUNITY • Offensive tackle Grayson McKeogh (9): Could battle for a spot on the two-deep depth chart, but still not close to regular duty in 2026. • Wide receivers Kaydon Finley (11) and Devin Fitzgerald (16): In earlier Irish rosters, these guys would be competing to start. Both have the poten- tial to move up the depth chart, but are battling numbers. LONGER-TERM DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE • Defensive tackle Elijah Golden (10): Transfer acquisitions Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray make the climb in 2026 much steeper. • Offensive tackle Greg Patrick (12): Will train at tackle and center in 2026 with an eventual shift to guard coming later. • Offensive guard Ben Nichols (13): Could end up in the two-deep late in the season, but more likely not before 2027. • Offensive guard Tyler Merrill (14): Same script as Nichols but maybe a little further behind at the moment. • Cornerback Chaz Smith (17): Portal additions McKinney and Jayden Sanders moved Smith to the back burner. • Linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. (19): Will battle for playing time in 2027 once the linebacker corps likely has a big personnel turnover. • Offensive tackle Charlie Thom (20): Cross- training at guard and tackle. • Tight end Preston Fryzel (21): Not yet tight end-sized (6-4, 225 heading into summer), but outstanding speed and skill gives him an intrigu- ing future. • Wide receiver Brayden Robinson (22): Coming off an ACL tear suffered in high school, the 5-7, 168-pound slot receiver has been cleared medi- cally but has lots of catching up to do in terms of physical development. • Defensive tackle Tiki Hola (24): Like Robinson, coming back from a high school ACL tear, cleared for camp and no pressure to rush his way into action. • Linebacker Ja'Kobe Clapper (25): Like Davis, part of the next wave of Irish linebackers but no- where near the playing rotation in 2026. • Center Sullivan Garvin (26): Impressed the coaches with his initial audition at center in the spring. • Nickel back Nick Reddish (27): Back from March shoulder surgery, expected to provide depth at the nickel position. • Wide receiver Dylan Faison (28): Focused on lacrosse in the spring and came on late in the sea- son in that sport. At 6-2, 163 pounds, was the light- est player on the Irish roster heading into summer. • Kicker Micah Drescher (30): The June enrollee appears to be the primary backup plan at kicker if an injury takes out Purdue transfer Spencer Porath, a junior. ✦