Veteran-laden defense returns key playmakers. But a less daunting schedule could be a playoff hurdle for Notre Dame's 2026 campaign.
Now that spring has come to a close and we're getting closer to the start of the 2026 season, it's time to start taking a deeper dive into some teams. For ESPN, they're using their Way-Too-Early Top 25 and evaluating some areas of every team within the ranking. A group of their college football writers compiled a list about the biggest strengths and weaknesses of every team in their Way-Too-Early Top 25 and there were some interesting takeaways from writer Heather Dinich.
Strength: Defensive Experience
"Nine of the top tacklers from 2025 return, including safety Adon Shuler (53 tackles) and cornerback Leonard Moore (31)," Dinich explained. "The Irish also have a veteran secondary and an elite group of linebackers. DT Francis Brewu and DL Keon Keeley (Alabama) were important transfer portal additions on the defensive line. With some key veterans recovering from injuries, this unit should be one of the best in the country this fall."
The 2026 Notre Dame NFL Draft class featured the offensive side of the ball with the exception of one guy, Gabriel Rubio who went in the 6th round to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Why? Because almost all of their NFL-caliber talent is coming back to the roster in 2026. Dinich mentioned Moore, Shuler, the linebacking corps and the defensive line transfers, but the list of what they return is much, much deeper.
They bring back all five linebackers from their rotation including middle linebacker and captain Drayk Bowen, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa who some have as a way-too-early first round draft pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, Jaiden Ausberry who was one of the team's leading tacklers last season, cornerback Christian Gray, safety Tae Johnson who ESPN deemed Notre Dame's 'under the radar' player for the 2026 season and a host of talent on the defensive line including rising junior Bryce Young.
Oddly enough, I thought they would go with quarterback here considering ESPN named CJ Carr as the No. 1 returning quarterback in the country, but I don't disagree with the level of talent and experience on the defensive side of the ball.
Weakness: Schedule Strength
"Under the new CFP rules that begin this season, if Notre Dame is ranked in the selection committee's final top 12, the Irish are guaranteed a playoff spot and won't get displaced, as happened in 2025," Dinich stated. "With a relatively soft schedule, though, there's not much margin for error. The three toughest games are against BYU, Miami and SMU, the latter two of which are home games. All three of those opponents are also CFP contenders, though, and as everyone was reminded last season -- head-to-head matters."
There's two ways to take this evaluation, and both could be true. When you look at this article in it's entirety, Notre Dame is the only team where 'schedule' is considered the weakness despite having teams like Texas Tech and Penn State in their Way-Too-Early Top 25. The Fighting Irish schedule narrative is becoming very tiresome, and for that to be considered the overall weakness of Notre Dame as a team is lazy.
But with that being said, it kind of makes sense, right? I've been very bullish about Notre Dame having the No. 1 roster in college football throughout the offseason. We recently did a show about the Irish being a top contender in college football to win the title in 2026 and they were our No. 1 ranked team in our Post-Spring Top 25 rankings. One of the biggest reasons why we believed this to be true was the fact that the Irish had less holes on their roster and the least amount of questions about their team heading into the season.
They return their head coach, all three coordinators, a starting quarterback for the first time since 2020, stout offensive and defensive lines and loads of skill talent. Meanwhile, teams like Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Indiana and Oregon all have questions, according to ESPN's article, about their offensive lines, defensive lines, cornerback rooms, wide receivers and 'getting over the hump.' Notre Dame doesn't have any of those questions outside of getting over the hump like the Oregon Ducks.
The weak schedule argument is becoming very tiresome, boring and lazy, but if that's the only weakness an outlet like ESPN can come up with for a program like Notre Dame, I like the outlook of their season.
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