Uncover Notre Dame's 2026 defensive stars alongside Leonard Moore. Plus, explore offensive questions and future recruiting battles.
Like any team striving to win a national title, Notre Dame will need a certain level of star power in 2026 to reach their ultimate goal. Last week on the midweek rundown, we broke down who we believed would be the offensive stars on the team.
Today, we break down who we believe the defensive stars would be along side Unanimous All-American cornerback Leonard Moore. We talk through who's on the cusp, who has a lot of potential and who the newcomers might be. We also talk about the biggest offensive questions heading into the spring. This is a side of the ball that's loaded with some talent, but one that comes with a handful of questions that will have to get answered throughout the offseason.
We also talked through the importance of having success in Chicago during the 2027 and 2028 recruiting cycles and we ended with talking about the teams from each conference we think are next to make the College Football Playoffs. You can watch all of that and more in today's episode of the Irish Breakdown Podcast.
You can watch the entire episode here:
Here are some of the main topics we discussed on today's show:
On Leonard Moore's 2026 Season Expectations...
"At the end of the day, he just needs to keep doing what he's been doing. Moore was a Unanimous All-American last season as a true sophomore and was the No. 1 returning cornerback in the country heading into 2025. He'll be all of that and more this upcoming season. Any defense needs a certain level of star power to bring home a national title. For Moore, it's not a question of 'if he's a star.' The question is about how big of a star can he be."
On How Notre Dame Will Replace Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price...
"It's not just a question of 'who' will replace Price and Love, it's also about how they'll go about it. In crunch time moments, we knew the ball was either going to No. 4 or No. 24. In some cases, they went to No. 0 and No. 9 but all four of those players won't be playing for Notre Dame in 2026. Who will be the players that Mike Denbrock and CJ Carr rely on this upcoming season? We'll start to get a better idea of who that will be throughout the spring and into the summer and fall."
On The Leadership On The Offensive Side Of The Ball...
"Here's the facts, Notre Dame lost three team captains to the NFL Draft on the offensive side of the ball. They also lost Price, Love, Malachi Fields and Eli Raridon. Outside of Carr, who steps up into a leadership role for the team? It goes beyond being named a team captain. There's players who we believe will step up into those roles, but when will they emerge? This journey started back during winter workouts; spring ball will be the first opportunity we get to see it on the field."
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