Irish defensive linemen anticipate a dominant season, facing rebuilding offensive lines with veteran units presenting the toughest tests.
Like we've seen over the past couple of seasons, offensive line play is crucial to success in the both the regular season and the post season. For the regular season, Notre Dame faces a handful of very experienced units, while other offensive lines will be completely remade. Morale of the story, the Fighting Irish defensive line should have a lot of success this season under new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and the returning talent they have in the trenches. Here is a look at the early rankings of the offensive lines the Irish will face this upcoming season.
1. SMU Mustangs
SMU returns the entire right side of the offensive line; center Joshua Bates, right guard Addison Nichols and right tackle PJ Williams all return in 2026 to protect quarterback Kevin Jennings. Those three offensive linemen were their best last fall and only allowed a combined two sacks all season (Bates and Nichols didn't allow a single sack across 13 games). As a trio, Nichols, Williams and Nichols kept Jennings jersey clean. They'll also have to be relied upon in the run game to open up running lanes.
2. Stanford Cardinal
The Cardinal don't return a ton on offense amongst the skilled positions, but what they do have is a veteran offensive line. Left tackle Niki Prongos, left guard Josh Williams, center Fisher Anderson and right tackle Khalil House all return for the 2026 season. All four players went against Notre Dame last fall and didn't allow a single sack on quarterback Elijah Brown. This season, they'll have a less mobile quarterback under center in Michigan transfer Davis Warren, but it's still noteworthy that they didn't allow a single sack against a red-hot Notre Dame defensive line at the end of the regular season.
3. Navy Midshipmen
Navy is in a similar spot to Stanford in that they don't return very many, if any, skilled players but they have a host of veteran offensive lineman returning to the starting lineup. Left tackle Sean Crowley, center Cam Nichols, right guard Hoke Smith II and right tackle Malcolm Johnson all return in the trenches for the Midshipmen. All four guys played a major role in quarterback Braxton Woodson rushing for over 100 yards against the Irish last fall; Woodson was the only 100-yard rusher the Notre Dame defense allowed in 2025. They return to anchor this offense behind a talented runner at quarterback.
4. BYU Cougars
One of the things we've learned about head coach Kalani Sitake is that his teams will be well coached and play well in the trenches. Offensively, they return their center Bruce Mitchell, their right guard Kyle Sfarcioc and their right tackle Andrew Gentry. According to PFF, those were three of their best pass blockers last season. Mitchell ended with one of the highest pass blocking grades on the team and the trio only allowed a combined four sacks in 14 games keeping quarterback Bear Bachmeier's jersey clean. Returning running back LJ Martin will also benefit from running behind a veteran unit.
5. Michigan State Spartans
First year offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan will have his work cut out for him with a host of new skilled players to break in. Sheridan will also have a relatively strong offensive line to work with. Left tackle Rustin Young, right guard Rakeem Johnson and right tackle Connor Moore return to East Lansing this season and will anchor this offensive line unit. Having both tackle spots secured is massive for the Spartan offense and will give quarterback Alessio Milivojevic some comfortability in the pocket.
6. Wisconsin Badgers
One thing that will get Wisconsin, and head coach Luke Fickell, back on track will be to create an identity on the offensive line like we've seen from so many previous Wisconsin teams. The Badgers return right guard Colin Cubberly and right tackle Emerson Mandell to the starting lineup this fall, but will need to replace the entire left side of their offensive line. They brought in a couple of portal players to help with Austin Kawecki coming over from Oklahoma State and offensive tackle Lucas Simmons coming over from Florida State.
7. Miami Hurricanes
The Hurricanes lost four of their five starting offensive lineman from their unit that competed for a championship last season. Left tackle Markel Bell, center James Brockermeyer, right guard Anez Cooper and right tackle Francis Mauigoa have all moved onto their professional careers while left guard Matthew McCoy is the lone returning starter in 2026. Having to replace both tackles and your center won't be an easy task. To help, they brought in Georgia offensive line transfer Jamal Meriweather who saw limited action this past season for the Dogs. It wouldn't shock me if they end the season ranked higher than this, but it's definitely a 'wait and see' type of scenario for the Miami offensive line.
8. Purdue Boilermakers
If the Purdue offense wants to take a jump in year two of the Barry Odom era, they'll need their offensive line to lead the charge and take some pressure off of quarterback Ryan Browne literally and figuratively. For starters, they return left tackle Joey Tanona and right guard Ethan Trent. They'll be relying on Nuku Mafi from Oklahoma State, Micah Banuelos from USC and Boaz Stanley from South Carolina to fill some voids left vacated by the departing starters from 2025.
9. Syracuse Orange
A lot of the uncertainty I have around the Syracuse offense comes from the quarterback position and from the guys who will be protecting them. Their offensive line returns left tackle Trevion Mack, center Joe Cruz and right guard Byron Washington. From an experience standpoint, that's a solid start, but they'll have to improve from their 40-pressure, three-sack season they allowed in 12 games in 2025. They didn't make a huge splash in the portal with additions along the offensive line, so the Orange will be calling upon some younger talent waiting in the wings to step up and perform this upcoming fall.
10. Rice Owls
The Owls were an extremely veteran team in 2025, and lost most of their production on offense and defense from this past season. The only starting offensive lineman that returns is right tackle Luke Miller. Miller is one of three returning starters on the offense. The 6-5, 294-pound tackle was getting his feet under him at the collegiate level and returns for his sophomore season in the Rice offense. There's room to grow, but the unit as a whole will be significantly younger this upcoming season. They brought in center Leo Bluhm from Yale for a veteran presence, but the outlook on the Rice offensive line as a whole is relatively concerning.
11. Boston College
Center Michael Crounse is one of only two returning starters for the Boston College offense ahead of the 2026 season. Their offensive line will be predominantly rebuilt through the transfer portals with Veguer Jean-Jumeau coming over from Tennessee State, Owen Snively coming over from Eastern Michigan, Kristian Phillips coming over from Michigan State and Reggie Jackson coming over from Jax State. I never have a lot of confidence in offensive lines being completely remade through the transfer portal, and the Boston College offensive line is a major area of concern for me heading into the 2026 season.
12. North Carolina Tarheels
North Carolina rounds out this list for an almost identical reason for Boston College. The Tarheels are the only team on Notre Dame's regular season schedule that don't return a single starter along the offensive line. All five players, who will likely start, will be from the transfer portal. You could argue, that the next offensive line to have success entirely made of first-year portal players will be the first successful offensive line made of entirely first-year portal players. The portal will play a major role here as well as some of the younger incoming talent in the 2026 recruiting class. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will have his work cut out for him.
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